SCORE report highlights the role of partnerships between districts and educator preparation programs to improve literacy

A new report from the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) says partnerships between school districts and education preparation programs are playing a crucial role in ongoing state efforts to improve early literacy instruction.

According to the report, state education policy has long included requirements around formalized educator preparation provider (EPP) and school district partnerships to support student needs. It noted that in 2018, the state outlined ways in which EPP leadership and faculty should be “personally involved with district partners on an annual basis” through classroom observations, strategy meetings, or professional development programming. It added that the 2022 passage of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act also requires EPPs to align their teacher candidate training with new EPP literacy standards focused on foundational skills instruction. The legislation also moves districts to adopt high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in English language arts (ELA), among other stipulations. 

In addition to the passage of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act, the report said, the Tennessee Department of Education launched the Reading 360 Initiative, which leveraged $100 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding to support the development of high-quality literacy materials and professional learning for educators centered around those materials.  

“The policies around EPP and school district partnership, faculty involvement, and early literacy are critical as 80 percent of the traditional program completers or job-embedded candidates from the 44 EPPs in Tennessee are employed by a Tennessee public school within one year of either completing or starting their program. Of that 80 percent, for the completers and candidates who are hired into early literacy roles in one of Tennessee’s elementary schools, implementation of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act also means they will be required to use adopted HQIM to support student learning,” the report read.

“Taken together, the policies and the data create an opportunity — and a clear need — for Tennessee EPPs and school districts to work together in increasingly integrated ways to amplify their impact on literacy success for all students.”

In order to maximize the effectiveness of EPPs, the SCORE report said Tennessee EPPs and school districts should “establish a new content-specific model for collaboration” by forming Early Literacy Partner Teams, where EPP faculty and district leaders can “engage in shared learning to build a common vision for strong early literacy instruction and support.”

“This would include sharing data on student needs in early literacy and working together to increase alignment between current research, EPP coursework, candidate clinical experiences, and what educators need to be prepared to teach early literacy in Tennessee classrooms,” the report said.

According to the report, English Language Arts proficiency rates from grades 3-5 have been improving amid efforts to address “learning loss” that came during the COVID-19 pandemic. It said the most recent year of data shows that nearly half of fourth graders earned a proficient score on the ELA TCAP in 2024, compared to about a third of students just three years ago  

However, the report said, about half of all Tennessee students in grades 3-5 are still not proficient in ELA, meaning “more can be done to prepare and support early literacy educators across the state.”

To help support additional EPPs and school districts in Tennessee to engage in collaboration, SCORE has compiled an EPP and School District Early Literacy Partner Team Site Visit Tool Kit. The Tool Kit, which was highlighted in the report, draws largely on the work of the Lead in Literacy Network, described as “a small group of EPPs and partner school districts” that worked together to improve early literacy instruction and programming. 

“In the first year of their partnership, partners prioritized a sequence of two full-day structured site visits where select EPP and district leadership, faculty, and staff met in partner elementary schools for shared learning,” the SCORE report noted. “EPP and district partners noted these site visits were critical for deepening understanding of early literacy preparation and instruction in Tennessee.”

To read the full report, visit tnscore.org.