“By any measure, too many children in Tennessee struggle to read,” is the opening sentence of the report, Setting the Foundation. Tennessee stands out as a state that has been making dramatic gains in student achievement. From 2007 until now, the work of teachers, parents, policymakers, and community members has made a large, lasting, positive impact…
“You have to lay out a calendar. We just had a principals’ meeting in our district, and we looked at our calendar. We highlighted with colors the different tests and whether it’s no teaching that day. I thought, what if you give teachers this calendar and say, ‘Go find your days to teach.’ Those are…
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has released the following statement from President and CEO Jamie Woodson on Governor Bill Haslam’s announcement that he has selected Dr. Candice McQueen, Senior Vice President and Dean of the College of Education at Lipscomb University, to be commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education: Leadership matters. In…
I recently spent a week in Orlando, but I didn’t hobnob with cartoon animals or traverse any kingdoms, magical or otherwise. In fact, the only mouse ears I saw were in the airport gift shop. Instead, I spent five days with educators from across the country — including fellow Tennesseans — reviewing test items for…
I have watched and listened with interest to an increasingly noisy conversation seemingly between non-traditional education reformers who are accused of trying to upset the public education system and traditional educators who are opposed to changing the status quo. I don’t often hear, however, the voice of the education insider who sees the need for…