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  • Focus on Instructional Materials a Must for Student Success

    “The Common Core standards will only have a chance of raising student achievement if they are implemented with high-quality materials, but there is currently no basis to measure the quality of materials.” This sobering assessment by Matthew Chingos and Russ Whitehurst of the Brookings Institution opens a strong argument for greater focus on instructional materials…

  • Better Standards + Better Assessment = Better Data

    The Common Core has the power to enrich data-driven decisionmaking at all levels Implementation of the Common Core State Standards has begun, and new aligned assessments are on the horizon. Nation-wide state departments of education, teachers, principals, superintendents, have been working to ensure that educators are ready to teach based on the new standards. Meanwhile,…

  • Finding success through struggle

    When my students would furrow their brows and tell me, “You do too much,” I knew it was code for, “you are working us too hard.” My students deserved teachers who would push them to their highest potential, so when they lamented that they were working too hard, I was confident that they unsuspectingly loved…

  • TN Department of Education invites stakeholders in education to attend summer training sessions

    The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) would like to invite its higher education, teacher preparation, non-profit, education advocacy organization, and private school partners to attend training sessions on the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics for grades 3-8. Although the training is intended for math teachers, school administrators and school personnel, the TDOE would like…

  • Clear Communication is Key

    I recently attended a meeting on improving science education. Those in attendance included experts in the field of science curriculum, engineers, educators, and representatives from the Tennessee Department of Education. About midway through the discussion, I was discretely asked if I understood what was being discussed. Terms and acronyms like Common Core, ELA, NAEP, STEM,…

  • Final Reflections as a School System Director

    December 2011 is my last month as a Director of Schools. I have been in this role for 5 years and have had some of the proudest moments of my life as leader for the Putnam County School System. I have watched our system be recognized for instituting an on-line school; a strategic pay plan…

  • LEADing the Way

    It has been a year of great change in Tennessee schools. Revised tenure rules, collaborative conferencing, the beginnings of the transition to Common Core standards have all been new dynamics in public education in the Volunteer State. Obviously one of the biggest and most important changes has been the movement to the new teacher performance…

  • The Classroom Ever Expanding: A Call for Attitude, Ambition, and Amnesia

    Last week I represented the state of Tennessee as the 2012 Teacher of the Year at the 2012 National Teacher of the Year Program Conference in Dallas, Texas. The National Teacher of the Year Program, sponsored by ING and Target, is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers in partnership with the…

  • Public-Private Partnerships Key to Improving Education

    More than 3 million jobs are open in America today at a time of persistent unemployment because applicants lack necessary skill sets. Last Thursday, a panel of leaders convened at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC to discuss the role of partnerships between private enterprise and public sector institutions in support of educational…

  • The TEAM Teacher Evaluation: Stay the Course or Change the Model?

    The new teacher evaluation (TEAM) in Tennessee has caused a flurry of conversation among educators, legislators, media, and the general public. The idea that all teachers in a public school system be evaluated at a minimum four times per year is upsetting to some and much different than the previous model. At most, teachers were…

  • Educators Still Seek Answers to Decades-Old Questions

    Questions posed by an Alabama school superintendent in a letter addressed to his successor in 50 years present many of the most vexing present questions in education policy. Superintendent Cranford Burns of Mobile wrote the letter to be inserted in a time capsule for release in 50 years. Superintendent Burns’ questions include: Should the school…

  • Lipscomb, Ayers put focus on teachers

    This Op-Ed co-authored by Candice McQueen and Jamie Woodson originally appeared in the 5/2/12 Tennessean. What will the end of the story be? We ask ourselves that question daily as we make progress toward Tennessee’s bold goals in public education. It is a question we must answer collectively as we visualize a day when all Tennessee children graduate from…

  • How the U.S. can find and train more great teachers

    This Op-Ed originally appeared in the 4/10/12 The Week. Consider Laura. When she entered the third grade, she couldn’t understand the stories all her friends enjoyed. She was even too embarrassed to read aloud. Why? She could only read at a first grade level. Laura’s hardly alone — but that’s small comfort. A recent study from the…

  • Exhibit A in a culture of low expectations

    Much of the education-reform community is buzzing about an opinion piece that appeared in yesterday’s New York Times. The piece, Is Algebra Necessary?, can be summed up in the first paragraph: A typical American school day finds some six million high school students and two million college freshmen struggling with algebra. In both high school…

  • Bringing the Best and Brightest Back to Our Rural Communities

    As early as the second grade, I can remember the teacher asking my classmates and me what we wanted to be when we grew up. We had been studying space, so one of my friends said he would be an astronaut. A fair share of us wanted to be professional athletes and doctors. I said…

  • The crucial need to hold students to a higher standard

    This editorial originally appeared on 7/3/12 in The Week. The crucial need to hold students to a higher standard Over the last few months, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors have walked across a stage and received a diploma, an important moment that should be applauded. Unfortunately, for many of those students, that diploma…

  • Retaining talented teachers

    Several weeks ago, students and teachers said their good-byes for the summer. Far too many teachers also say good-bye each summer, however, to the teaching profession itself. I wrote a few months ago about the harmful effects on student achievement of high teacher turnover rates. Although these effects hold true across school types, a new…

  • Parents are key in implementing higher academic standards

    Over 30 years of research studies tell us that when parents are engaged in a child’s learning, the child does better in school and the schools get better. The Tennessee State Board of Education committed to ensuring that each school and school district implements a viable family engagement policy and plan by adopting the Six…

  • The Zip Code to Success

    A student’s address should not determine the quality of his or her education. But often it does. As an undergraduate at Rhodes College in Memphis, I have become acutely aware of the unfortunate relationship between the economic situation of a community and the academic achievement of its schools. Only 20 minutes of driving time separates…

  • Unlocking Tennessee’s Workforce Potential: Empowering Students With Durable Skills For Success 

    Our partners at America Succeeds explain the demand for durable skills in today’s workforce and the importance of ensuring Tennessee students develop them.