ABOUT THIS REPORT
As an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan
research and advocacy organization committed
to ensuring student success across Tennessee,
the State Collaborative on Reforming Education
(SCORE) is uniquely positioned to help drive
collaboration to improve the quality of educator
preparation. This report compiles background
data about teacher candidates in Tennessee
and documents the educator preparation
landscape in the state, including information
about providers and innovative practices within
these programs. The report also provides an
overview of key educator preparation policies
in Tennessee and the status of implementation
of those policies, many of which are driving
early progress in improving the quality of
educator preparation. Finally, the report
offers recommendations to improve the way
Tennessee prepares early-career teachers for
the classroom. These recommendations address
critical issues that include the following:
• Improve the licensure assessment system
in the state
• Increase staff capacity within the
Tennessee Department of Education
• Enhance the racial and ethnic diversity
of the teaching population
• Strengthen classroom-based experiences
for teacher candidates
• Increase collaboration between EPPs and
school districts
• Develop a clear process for reviewing and
approving EPPs
• Increase access to and transparency of
data on EPPs
• Improve the quality of the student
admissions process for EPPs
In preparing this report, the SCORE team
engaged with 159 education partners, both
in Tennessee and across the nation. We
also spoke to leaders of 20 Tennessee EPPs
to understand their approach to preparing
teachers and identify innovative practices
within programs. We conducted focus groups
with educators and school district leaders from
across the state to better understand gaps
in preparing Tennessee teachers. We also
discussed teacher preparation with leaders
in other states to identify promising practices
across the country. This report reflects
conversations with all these partners.
In the coming months, Tennessee has a clear
opportunity to draw attention to and provide
leadership on improving educator preparation,
much like our state has led nationally on many
other aspects of education policy and practice.
The goal of this report is significant and sustained
change in the way Tennessee prepares earlycareer teachers – work that will have a profound
impact on the success of Tennessee’s nearly one
million public school students.
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