2015-16 Public Education in Tennessee: A Policymaker’s Guide | Page 7

The following agencies share authority and responsibility for public education in Tennessee. They each have their own role in the policymaking, governance, delivery, and assessment of public education: • Tennessee General Assembly • Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) • Tennessee State Board of Education (SBOE) • Local Education Agencies/School Districts (LEA) • U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) Tennessee General Assembly The legislation governing Tennessee’s education system is established by the Tennessee General Assembly. The General Assembly’s Senate and House Education Committees consider all legislation related to education, including but not limited to issues such as teacher pay and retirement, career and technical education, school lunch programs, and education for children with disabilities. Legislation passed by the General Assembly impacts the policies developed and implemented by the State Board of Education and Tennessee Department of Education. For this reason, the State Board of Education and Tennessee Department of Education typically work closely with members of the General Assembly to work on education legislation. Additional responsibilities of the General Assembly include confirming members of the State Board of Education and approving the state’s annual budget for education expenditures. The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) The Tennessee Department of Education, led by the Commissioner of Education, oversees public school systems at the state level. TDOE ensures that both federal and state education laws and regulations are followed and that money allocated to education is distributed appropriately to districts. In this role, TDOE serves as the liaison between LEAs and federal requirements. In accordance with federal and state testing and accountability policies, TDOE is responsible for developing the standards and assessments to be used in Tennessee’s schools. TDOE is also the repository for the data collected in such efforts. In addition to oversight and data, TDOE provides support and services to Tennessee’s pre-K-12 public schools. TDOE, with the support of eight Centers of Regional Excellence (CORE offices), assists schools and districts with special education, career and technical education, federal programs, technology, assessment, school improvement planning, and high-priority schools. TDOE oversees teacher evaluation and principal evaluation throughout the state. TDOE assists schools in combining qualitative and quantitative assessment to more accurately evaluate teachers and principals and provides them with pathways to improvement through the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM). TDOE also facilitates the Achievement School District, which is charged with moving the lowest-performing five percent of schools—Tennessee’s priority schools—out of that designation within a five-year period. TDOE continues to fulfill its responsibility of implementing the initiatives to which the state has committed under its $500 million federal Race to the Top grant program. The United States Department of Education has granted Tennessee, along with the other winning states, a one-year no-cost extension to solidify significant policy overhauls, allowing work to continue until fall 2015. This extension allows Tennessee to work further on the following initiatives: • The Achievement School District’s efforts to turn around priority schools • Accurate assessments for Tennessee’s State Standards • More comprehensive teacher and principal evaluation • Teacher training in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields • Training for better use of Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) data. The Tennessee State Board of Education (SBOE) The Tennessee State Board of Education is the governing and policymaking agency for pre-K-12 public schools. SBOE is responsible for approving standards and curriculum, overseeing teaching licensure and credentialing, and hearing appeals of charter school applica ѥ