2026 State of Education in Tennessee: Moving Every Student Forward
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Innovative Models | K-12 Success
Connecting the Dots: The Environment’s Impact on Student Success
October 14, 2025
In 2024, SCORE launched the Connecting the Dots series to spotlight emerging issues beyond our core priorities that are increasingly impacting student success in Tennessee. This year’s symposium focused on how the changing environment — from extreme weather disruptions to the effect on current and future careers — is impacting students’ learning, physical and mental well-being, and long-term opportunities. This memo serves as a continuation of the day’s discussions and includes speaker insights, key data, and practical action to benefit students, our workforce, and the planet.
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Education Finance | Postsecondary Success | Education-to-Career Pathways
Driving Workforce Opportunity Through the Outcomes-Based Funding Formula
October 10, 2025
For decades, Tennessee has been a national leader in higher education reform. Yet today, too many students are earning credentials that don’t connect to economic opportunity. This memo makes the case for aligning Tennessee’s outcomes-based formula to an urgent education priority: preparing students for high-wage, high-growth careers.
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Data Insights | K-12 Success
The Future of State and Local Assessments in Tennessee
September 23, 2025
Assessments are essential for monitoring student learning and strengthening schools. The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) measures student progress toward Tennessee’s academic standards and has been central to improving proficiency and growth. The results empower families, educators, and policymakers to make data-driven decisions that support stronger outcomes for students. Over the past 15 years, Tennessee’s commitment to high-quality, standards-aligned annual assessments and transparent reporting has contributed to the state’s significant advancement in student achievement.
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Data Insights | Education Finance | K-12 Success
Series: Informing the Conversation
September 16, 2025
Informing the Conversation is a collection of resources offering data, research, insights, and ideas to inform discussions about Tennessee education in the context of federal shifts, offered with an eye toward the urgent need to continue improving student outcomes in our state. In a March 2025 executive order, President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Secretary of Education to “return education authority to the states, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” As federal changes unfold, SCORE is committed to collaborating, informing, and offering perspective that we hope can steward change into opportunity for Tennessee students.
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K-12 Success
Federal and State School Accountability in Tennessee
September 10, 2025
Potential changes in federal education policy could reshape how states approach accountability, making it critical to understand how Tennessee’s systems currently work. The state currently uses two accountability systems, each designed for different purposes that reflect different measures of progress. Part of our Informing the Conversation series, this memo provides an overview of how Tennessee’s accountability systems work, how they differ, and what each means for school improvement and transparency.
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Data Insights | Postsecondary Success | K-12 Success
TN2030 Presentation to the State Board of Education
September 5, 2025
In August 2025, Courtney Bell, SCORE’s vice president of research and innovation, gave a presentation to the Tennessee State Board of Education on TN2030 — a statewide vision that sets bold goals for student success, from early literacy to postsecondary readiness — and emphasized the need for a shared commitment to help all students thrive.Watch a recording of the presentation below and view the associated slide deck.
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High-Quality Public Charter Schools | Data Insights | Innovative Models
Tennessee Charter Schools Excel in Postpandemic Performance
July 30, 2025
Researchers at the University of Kentucky and the University of Southern California examined the academic performance of Tennessee charter school students before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using longitudinal student data from 2017–18 through 2022–23, the study evaluated standardized math and English language arts (ELA) test scores across the state. Their findings demonstrate the significant positive impact that Tennessee’s public charter schools have had on students.
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Teachers & Leaders | Innovative Models | K-12 Success
The Tennessee Approach: Let’s Ask How Changes Can Benefit Students
July 28, 2025
Thanks to student-centered policies, practices, and investments, Tennessee has been a national leader in improving student outcomes over the past decade. As the Trump Administration explores shifting key responsibilities from the U.S. Department of Education to the states, Tennessee has an opportunity to reinforce its leadership by anchoring decisions in three guiding principles. As part of SCORE’s Informing the Conversation series, this memo examines how stakeholders can respond to federal shifts with a sense of possibility and urgency by asking how changes might benefit students.
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Education Finance | Innovative Models
ESSER Funding to Support Learning Recovery in Tennessee
June 9, 2025
In 2020 and 2021, Tennessee received nearly $4 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds — money that Congress directed to the states to stave off negative learning impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the single largest infusion of federal funds into the state’s K-12 system. Tennessee met the moment and developed a systematic approach to allocating funds that, in turn, led to nationally leading learning recovery and acceleration. These actions are a model for future efforts to disperse federal funding to the state in a way that can lead to accountability and student success.
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Postsecondary Success | Education-to-Career Pathways | K-12 Success
Leveraging Credential Stackability to Reach Workforce Opportunity
May 20, 2025
Tennessee has a growing number of postsecondary credential options available in today’s dynamic economy. As part of this trend, students are increasingly stacking credentials — earning multiple credentials over time to build skills. This practice is not just more common but also increasingly necessary to unlock career opportunity. Yet Tennessee lacks a clear definition of what it means for a student to “stack” credentials or how stackability can lead to high-wage, high-demand job opportunities. Tennessee can lead the nation in defining stackability and supporting students across their education-to-career journeys.
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Postsecondary Success | Innovative Models | Education-to-Career Pathways
Building Pathways to Success: Work-Based Learning in Tennessee High Schools
May 14, 2025
Tennessee has made significant investments in preparing all students for postsecondary education and a career. Research suggests that work-based learning (WBL) is one opportunity that can provide students with the confidence, skills, and social capital to succeed in college and the workplace. However, for these positive impacts to be realized, work-based learning must be high quality, providing students with valuable learning that sets them up for later career success. To gain a better understanding of the current state of work-based learning in Tennessee, the SCORE team analyzed data from several sources and produced this series of memos.
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Postsecondary Success | Innovative Models | Education-to-Career Pathways
Barriers to Implementing Work-Based Learning
May 12, 2025
High-quality work-based learning is an important component of Tennessee’s efforts to prepare all high school students for postsecondary education and a quality career. This second memo in our Building Pathways to Success series uses data collected from interviews with district leaders to help us better understand barriers to implementing work-based learning (WBL) programs throughout Tennessee. State policymakers and leaders can use this information to provide the right solutions and supports.
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