Tennessee is considering new policies and practices for postsecondary and workforce readiness, including two proposals from Governor Bill Lee to strengthen career and technical education offerings as well as provide students with more career-focused classes. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has launched the monthly Classroom To Career newsletter to highlight relevant news about the work to reimagine college and career readiness in Tennessee.
SCORE is dedicated to ensuring all Tennessee students have the skills they need to be successful in the workforce. Following thoughtful collaboration by economic, K-12, and higher education leaders over six months in 2018, SCORE convened the Future Ready Summit in October of last year. The summit explored with state and national partners how Tennessee can adopt innovative practices and use policy levers to prepare every student to make the most of postsecondary opportunities that lead to a successful future.
At the conclusion of the summit, it was clear that there was a need to continue to focus on ensuring that all Tennessee students discover successful routes to college, career, and opportunity. Therefore, SCORE created this newsletter to cover work happening in local districts across the state, as well as nationally, to prepare students for future success in either postsecondary education, the military, or the workforce.
The newsletter will focus on the priorities to reimagine college and career readiness in SCORE’s latest report, Priorities For Progress: 2018-19 State Of Education In Tennessee, including:
- Aligning K-12 education, postsecondary education, and economic development efforts
- Redesigning high school to improve student preparedness to earn postsecondary degrees and certifications
- Empowering communities to offer high-quality career and technical education aligned to local needs
- Supporting students on their pathway to college and career through personalized advising
Each month, the newsletter will highlight work happening in Tennessee to help prepare students for the rapidly changing economy. The newsletter has featured how Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools has become a national model for how to integrate innovative postsecondary-focused methods into high schools. The newsletter has also spotlighted how Rutherford Works has created district-business partnerships to support seven K-12 programs that encourage and empower students to learn about local career opportunities.
Sign up today to receive this monthly newsletter straight to your inbox. You can also read the February 2019 edition of the Classroom To Career newsletter here.
McKenzie Manning is the deputy director of communications at SCORE.