TN ALL Corps

Students across the state had different access to instruction in spring 2020 and throughout the 2020-21 school year. This resulted in lower average proficiency across the state, specifically in math and early reading. Beginning in the 2020-21 school year through summer 2024, the department is investing Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, or ESSER 3.0, in TN ALL Corps tutoring supports.

Through a grant matching program, TN ALL Corps is available to both school districts and community partners. Combining funding that is available at the state, district, and community levels, Tennessee can dramatically increase the amount of learning time children have access to—helping to mitigate learning loss and accelerate student achievement.

TN ALL Corps Model

There are currently 87 districts across Tennessee that are participating in TN ALL Corps, representing over 200,000 students served over the next three years. Using a research-based model, each participating district has committed to following the TN ALL Corps model composed of:

Over the next three years, the state’s matching-grant approach for tutoring, in combination with summer programming, will serve over 200,000 students, with 50,000 students served in the first year. This will provide 250-500 additional hours of academic instruction each, in the next three years and four summers. The total investment in tutoring between the state and LEA matching grants is projected to be over $200 million.

Information for Districts and Tutors

Training Course for Tutors:

Tutors have access to a 5-module training course for aspiring and alternative educators to learn more about tutoring and to succeed as a tutor. Throughout the 5-module course, aspiring and alternative educators will learn everything from the basics of tutoring to academic best practices.

Aspiring and alternative educators can learn more about the training and sign up for the modules here.

Coming soon: Training for Licensed Educators: The Department will be releasing a training for licensed educators. During this one-module course, licensed educators will receive training on high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring, preparing them for success as tutors.

Math Tutoring Supports:

Through a competitive procurement process, Zearn has been selected to provide the mathematics placement and progress monitoring platform for districts participating in the TN ALL Corps. Zearn is provided at no cost for TN ALL Corps districts and allows all Grade 1 through 8 students to access and use Zearn. Zearn has a unique, research-based design to continuously assess students’ knowledge and learning gaps the entire time they are on the platform, including length of time to respond to any questions, where mistakes are made and how misconceptions are related to errors. A recent study of over 100,000 students in 800 schools showed that Zearn, when used correctly, provides an additional 1.5 months of instruction. Further, Zearn shows two to three times growth in proficiency rates.

For more information about Zearn, see this Zearn overview document below.

For more information about math tutoring and implementation, see the TN ALL Corps Tutoring for Math Guidebook below.

High School Supports:

Through a competitive grant process, Paper.co has been selected as the TN ALL Corps high school online tutoring provider. All high school students in TN ALL Corps districts have access to free tutoring in math, essay writing, and ACT preparation.

Account login information has been provided to each high school student in a TN ALL Corps district through their district and/or high school.

For more information about the partnership with Paper for high school online tutoring, visit https://paper.co/states/tennessee.

District and Tutoring Resources:

District Implementation Networks

The department is excited to announce the District Support Network, a network to provide instructional leaders of TN ALL Corps districts with opportunities to engage in a variety of collaborative learning experiences and resources designed to enrich local tutoring programs. Please see this overview for more information and save the dates for upcoming meetings.

Fall In-Person Regional Network Meetings:

Districts should attend the in-person meeting in their region 

Tuesday, 11/15 East TN  

Wednesday, 11/16 Middle TN  

Thursday, 11/17 West TN

Information for Community Partners

TN ALL Corps Community Partner Guide: To support community partners in developing projects to expand and extend the capacity of district TN ALL Corps programs. These steps and additional resources can be found here.

TN ALL Corps Vendor Directory: The department has created a tutor partner guide for districts that may choose to work with a third-party provider to deliver some or all of its tutoring services through TN ALL Corps. Districts are not required to partner with third-party providers, nor are they required to use a partner from the guide we create. However, this guide is intended to serve as a resource for districts interested in working with a tutor partner.

Through TN ALL Corps grants, districts can flexibly design their local tutoring supports within the grant framework to meet the tenets of high dosage/low ratio tutoring that drives strong outcomes for students. Districts have significant flexibility in determining the structure of tutoring, who provides tutoring (staff, tutors, external partners), and the students served. Find out more here.

Note: vendors that have elected to add their information to the TN ALL Corps director have not been reviewed and approved, or hold a contract with the Department for TN ALL Corps. Districts may use this vendor directory list as a list of potential vendors that could be utilized for tutoring supports.