On August 12-13, SCORE will convene the SCORE Prize Summit: Strategies for Student Success in Nashville.The summit, which showcases effective approaches to increasing student achievement, will equip Tennessee K-12 educators at the district and school levels with promising strategies organized around the three pillars in SCORE’s theory of change: Empowering People, Insisting on High Expectations, and Fostering Innovation. Teams of educators from districts across Tennessee will attend, bringing a unique, collaboration-based focus to this Summit.
For the past several months, my colleagues and I have been immersed in developing, planning, and coordinating the SCORE Prize Summit, leading efforts to recognize and leverage the excellent work happening in Tennessee schools. As a member of the Policy and Research team, it is invigorating to see the ways Tennessee schools and districts embrace continuous learning to push what’s possible in education.
I am especially excited for the breakout sessions. These sessions, which correspond to the three pillars of change, will feature schools and district sharing specific strategies used to set a culture of high expectations, push greater innovation, and persistently empower people to achieve greater learning. This is an opportunity for educators to get an up-close look at how peers tackle problems of practice with collaborative solutions, from business and education partnerships that offer real opportunities for students to accelerate workforce preparedness, to cross-subject instructional planning that creates dynamic learning experiences for students.
Along with these breakout sessions, the SCORE Prize Summit is going to have the vision and insight of Tennessee education leaders from all around the state. With speakers and panelists that lead award-winning schools and districts to leaders in the business and education community, the summit will explore ways schools and districts can empower their people, insist on high expectations, and foster innovation. In addition, Governor Bill Haslam will deliver the keynote address, speaking to the great work that is accelerating student learning towards Tennessee’s 2020 Goals.
Watching how these schools and districts innovate and develop programs for the last few months has been exciting, but I am even more thrilled about the collaboration that will occur August 12-13, as these schools and districts identify, select, and plan to take strategies they’ve learned about to their students back home. I am confident the Summit will result in a ripple effect, where ideas take root and translate to action, and a sustained dialogue about empowerment, high expectations, and innovation spreads into the culture of schools and districts.
