The State of Education in Tennessee: Expanding Student Access to Great Teaching
help assess district needs and develop strategic plans to
ensure teachers have access to individual support and
professional learning. This is particularly important in
light of the fact that nearly one-third of districts do not
have a Common Core Coach.
Priorities for 2014
Perhaps the most critical component of student success is access to effective teaching. To ensure that all students have this
opportunity, efforts are needed to better support both current
and future teachers. In recent years, Tennessee has taken
steps to create a system to identify effective teaching, provide
school and district leaders with more accurate information,
and provide teachers with the supports and feedback they
need to improve instruction for students.
4. Developing a pipeline for excellent teaching must
be a priority for the state. Districts and teacher training programs should work together to recruit more
high-quality candidates into the profession and ensure
that candidates are fully equipped to help students
achieve at high levels. This work can be supported
through efforts to:
• Help teacher preparation programs implement
more selective admissions processes and rigorous
curriculum requirements that prioritize the skills
and knowledge teachers need to support students in
the classroom;
1. It is imperative that teachers are provided with the
tools and resources that will enable them to be experts
in their profession. The information and research
available about effective ways to support teachers must
be used to foster excellent teaching in every school
across the state. Teachers must have access to instructional coaching, collaborative planning time, and targeted professional learning. Further, all districts should
ensure that their teachers have the supports they need
to teach the Common Core State Standards.
• Use data to enhance teacher preparation program
improvement and accountability;
• Develop two-way partnerships between K-12 and
higher education to develop the supports needed by
both pre-service and in-service teachers.
2. Local ownership and implementation of initiatives to
support teachers will be critical moving forward. Districts should create, as well as protect, time and opportunities throughout the academic year for high-quality
professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students. Current funds need
to be strategically invested in those initiatives and programs that have the greatest impacts for teachers, and
students, as identified through research.
5. Tennessee’s policymakers have also taken steps to
better use public policy to support effective teaching,
resulting in changes to tenure, compensation, evaluation, and teacher licensure. It is important that the implementation of these policies, as well as future policies
enable the state to attract and retain the best teachers.
The state must:
• Support districts in using the new teacher evaluation process to drive professional capital decisions,
as well as inform improvements in instruction and
professional learning;
3. The Tennessee Department of Education and local
districts should work together
to identify gaps in teacher support. The CORE offices should
• Continue to prioritize development of individual
growth measures for as many teachers as possible, especially as growth measures play an important role in
Tennessee’s teacher evaluation system;
• Provide guidance to districts on how to use the flexibility of the compensation system to benefit teachers
and ultimately students;
• Ensure the process that the State Board of Education
uses to review the new licensure policy is robust and
offers opportunities for multiple sources of feedback;
• Empower districts to use the evaluation process and
new tenure policy to ensure that low-performing
teachers who do not improve over time do not remain
in the classroom.
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Priorities in Action: Educator Support to Enhance Instruction
Fostering effective teaching starts with quality feedback, but it doesn’t stop there – schools and districts must have practices in
place to respond to feedback through coaching, support, and follow-up. This consistent attention to teacher development results
in engaging classrooms and increases in student achievement. Examples from Tennessee schools that are expanding student
access to great teaching are highlighted be