On Monday, the State Board of Education released the 2019 Educator Preparation Providers Progress Report: A Review of Improvements Over Time, a companion report to the annual Educator Preparation Report Card. This report highlights several educator preparation programs (EPPs) that made significant strides on the annual Report Card in the past several years. After first using Report Card data to identify EPPs with substantial improvements in a variety of areas, State Board staff conducted interviews with those EPPs to learn specific steps each provider took to improve. The goal of this report is to share several emerging practices that appear to be driving positive change in EPPs across Tennessee in an effort to support continuous improvement for educator preparation statewide. To read the 2019 Educator Preparation Program Progress Over Time Report or learn more about the 2018 Educator Preparation Report Card, visit our website.

The meeting of the State Board of Education Testing and Accountability Subcommittee scheduled for Friday, September 6th is postponed at the direction of the Board Chairman and at the request of the Chairmen of the Standing Committees on Education of the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives. Please check back for updates on our schedule.

Members of the SBE and THEC will hear from an industry partnership panel including representatives from the Tennessee Board of Regents, the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, and Nissan North America about the future of the Tennessee workforce. SBE and THEC staff members will also present a joint presentation on regional initiatives dedicated to improving career readiness in the state.

Tennessee families have access to a variety of school choices for their children – including local public schools, public charter schools and other non-public entities. In this landscape, public charter school authorizers play a critical role inensuring that high quality charter schools are able to open, and that only those that deliver excellent outcomes retain the privilege of serving students and families. Under state law, local school districts operate traditional public schools and may approve any public charter school for operation within the district. In select circumstances, the state is also able to approve a charter operator’s application.

Are new teachers ready for their first day in the classroom? That question is critical to the Tennessee State Board of Education. The state legislature gave the State Board the responsibility of approving the educator preparation providers (EPPs) that prepare teachers, principals, and other educators in our state. Those programs might be at traditional colleges and universities or at alternative providers that provide pathways for non-education majors become teachers.

Today, the State Board of Education released the annual Educator Preparation Report Card, a tool for Tennesseans to learn more about the progress of educator preparation providers toward the Board’s key priority areas. The report card uses multiple metrics, including a profile of recent graduates, their placement and retention in Tennessee public school classrooms and their observation and growth scores, which provide information about teacher and leader preparation in the state.

During their first quarterly meeting of 2019, members of the State Board of Education re-elected Ms. Lillian Hartgrove as board chair and selected Mr. Bob Eby as vice-chair to serve a two-year term. Ms. Lillian Hartgrove, of the sixth Congressional district, has served on the Board since 2014. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the Board’s vice chair. In 2018, Ms. Hartgrove was chosen by her peers to serve as chair of the state’s K-12 education policymaking body.

Next week, the Tennessee State Board of Education will meet for the first time in 2019 in House Hearing Room II on Thursday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, where members will recognize the 2018 Blue Ribbon and ESEA Distinguished Schools. The State Board of Education will hear presentations from the State Board staff, the Tennessee Department of Education, and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) at the Thursday workshop on education policy topics including recent research findings in Tennessee and the progress toward the Board’s annual Master Plan. Meeting items and links to the live stream for the Thursday workshop are included in the workshop agenda.

A better Tennessee starts with strong teachers. Teachers impact every other profession in our state by developing people — equipping students with the critical knowledge, tools, and skills they need to succeed in post-secondary education, careers and beyond. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we have the finest teachers in Tennessee’s classrooms. Tennessee seeks to enter the top half of all states on student outcomes by 2020, so we must continue to implement the highest academic standards and commit to our mission of providing quality education to all students. By employing the best and the brightest teachers, we can better ensure we are truly preparing the children of Tennessee for success after high school.

By Bob Eby Public education is the most important institution to our nation’s success and survival. This one shared endeavor binds our communities together and gives us commonality in purpose, no matter where we come from or what our backgrounds may be. In order for public education to thrive, the focus must always be on each student’s opportunity to succeed. After all, that is why public education exists — to provide every student the greatest likelihood for success and to take advantage of the blessings of liberty. The State Board of Education's purpose is to provide strong policies that ensure our students are challenged and strengthened. We accomplish this through developing excellent educator preparation programs, setting high academic standards, and postsecondary readiness.

The Tennessee State Board of Education will hold its third quarterly meeting of 2018 at the Cordell Hull Building on Thursday, July 26 and Friday, July 27, 2018. The newest member of the State Board of Education, Mr. Nick Darnell of the First Congressional District, will join other members of the Board of the first time. Chairman Fielding Rolston, the former board member from District 1, retired from the State Board of Education in April.

State Board of Education Executive Director Dr. Sara Morrison has invited Mr. Bob Eby, representing the third congressional district, to join the Board’s Teacher Preparation Report Card Advisory Council. “Bob brings valuable perspective and experience from his time on the Oak Ridge Board,” Dr. Morrison said. “Since joining the State Board in April, he has jumped right into the work, making meaningful contributions to state-level policy decisions. We are pleased to have him on the Teacher Preparation Report Card advisory council because he understands the impact this work has at the local district level.”