Memphis advocate Sarah Carpenter and three teachers of the year among those named to School Letter Grades Working Group

State Education

Oct 11

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