Memphis parent advocate Sarah Carpenter is joining a diverse mix of parents, legislators, state education leaders, and Tennessee Teachers of the Year Kim Inglish, Melissa Collins, and Missy Testerman on a new working group created to design the state’s new A through F school grading system, known as the School Letter Grades.
That group is hosting meetings this month to review the nearly 300 written public comments along with information presented at town hall meetings across the state to recommend how letter grades will be calculated for each school.
“This next phase of work brings us one step closer to fulfilling the state’s promise to its citizens to create a letter grade calculation for schools that is transparent, meaningful and easy to understand,” said Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds. “This group will move forward with those goals in mind to help create calculations to clearly show how Tennessee’s schools are performing so they can target student academic needs.”
A 2016 state law created the School Letter Grade to provide parents and families with information on how each public school across the state is performing. The grading system was originally going to launch during the 2017-18 school year, but the state repeatedly delayed the roll-out for various reasons including online testing issues and the pandemic.
Over the course of August and September, TDOE held a series of 10 town hall meetings to obtain input from parents, educators, and administrators on what should be included in the calculation of the School Letter Grades.
Over the course of those meetings a few key themes emerged, including whether the calculation should place more emphasis on student achievement or on student growth.
Multiple communities across the state, including Nashville, expressed a preference for prioritizing growth over achievement because it better encompasses challenges their schools face with student circumstances, resources and funding, and even teacher shortages.
The department plans to roll out School Letter Grades in late November and the public will get a closer look at how those calculations will work when the department makes a presentation to the Tennessee State Board of Education on November 3.
State Board Executive Director Sara Morrison is on the School Letter Grades Working Group along with board members Robert Eby, Nate Morrow, and Ryan Holt but the board itself won’t vote on or approve any changes.
At Friday’s board meeting, Board Chair Robert Eby encouraged all nine members of the State Board of Education to participate in upcoming working group meetings to ensure they have a meaningful impact on the final School Letter Grades calculations.
“Since we don’t have a vote, this is our opportunity to also provide our input,” said Eby. “I would encourage each member to be engaged, this is our opportunity to be engaged and ask the questions that we want to ask to assure this thing goes and we have input into it.”
Members of the School Letter Grades Working Group include:
- Aleah Guthrie, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations, State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE)
- Bob Eby, Chairman, Tennessee State Board of Education
- Bob Nardo, Executive Director, Libertas School of Memphis
- Chrisi Bollinger, Analytics, Strategy, and Special Projects, Emerald Charter Schools
- Christy Carrol Highfill, Vice President of Advocacy, TN PTA
- Christy Hovanetz, Senior Policy Fellow, ExcelinEd
- Corby King, Director of Schools, Putnam County Schools
- Debra Moody, House Education Instruction Committee Chairlady
- Eddie Pruett, Director of Schools, Gibson County Special School District
- Erin O’Hara Block, School Board Member, Metro-Nashville Public Schools
- Francisco Moreno, Parent
- Gini Pupo Walker, Executive Director, Ed Trust
- Harold Love Jr., House Education Administration Committee Member
- JC Bowman, Executive Director & CEO, Professional Educators of Tennessee
- Jean Luna-Vedder, Director of Schools, Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools
- Jenna Sharp, Principal, Clinton City Schools
- Jim Mcintyre, Dean of the College of Education and Assistant Provost for Academic Excellence, Belmont University
- Joey Vaughn, Director of Schools, Manchester City Schools
- Jon Lundberg, Senate Education Committee Chairman
- Kevin Deck, Assessment Analyst, Williamson County Schools
- Kim Inglish, 2022-23 Teacher of the Year Grand Division Winner, Murfreesboro City Schools
- Kirk Haston, House K-12 Education Subcommittee Chairman
- Kyle Loudermilk, 2022-23 Principal of the Year, Kingsport City Schools
- Margaret Bright, Teacher, Lenoir City Schools
- Maria Paula Zapata, Director of Programs, Conexion Americas
- Mark White, House Education Administration Chairman
- Mary Graham, President, United Ways of Tennessee
- Melissa Collins, 2022-23 Teacher of the Year, Memphis-Shelby County Schools
- Missy Testerman, 2023-24 Teacher of the Year, Rogersville City Schools
- Nate Morrow, Board Member, State Board of Education
- Norma Gerrell, Director of Schools, Paris Special School District
- Patsy Hazlewood, House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Chairlady
- Raumesh Akbari, Senate Minority Leader
- Russell Dyer, Director of Schools Cleveland City Schools
- Ryan Holt, Board Member, State Board of Education
- Sarah Carpenter, Executive Director, Memphis Lift
- Sara Morrison, Executive Director, State Board of Education
- Scott Cepicky, House Education Instruction Subcommittee Chairman
- Tammy Garrett, Director of Schools, Bedford County Schools
- Tanya Coates, President, Tennessee Education Association
- Tim Parrott, Director of Schools, Anderson County Schools
- Tim Ware, Executive Director, Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School
- Tyler Salyer, Principal, Collierville Schools
- Venita Doggett, Director of Advocacy, Memphis Education Fund
- Victor Evans, Executive Director, TennesseeCAN
- Warren Wells, Board Member, State Board of Education
- Wendy Hansard, Assistant Principal, Knox County Schools
- Yetta Lewis, Principal, Gestalt Community Schools
The working group meetings will be posted online for public access.
