Rutherford County Schools (RCS) leaders highlighted recent efforts to fill special education and English as a second language (ESL) teaching positions at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.

Tennessee’s additional endorsement program has helped over 1,200 educators add qualifications in special education, ESL, and computer science, while new pathways are being developed to meet the demand for computer science teachers.

This year’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) results were rightfully cheered for the gains Tennessee students made, but it’s important to keep in mind achievement gaps still persist.This is especially true for students who are English Language Learners (ELL). These students scored 15 points lower than the state average in English Language Arts and 10 points lower in Math.As our state looks for solutions to the inequities that create these achievement gaps, we can learn much from the model that’s currently serving Memphis students at Compass Community Schools.