Nestled along the Mississippi River sits Tennessee’s largest school district, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), serving more than 100,000 students across 222 schools. Within this complex urban landscape sits a much smaller campus making an outsized difference: Perea Elementary, a charter school in the Klondike/Smokey City community that predominantly serves students who are economically disadvantaged or from historically underserved groups.
Despite the challenges facing MSCS and many schools across the state, newly released state data show Perea as a bright spot in math growth. In just two years, Perea has nearly tripled the number of students in grades 3-5 who scored as meeting or exceeding math expectations — a remarkable accomplishment for any school but especially for a school serving a more vulnerable student population.
Principal Tia James credits this improvement to high expectations and real-time instructional adjustments. “Our teachers are taking ownership and making adjustments to address student misconceptions in real time,” James says.
Reimagining Instruction Through TESI
As a pilot site within SCORE’s Tennessee Educator Staffing Innovation (TESI) Network, Perea is helping demonstrate how strategic staffing and instructional coherence can transform student outcomes. The TESI vision begins by revisiting a school’s instructional goals and priorities. From there, TESI supports leaders in reimagining educator roles, implementing strategic staffing models, and strengthening routines that help teachers reach more students with high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Through technical assistance from Public Impact and TNTP, pilot sites receive hands-on coaching to align operational and academic structures. At Perea, this partnership has taken shape through the adoption of multiclassroom leaders (MCLs) — a type of advanced teacher role that is a signature component in schools participating in TESI.
Promising Practice #1: Leveraging Multiclassroom Leaders to Multiply Great Teaching
Perea employs MCLs in math (one), English language arts (two), and early literacy (one). These highly effective educators coach and support teams of teachers by providing:
- Content-specific observation and feedback
- Coplanning and professional learning
- Data-analysis cycles grounded in student work
- Model lessons and targeted instructional support
This structure allows students to learn from the school’s strongest teachers every single day. James notes that having a dedicated MCL for math has already pushed instructional practice forward.
Strategic staffing models like MCLs can be replicated in any school, large or small, because they maximize existing talent, provide coaching aligned to HQIM, and create consistency in how instruction is delivered.
Promising Practice #2: Tight Instructional Routines
Visitors immediately notice Perea’s focus on academic excellence. Students enter with smiles; teachers greet them warmly at thresholds; classrooms are orderly and joyful. Across classrooms, several consistent practices stand out:
- “Do now” tasks to launch lessons with purpose
- Guided practice that prompts students to explain thinking
- Teachers facilitating — not doing — the cognitive work
- Students eagerly asking and answering questions
- Standards-aligned formative assessments developed by MCL teams
These routines create an environment where every minute is anchored to learning. Clear and consistent routines, paired with HQIM, support coherence across classrooms and help students know what to expect, regardless of which teacher is leading instruction.
Promising Practice #3: Instructional Coherence Led by Expert Coaching
Through their work with the TESI network, Perea’s school leaders and MCLs work diligently to strengthen instructional coherence. They focus on ensuring that curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning work together seamlessly. Cross-functional coaching that connects classroom practice to curriculum and assessments helps ensure students have access to grade-level content and meaningful learning experiences.
Promising Practice #4: A Culture of Joy and High Expectations
Perea’s improved outcomes are rooted not just in structures but in culture. Classrooms are filled with curiosity, engagement, and academic joy. Students experience grade-level math tasks, multiple opportunities for conceptual and procedural thinking, and teachers who believe deeply in students’ potential. This culture is reinforced by strategic staffing that frees teachers to focus on what matters most: student learning. When staffing models and instructional routines reduce teacher burden, schools can cultivate a joyful, high-expectations culture that benefits students and adults alike.
A Scalable Roadmap for Tennessee — and Beyond
Perea Elementary’s success demonstrates what is possible when strategic staffing, HQIM, and instructional coherence come together in a unified vision.
The school’s involvement in the TESI network has already yielded stronger teaching and learning, increased teacher ownership, and led to more students receiving effective instruction every day. As Perea’s MCLs continue deepening their work, the school is well positioned to sustain and expand these gains.
Perea is offering Tennessee a scalable roadmap — one rooted in coherence, courage, and a relentless belief that every student deserves access to excellent instruction. A small school making a big impact is showing what’s possible in Tennessee.