Monthly Archives: December 2017

  • Maintaining Personal Values And Overall Purpose

    December 27th, 2017 by

    “Who remembers reading the book Goodnight Moon as a kid? Or better yet, who remembers having their parents read Goodnight Moon to them?” I, along with most of the other 15 college students seated around the wooden discussion table, raised my hand. I attended the same competitive, private school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Although I recognized I was lucky to have attended such an institution, I didn’t realize just how lucky I had been until I was asked this question. It was my freshman year of college and it was the first time I was really beginning to think about education.

  • Shifting Culture And Transforming Learning Outcomes

    December 22nd, 2017 by

    As Tennessee raises the bar for students and teachers, TNReady shows us what work we have to do and gives us the specific information we need to plan a purposeful and intentional response. As a teacher and a mom, I understand that achievement is personal. Behind those scores are children and their future opportunities. When I look at some of the students’ scores, I have to remind myself that this is a data point on a path, and we are in this for the long haul.

  • Letter From Jamie Woodson: Tennessee’s Future – Excellence For All In Education

    December 20th, 2017 by

    It was not too long ago that Tennessee set out to make unprecedented improvements for our students. Tennessee became the fastest-improving state for academic achievement in 2013 thanks to a shared vision, a commitment to focus on what is best for students, and much hard work. While the academic success of the past 10 years is tremendous and must be celebrated, we know there is much more to be done for our students. Tennesseans next want our students to be ranked among the best in the nation, and they have clear ideas for how we can achieve that.

  • TNReady Reports Foster Collaboration And Inform Instruction

    December 15th, 2017 by

    Why am I giving this test? How can it be useful to me? For me, these questions, and the resulting answers, are integral to the process of evaluating an instructional tool or activity. I must have purpose in order to determine action. Most recently I posed these questions regarding the use of the new TNReady score reports to help plan instruction. TNReady is, like any assessment, a snapshot of what students have learned. It is a checkpoint, and I treat it as such. Evaluate the results, learn the lesson it has to convey, and use the information to grow and improve.

  • Four Best Practices For Tennessee Districts And Schools Under ESSA

    December 7th, 2017 by

    The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) has given states greater flexibility to use innovative approaches to improve student achievement. Now that the Tennessee Succeeds plan for ESSA has been approved, SCORE has informally heard from schools and districts about the need for support and resources to help with implementation of the strategic plan. Spotlighted here are a few national and Tennessee-specific innovations currently being implemented to address various areas of focus connected to student achievement.

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).