Resources

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.

CTE Course Substitutions

September 25, 2025

This recording captures a presentation on Sept. 24, 2025, to the state's Joint Advisory Committee on Innovations in K-12 Education. SCORE Senior Director of Pathways Bryce Warden and SCORE Policy Analyst Jack Roberts Jue highlighted the important role that high expectations and career-technical education (CTE) together play in unlocking opportunity for students.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Teachers & Leaders

The Future of Tennessee Teacher Evaluation

August 21, 2025

Tennessee’s teacher evaluation system has long been recognized as a national model — both for the reforms that created our multiple-measure evaluation design and for its impact on student achievement and teacher effectiveness. Built to deliver meaningful instructional feedback, the system has driven lasting gains in math and English language arts proficiency. Still, there are opportunities to advance Tennessee’s teacher evaluation system. Because teacher quality is the single most important in-school factor for student success, Tennessee must continue refining this critical tool.This memo outlines three areas of opportunity and key recommendations — presented on August 20, 2025, to the Tennessee General Assembly’s Joint Advisory Committee on Innovations in K-12 Education — to ensure our teacher evaluation system continues to drive instructional growth and student success. 

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.

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.

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. 

Innovative Models | K-12 Success

Tennessee Opportunity for AI in Education

June 6, 2025

As Tennessee begins discussions around what types of policies and supports are needed for artificial intelligence (AI) in education, it’s critical to better understand the trends among early-adopting educators as they pilot AI tools and evaluate the impact on student learning. This memo provides a set of recommendations to the state’s AI Advisory Council and is designed to help policy and education leaders reinforce Tennessee as an incubator of innovation that prepares students for careers of the future.  

Education Finance

Federal Career and Technical Education Funding in Tennessee

May 28, 2025

Career and technical education (CTE) in Tennessee plays a critical role in preparing students as they pursue careers that can enable economic independence. As part of our Informing the Conversation series, this memo explores Perkins V, the federal funding stream available to states to support and strengthen CTE options for students and enhance accountability for student outcomes. Perkins V nationally distributes about $1.4 billion in state formula grants under Title I funding. As part of the 2018 reauthorization of the Perkins Act, greater emphasis was placed on evaluations and support for evidence-based strategies in CTE education. This emphasis aims to ensure that CTE options available to students are better aligned to regional labor market needs, setting students up for success as they enter the workforce.