SCORE Blog

Three years ago, SCORE expanded its mission to encompass student success from kindergarten to career. At the end of this year’s legislative session, we see that Tennessee has advanced policy across the education continuum. In short, this session produced a lot of wins for students, including a strong COVID-19 recovery plan for students and institutions, wider college and career readiness opportunities, and a smoother path from high school to degrees and credentials.

Summer Bridge and other summer learning programs are designed to help incoming college freshmen make the transition from high school to college.

The state’s dashboard of school-level per-pupil expenditure data can help education leaders and stakeholders view spending through a new lens and inform conversations about how schools and districts use their resources.

Across Tennessee, educators, families, and community members are seeking effective strategies to help students recover from pandemic-related disruptions to instruction and learning. To support those efforts, recent virtual SCORE Institutes have provided valuable insights on proven practices to support and accelerate student learning.

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission surveyed students on how COVID-19 had impacted them and their educational plans. Here’s what they found.

As attention turns to how districts will leverage federal recovery dollars, we have a new tool to understand the relationship between education resources, student opportunity, and outcomes: school-level per-pupil expenditure information.

As we focus on pandemic recovery, unprecedented federal funding presents an opportunity to do better for our kids through practices like high-dosage tutoring.

Tennessee is set to receive $20-30 billion in federal funding through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), with more than $3.3 billion dedicated to K-12 and higher education, positioning the state to address significant student needs during the pandemic and through the recovery.

Tennessee families deserve high-quality options when it comes to the education of their children. The new Tennessee Public Charter School Commission ensures that only high-quality charter schools operate in our state.

The Educator Preparation Report Card includes placement and retention rates, performance on licensure examinations, and teacher effectiveness. The latest report is now available.

BlueSky Tennessee Institute, a new workforce-education partnership between ETSU and BlueCross, allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree in computing and earn a job offer from BlueCross – in two years.

The Lee administration and the Tennessee General Assembly recognized the value of assessment results and the need for flexibility during the January special session. The US Department of Education (USED) did the same in February. These were good, sensible decisions that will help advance student success.

The state’s early literacy crisis, in which six out of ten third-graders are not meeting expectations for reading and writing proficiency, received much needed action from Governor Lee and the General Assembly with the enactment of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act in January. The law requires meaningful changes in literacy instruction and learning support, and state and local leaders will need to provide strong implementation to position K-3 teachers and students for success.

Now that the Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act is law, the harder work of implementation is critical for Tennessee students to realize the benefits.

We have the data to help Tennesseans make informed decisions and achieve their career goals, we just need to use it and make it more accessible. Timely info about education pathways to good jobs allows leaders to improve services and Tennesseans to make good decisions.

Educators across Tennessee are finding innovative ways to support students during a challenging school year. Assistant Principal Dr. Derek Voiles shares his experience from Hamblen County.

In Hamblen County, educators are on a mission to enroll more students in the early postsecondary opportunities that could lead to college and career success.

At a time when education is increasingly reliant on internet access, an estimated 432,627 Tennesseans do not have minimum high-speed internet service. A new broadband report looks at Tennessee’s digital divide and offers recommendations to address access gaps.

The budget proposal Governor Bill Lee unveiled during his State of the State address on February 8 included significant initiatives for Tennessee education. If approved by the General Assembly, the appropriations will respond to several data-driven K-12 and higher education priorities identified by SCORE in the 2021 State Of Education In Tennessee report and the Driving Forward digital report.

In Lenoir City, educators are taking research-based approach to accelerate student learning following the COVID-19 disruptions. Here’s a look at their high-dosage tutoring program.