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Education Commissioner says rejecting federal dollars would not be simple

Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds told state lawmakers there’s no easy way for the state to avoid federal education requirements by simply rejecting federal education dollars.Some Republican lawmakers have expressed an interest in rejecting more than a billion in federal education dollars to avoid complying those requirements and Tennessee General Assembly leaders created a Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding to evaluate the idea’s feasibility earlier this year. This week members of that group are holding three hearings including one Tuesday morning highlighted by Commissioner Reynolds and her administration. 

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National Conference of State Legislatures provides lawmakers with recommendations to get around regulations that come with accepting federal education funding

Leaders of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) told Tennessee lawmakers there may be options to get around the requirements that come with federal education dollars without outright rejecting them.In recent months, some Republican lawmakers have expressed an interest in rejecting more than a billion in federal education dollars to avoid complying with federal requirements.  Leaders created a Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding to evaluate the idea’s feasibility earlier this year and this week members held four meetings to hear from experts.NCSL Senior Legislative Director Austin Reid provided a briefing Wednesday morning, saying Washington is the only state the organization is aware of that has lost federal funds for refusing to comply with a federal policy. That policy is no longer a requirement.

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Think tank says other states would likely benefit financially if Tennessee rejected federal education dollars

Non-partisan think tank the Sycamore Institute told Tennessee lawmakers other states would likely receive most federal education dollars Tennessee chooses to reject.Organization Deputy Director Mandy Spears provided a briefing to members of the Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding Tuesday morning. That group is currently holding meetings to consider whether rejecting federal education dollars is a realistic option for Tennessee.

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Tennessee’s School Letter Grades is receiving positive reactions and requests for additional tweaks

The Tennessee Department of Education is likely still more than a month away from releasing an A through F letter grade for every public school and the department has received plenty of feedback for how it plans to do it.Last week Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds unveiled the system her department will use to create School Letter Grades. That calculation will measure schools on student achievement and student growth along with other factors like how well schools are preparing students for college and careers.

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Leader of taskforce to study rejecting federal education dollars casts doubt the group will recommend spending less on education

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, attracted national attention this fall when they created a joint taskforce to study whether Tennessee can reject federal education dollars.One of the co-chairs of the Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding opened the group’s first meeting by casting doubt members will actually propose spending less on educating children.

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Next month your school will receive a grade. To get an A they’ll need to show success with student achievement and growth.

When Lizzette Reynolds took over as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education in late July, she immediately inherited the huge job of deciding how to provide an A through F letter grade to every public school in the state.Thursday, Commissioner Reynolds unveiled exactly how her department plans to do that, through a simple calculation that mostly splits student achievement and student growth equally. 

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Survey finds teachers feel positive about current literacy educator experience in Tennessee

A new survey of Tennessee teachers shows a strong majority are supportive of the state’s efforts to improve literacy.The 2023 Tennessee Educator Survey found perception of the English language arts (ELA) curriculum improved for more than 70 percent of educators.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) released key findings and responses from the survey this week. The state administered the survey to 50 percent of teachers and 47 percent of administrators from February 27 to April 17.

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Comptroller report finds Tennessee reading proficiency is on the rise

Tennessee’s efforts to increase early literacy appear to be paying off according to the latest review by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.The Comptroller released its second annual review of the implementation of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act (TLSA), which aims to ensure that students are on track to becoming proficient readers by the end of third-grade.The review found that Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores in English language arts (ELA) are increasing along with the universal reading screener results showing positive trends.

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Tennessee leaders want the Science of Reading in classrooms. A national study shows work still needs to be done.

In 2021 the Tennessee Department of Education announced a major undertaking to reform early childhood literacy.The department’s Reading 360 initiative aimed to invest $100 million to help Tennessee students learn to read through the science of reading.A nationwide study released earlier this year illustrates just how big of a challenge Tennessee is facing ensuring all future teachers are utilizing research-based reading instruction techniques.

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Rutherford County School Board wants to suspend the driver license of students who make school threats

Members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to push for harsher consequences for students who threaten their school.The resolution calls for the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation allowing for the revocation of the driver’s license of students who make false bomb threats or other threats against their school.“Many of the punishments for such actions are not sufficient deterrents to some students. The revocation of a student’s driver license may be a more effective deterrent for some students,” said Director of Schools James Sullivan.Board member Tammy Sharp proposed the resolution after working in collaboration with Representative Robert Stevens, R-Smyrna.

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Education leaders working on the School Letter Grades want student achievement and growth to account equally

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.

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Nashville lawmakers express opposition to rule change to prevent conflicts of interest in review of public charter school authorizers

A seemingly routine rule change involving the process of reviewing local school districts that authorize public charter schools faced opposition from Nashville lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly’s Joint Government Operations Committee Thursday.The rule change Nashville lawmakers objected to allows the State Board of Education to use only external evaluators when conducting those reviews instead of both internal and external reviewers that are currently required. Board Deputy Executive Director Nathan James told members of the Joint Government Operations Committee this rule change is needed to avoid conflicts of interest.

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tnAchieves extends deadline for Tennesseans to sign up to be a mentor

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.

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School Letter Grades Working Group favors grading schools based on a variety of factors

Members of the School Letter Grades Working Group have spent more than 13 hours this month discussing the right way to provide each public school in Tennessee with a grade.  If there’s one takeaway from that time spent in virtual meetings, it’s that the diverse group of parents, legislators, state education leaders want the grading system to include a variety of factors.When it launches next month, the School Letter Grades system is expected to evaluate student achievement, student growth, and other factors like graduation rates to provide each school with an A through F grade.

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

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.”

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