Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Richard G. Rhoda, Executive Director

With Tennessee's successful Race to the Top bid, higher education will have a substantial role in improving the education of Tennessee's citizens. Not only will higher education be involved in shaping the education reforms being enacted but will also be directly responsible for numerous programs. THEC will direct and manage numerous projects with a total fiscal impact of over $20 million.

• State of Tennessee First to the Top website and newsletter sign-up
• THEC First to the Top Memo
• Higher Education’s Involvement in First to the Top
• Regional Meetings PowerPoint Presentation

Please see the STEM Initiatives tab for professional development projects funded in Round II.

Integrating Common Core Standards into Pre-Service Training

• The Common Core Standards were adopted in Tennessee in the summer of 2010. These standards raise the level of expectation for student achievement. Teacher education faculty will be trained on these standards and curriculum will be developed to be integrated into the teacher pre-service training programs. This curriculum will focus on the level of rigor the new standards set, differentiated instruction to bring all students on level, and the new assessment system in development.

Integrating Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) into Pre-Service Training

• The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System provides data on the progress that students make in a given year based on their past performance on the state's standardized tests. Higher education institutions will train pre-service teachers on TVAAS so that teachers can use data to improve instruction on day one in the classroom. This will be done through a series of modules that will be integrated into the pre-service curriculum.
• TVAAS Training Session Materials
  • Recommended TVAAS Report Uses
  • The TVAAS Playbook
  • THEC Goals
  • TVAAS Research Links

With Tennessee's successful Race to the Top bid, higher education will have a substantial role in improving the education of Tennessee's citizens. Not only will higher education be involved in shaping the education reforms being enacted but will also be directly responsible for numerous programs. THEC will direct and manage numerous projects with a total fiscal impact of over $20 million.

UTeach Program Replication

• The UTeach program began at the University of Texas, Austin with the goal of increasing the number of math and science teachers. The program is being replicated state-wide in Tennessee and is expected to exponentially increase the number of highly effective math and science teachers in the state. The University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga are being funded through First to the Top. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Middle Tennessee State University are also replicating the program through other funding mechanisms.

STEM Professional Development

• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is a focal point of the First to the Top Initiatives and has garnered national attention as an area of great need in education. Through a request for proposals (RFP), higher education institutions will offer high quality professional development to K-12 STEM teachers to increase their content knowledge and skill in teaching STEM subjects.

Round 1

• Press Release: Funding of STEM Professional Development Proposals
• STEM Professional Development: Proposals Receiving Funding
• Map of Counties Served in Round 1 PD

Round 2

• STEM Professional Development: Proposals Receiving Funding

With Tennessee's successful Race to the Top bid, higher education will have a substantial role in improving the education of Tennessee's citizens. Not only will higher education be involved in shaping the education reforms being enacted but will also be directly responsible for numerous programs. THEC will direct and manage numerous projects with a total fiscal impact of over $20 million.

Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Preparation Programs

• Report Card Web Portal
• Link to 2012 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs
• Link to 2011 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs
• Link to 2010 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs
• THEC is working with a committee comprised of representatives from teacher preparation programs and the state to design a more effective report card. This will include the state-wide report card as well as individual institution feedback reports related to graduates.
• Tennessee teacher preparation programs will report data on their graduates directly to THEC through a new database.  This enables the state to collect additional variables for the report card as well as incorporate the data into the state longitudinal data system.  For more information, please review the Data Dictionary and Guidelines.
  • Data Dictionary
  • Data Guidelines

School Leader Study

• The study will examine the effectiveness of school leader preparation programs in the state through an annual report card.

Federal Reporting Standards

• All recipients of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funds must complete quarterly 1512 reporting.
• All First to the Top programs report monthly to the US Department of Education on progress made toward goals. Reporting for the overall FTTT program can be found here.