Newsroom

When we discuss or debate education policy, our students with special needs are seldom the first priority. Given that the majority of students are served through general education in traditional classrooms, it is very easy for special education to get lost in the mix. How then do we ensure that our most vulnerable students receive the support and services they need to achieve in their academic life? A study by Hechinger Report in 2017 suggested that "up to 90 percent of students with disabilities are capable of graduating high school fully prepared to tackle college or a career if they receive proper support along the way."

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — The Tennessee State Board of Education is inviting the public to provide feedback and comments on the state’s K-12 mathematics academic standards through December 6, 2019, at 12 PM CT. To facilitate suggestions on proposed revisions to the academic standards, the State Board launched a public review survey to allow Tennesseans to share their opinions on the current math academic standards. Public comments from the review website will be taken into consideration when the math academic standards are reviewed and updated in 2020. The State Board of Education is charged in law with reviewing all academic standards at least every six years in a thorough and transparent process, and this public survey is the first step in that process.

Later this month, the Tennessee State Board of Education will launch a review website where the public will be invited to provide feedback and comments on the current K-12 math academic standards. Public comments from the review website will be taken into consideration when the math academic standards are reviewed next year.

On Thursday, the Executive Director of the State Board of Education (SBE), Dr. Sara Morrison, released the reports of her findings on the charter revocation appeals for Knowledge Academy, KA @ The Crossings, and Knowledge Academy High School; her recommendation to the State Board is to overturn the revocation decisions of the Metro Nashville Board of Education for these three schools. Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) § 49-13-122 allows a charter school governing board whose charter agreement has been revoked by a local board of education to appeal that decision to the SBE. Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-13-122 and State Board Policy 6.110, the State Board staff conducts a de novo, on the record review of the local board of education’s decision, collects information from the local board of education and the charter school operator, and holds a public hearing to gather evidence from the charter school operator and the local school district.

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — It is with great sadness that the State Board of Education acknowledges the death of its longest-serving member, Mr. Fielding Rolston, who died unexpectedly this week in Kiawah, South Carolina at 78-years-old. “Fielding Rolston provided invaluable service to the students and citizens of Tennessee in his nearly 25 years on the board,” said Dr. Sara Morrison, executive director of the State Board of Education. “Under his leadership, Tennessee raised expectations for student learning, elevated support for educators and witnessed dramatic improvements in student achievement. He will be dearly missed by all who had the opportunity to work and learn alongside him."

(Nashville, Tenn.) —KIPP Nashville celebrated the opening of its new K – 8 campus, KIPP Antioch College Prep with a ribbon cutting ceremony honoring its founding families and students. With this addition, KIPP Nashville operates seven schools and educates 2,300 students across Davidson County. “This is an exciting moment for KIPP Nashville, as we continue to reach new families and students in service of our vision that one day, every student in Nashville will have access to a free, high-quality college-preparatory education,” Randy Dowell, KIPP Nashville Executive Director, said. “Fifteen years ago, we launched that vision with one middle school in East Nashville. Many of those founding KIPPsters are now college graduates, proving the possible, and in some cases, paying it forward by becoming teachers themselves. We look forward to being part of the vibrant, Antioch community, opening our doors to more students and educating the next generation of this city’s leaders.”

Technology changes at a rapid pace and the expectations of the workforce evolve along with these advancements. In order to ensure that our students are prepared to enter the workforce in careers that are both personally fulfilling to them and enable them to care for themselves and their families, we must constantly adapt our education and workforce development strategies. As the president and CEO of Saint Thomas Rutherford and the Saint Thomas Health regional hospitals, I have witnessed these changes firsthand in the onboarding and training process. New healthcare professionals must not only be proficient in their area of work but also adept at various technological skills. Longstandingindustries in our society, such as healthcare and manufacturing, traditionally required specific skill sets unique to that field. Today, however, work in every field also requires evolving skills and specializations, like data analytics and systems monitoring.

On Monday, the State Board of Education released the 2019 Educator Preparation Providers Progress Report: A Review of Improvements Over Time, a companion report to the annual Educator Preparation Report Card. This report highlights several educator preparation programs (EPPs) that made significant strides on the annual Report Card in the past several years. After first using Report Card data to identify EPPs with substantial improvements in a variety of areas, State Board staff conducted interviews with those EPPs to learn specific steps each provider took to improve. The goal of this report is to share several emerging practices that appear to be driving positive change in EPPs across Tennessee in an effort to support continuous improvement for educator preparation statewide. To read the 2019 Educator Preparation Program Progress Over Time Report or learn more about the 2018 Educator Preparation Report Card, visit our website.

The meeting of the State Board of Education Testing and Accountability Subcommittee scheduled for Friday, September 6th is postponed at the direction of the Board Chairman and at the request of the Chairmen of the Standing Committees on Education of the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives. Please check back for updates on our schedule.

Members of the SBE and THEC will hear from an industry partnership panel including representatives from the Tennessee Board of Regents, the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, and Nissan North America about the future of the Tennessee workforce. SBE and THEC staff members will also present a joint presentation on regional initiatives dedicated to improving career readiness in the state.

Tennessee families have access to a variety of school choices for their children – including local public schools, public charter schools and other non-public entities. In this landscape, public charter school authorizers play a critical role inensuring that high quality charter schools are able to open, and that only those that deliver excellent outcomes retain the privilege of serving students and families. Under state law, local school districts operate traditional public schools and may approve any public charter school for operation within the district. In select circumstances, the state is also able to approve a charter operator’s application.

Are new teachers ready for their first day in the classroom? That question is critical to the Tennessee State Board of Education. The state legislature gave the State Board the responsibility of approving the educator preparation providers (EPPs) that prepare teachers, principals, and other educators in our state. Those programs might be at traditional colleges and universities or at alternative providers that provide pathways for non-education majors become teachers.

Today, the State Board of Education released the annual Educator Preparation Report Card, a tool for Tennesseans to learn more about the progress of educator preparation providers toward the Board’s key priority areas. The report card uses multiple metrics, including a profile of recent graduates, their placement and retention in Tennessee public school classrooms and their observation and growth scores, which provide information about teacher and leader preparation in the state.

During their first quarterly meeting of 2019, members of the State Board of Education re-elected Ms. Lillian Hartgrove as board chair and selected Mr. Bob Eby as vice-chair to serve a two-year term. Ms. Lillian Hartgrove, of the sixth Congressional district, has served on the Board since 2014. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the Board’s vice chair. In 2018, Ms. Hartgrove was chosen by her peers to serve as chair of the state’s K-12 education policymaking body.

Next week, the Tennessee State Board of Education will meet for the first time in 2019 in House Hearing Room II on Thursday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, where members will recognize the 2018 Blue Ribbon and ESEA Distinguished Schools. The State Board of Education will hear presentations from the State Board staff, the Tennessee Department of Education, and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) at the Thursday workshop on education policy topics including recent research findings in Tennessee and the progress toward the Board’s annual Master Plan. Meeting items and links to the live stream for the Thursday workshop are included in the workshop agenda.