Workforce Pell: A New Opportunity for Tennesseans to Build Skills Through Short-Term Credentials
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Innovative Models | Education-to-Career Pathways
From Vision to Action: Building Stronger Pathways to Economic Independence
June 29, 2026
Preparing more Tennessee students for economic independence requires stronger connections between education and workforce needs. The 2026 Future Forward Summit brought together leaders from K-12 education, postsecondary education, workforce development, industry, philanthropy, and state government to explore how Tennessee can build stronger, more connected pathways for every student. This memo highlights five key takeaways from the summit and explores practical solutions for education, workforce, business, and policy leaders working together to strengthen Tennessee's education-to-career ecosystem.
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Postsecondary Success | Innovative Models
Coaching and Completion Grants: Five Years of Evidence and Impact
April 9, 2026
New evidence shows that access to postsecondary education alone is not enough — targeted coaching and just-in-time financial support help more students persist and complete postsecondary credentials. Over the past five years, Tennessee has paired tuition-free access through Tennessee Promise with proactive completion coaching and completion grants for students with the greatest financial need. This report brings together evidence from the tnAchieves COMPLETE program and Knox Promise pilot, showing that this combined approach strengthens persistence and improves outcomes for students across the state.
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Education Finance | Postsecondary Success | Education-to-Career Pathways
Outcomes-Based Funding: Reimagining the High-Need Premium to Align Education and Workforce Opportunity
March 5, 2026
Tennessee’s outcomes-based funding formula rewards colleges and universities based on student outcomes. The high-need premium, a newer component of the formula, is designed to incentivize institutions to prepare graduates for careers that meet the state’s economic needs. However, the premium’s current definition relies on broad program categories and does not consistently reward credentials that lead to high-wage, in-demand careers. This memo outlines our recommendation to replace the existing high-need premium with a tiered impact credential bonus grounded in actual labor-market outcomes.
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Education Finance | Postsecondary Success | Education-to-Career Pathways
Workforce Pell: A New Opportunity for Tennesseans to Build Skills Through Short-Term Credentials
January 21, 2026
Tennessee’s economy needs more skilled workers, and forecasts predict that by 2031 most jobs will require some form of postsecondary education. Beginning in 2026, Workforce Pell — the new federal expansion of the Pell Grant program — will provide financial aid for high‑quality short‑term training programs that help Tennesseans quickly gain skills, earn credentials aligned to employer needs, and access high‑wage, in‑demand careers.
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Data Insights | Innovative Models | K-12 Success
Integrating AI Into English Language Arts
October 28, 2025
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is advancing quickly, and Tennessee has an opportunity to lead the way in integrating it meaningfully into teaching and learning — starting with English language arts (ELA). Our memo examines how identifying the AI literacy skills and competencies that align with Tennessee’s ELA standards can help students build future-ready skills while supporting teachers with clear expectations and practical tools.
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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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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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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.
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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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