Monthly Archives: August 2016

  • Why More Teachers of Color Should Be a Priority for Tennessee

    August 31st, 2016 by

    In Tennessee, students of color make up 35 percent of the public school population, yet just 15 percent of teachers in the state identify as people of color. SCORE’s 2015-16 State of Education in Tennessee report identified diversifying the teaching population as one of the annual priorities for the state. While SCORE continues to explore how best to address these issues, we are also learning from educators across the state. We asked three of them—Laura Delgado, Erin Glenn, and Dr. Louis Glover—to share their perspectives on teacher racial and ethnic diversity in Tennessee.

  • Voices of SCORE Prize Summit

    August 29th, 2016 by

    During the event, I got the chance to talk to educators and get their perspective on the SCORE Prize Summit – what they were learning from the event and the three strands, how that learning connected to their work, and their plans for the future. I’d like to share a few of their answers and insights from the day.

  • ACT Update: Indicators of College and Career Readiness in Tennessee

    August 24th, 2016 by

    As one of 18 states in which 100 percent of graduating high school seniors have taken the ACT college entrance examination, ACT scores represent an important indicator of college and career readiness in Tennessee. This year, more than 63,000 public high school graduates statewide took the exam—an increase of more than 3,000 test-takers from 2015—and the published results provide data needed to understand how well our schools are preparing young people for success in postsecondary and career opportunities. Results provide both good news and compelling evidence for the need to do more.

  • SCORE Releases Statement on Tennessee’s 2016 ACT Results

    August 24th, 2016 by

    The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has released the following statement from President David Mansouri about the 2016 ACT results and postsecondary readiness in Tennessee: All Tennessee students need…

  • Camp Explore: Reading to Be Ready

    August 22nd, 2016 by

    Do you remember reading a new book over the summer and diving headfirst into a new world, time period, country, and stepping into the shoes of someone with a different perspective? This summer SCORE had the opportunity to visit Camp Explore, a program led by Lipscomb University Associate Professor Jeanine Fain that aims to encourage young students to read. Camp Explore was selected as one of 12 programs receiving a sub-grants to improve early literacy, as part of the Tennessee Department of Education’s Read to Be Ready, an initiative made possible by a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

  • Letter from Jamie Woodson: Great Teachers Dream and Drive as Tennessee Goes Back to School

    August 10th, 2016 by

    Dear Friends, As school starts again, I cannot help but think of Tennessee’s teachers. The teachers I know are busy creating engaging lesson plans, planning their own professional learning, and…

  • SCORE Prize Summit: Embracing Peer Collaboration to Spark Sustainable Change

    August 9th, 2016 by

    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.

  • Rethinking School Discipline to Support Academic Achievement

    August 4th, 2016 by

    In recent weeks, stakeholder groups ranging from the Assessment Task Force and Career Forward Task Force to the State Board of Education have all considered discipline disparities in our state. Emerging research suggests that school discipline policies can influence school climate and affect student well-being. Excessive use of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, referred to as exclusionary disciplinary policies, can both disrupt the school climate and add to academic and behavioral issues for some students.

The SCORE Sheet is the online conversation on public education reform in Tennessee and is hosted by SCORE. The blog mirrors SCORE’s collaborative nature and features contributors from Tennessee and across the country including students, parents, teachers, policymakers, community groups, and members of SCORE’s team. Regardless of perspective, contributors share a common goal: that every child graduates from high school prepared for college or the workforce.

Posts on The SCORE Sheet are the opinions of the individual contributors and are not necessarily reflective of the opinions and positions of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE).