The education and parent advocacy organization Nashville PROPEL has released a white paper detailing what local parents think about “Nashville’s hidden literary crisis,” as well as how that crisis affects students of color.According to a news release emailed to Tennessee Firefly, less than 30 percent of students in the Metro Nashville Public Schools district are reading on grade level despite nearly 80 percent of parents believing their children are at or above grade level, a finding consistent with national trends.

The Tennessee Department of Education has named four state finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST), the nation’s highest honor for U.S. K–12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers.According to a news release last week, awardees were recognized for their contributions to teaching and learning, as well as the

Metro Nashville Public Schools' alternative learning centers, or ALCs, will provide students with support "every step of the way" under redesign plans unveiled by district leaders at Tuesday’s school board meeting. 

Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board discussed reading proficiency requirements, the decision not to arm teachers, and the impact of COVID-19 relief funding during last week’s meeting.

The Tennessee Department of Education awarded STEM/STEAM designations to 13 new schools, while Kingsport's D-B EXCEL earned redesignation for its program's continued excellence.

The TDOE is looking to update how it reviews and classifies CTE programs in the state to determine that they align with the needs of employers across industries.

It’s not often that statehouse elections in rural Texas steer the national conversation about school choice. But things might change later this month.On May 28, voters will choose Republican candidates in 13 of the state’s 150 House districts. Four are currently held by representatives targeted by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for persistently stymying his attempts to create a statewide system of education savings accounts (ESAs).

In a joint video message, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Superintendent Marie Feagins, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr., and Interim Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis emphasized that they believe firearms have no place in schools.

Williamson County parents will soon learn whether their kids will have to attend summer school to advance under state reading proficiency requirements.

When E’Janay Reynolds was eight years old, she, her mother, and two younger sisters found themselves living in the Chattanooga Homeless Shelter for roughly seven months.Though her mother was eventually able to get federal Section 8 assistance to move the family into housing, this drastic change gave Reynolds a push to focus on school.“Academically, it just gave me a push to be better and do better. Because, if I didn’t do it, who else would have (done) it?” said Reynolds. “I just had to push to ‘okay, go in school, be the best you can be because you’re going to need that to get somewhere in life’.”

Families who live in the Sycamore View community in Northeast Memphis don’t have easy access to a public elementary or middle school. The two closest public schools are currently overenrolled, forcing students to either take a long bus ride or their parents to drive them outside of Sycamore View.It’s one of the reasons why Journey Community Schools chose Sycamore View for a proposed new public charter school. If approved by the Memphis-Shelby County School Board, Journey Northeast Academy would eventually serve more than 500 kindergarten through eighth graders with a similar education model that’s in place at one of the organization’s other schools.

The House Government Operations Committee advanced Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act Monday with a positive recommendation following a sometimes testy debate on accountability and costs.The legislation would expand on the concept of the existing Education Savings Account (ESA) pilot program in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties to allow families across the state to send their children to private school with taxpayer dollars.

Small, regular interactions with a reading tutor — about 5 to 7 minutes — are making a big impact on young students’ reading skills, new Stanford University research shows.First graders in Florida’s Broward County schools who participated in the program, called Chapter One, saw more substantial gains in reading fluency than those who didn’t receive the support, according to the study. They were also 9 percentage points less likely to be considered at risk on a district literacy test.

The lengthy search for a new leader of the state’s largest school district is down to three finalists.Tuesday night members of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board named three out of state educational leaders to move onto the next phase of the superintendent search process.

Search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA) announced the five finalists it’s picked to lead Memphis-Shelby County Schools Friday morning.The firm picked two previous finalists, one previous candidate, and two newcomers from a pool of 22 applicants for the long-vacant post.

About 3,500 social studies teachers converge on Nashville this weekend for their annual national conference, but not without some pushback for meeting in a state with multiple laws aimed at classroom censorship and restrictions related to discussing race and gender.“Some of our members have worried that this could be a hostile environment for them,” said Wesley Hedgepeth, a social studies teacher in Henrico County, Virginia, and this year’s president of the National Council for the Social Studies.

When Tennessee launches the School Letter Grades next month parents will be able to see how well their child’s school is serving students by reviewing whether it received A, B, C, D, or F grade. The hard part has been determining what makes one school an A and another a B or lower.The School Letter Grades Working Group held five meetings this month to work that out and most members appear to agree that student growth should matter just as much as student achievement.

Tennesseans who’ve been thinking about becoming a mentor have a little more time to apply.tnAchieves announced today it’s extending the registration deadline to Friday, October 27 for adults that want to mentor a current high school senior.“Our mentors are local supports for students who need it most. And we’re really grateful to anyone who serve in this role,” tnAchieves Senior Director of Mentors, Tyler Ford.The tnAchieves mentor program will run from mid-November through until October 2024. Mentors will invest one hour a month for a total of 12 hours annually assisting students.

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced Rogersville City School’s Melissa “Missy” Testerman as Tennessee’s 2023-24 teacher of the year Friday evening.Testerman is an English as a second language instructor at Rogersville Elementary School who additionally serves as a mentor for new teachers and has been a teacher for 31 years. She’s also the president of the Rogersville Education Association, serves as the summer camp coordinator for the district, participates in the nonprofit Readers Are Leaders which helps at-risk readers, and serves on committees and boards throughout the district.