stake holder responsibilities
State Board of Education
1. Ensure a culture of high expectations underlies every single policy
you develop.
2. Hold steadfastly to higher academic standards in the State of
Tennessee, even if and when the resulting student outcomes do
not appear as favorable.
3. Monitor the progress of the National Governors Association/
Council of Chief State School Officers Common Core Standards
project. If the project identifies specific areas where Tennessee’s
standards could be improved, adopt these specific improvements.
Otherwise, continuously modify Tennessee’s standards to ensure
they are internationally benchmarked by regularly reviewing and
updating all standards.
4. Define TCAP proficiency in each subject as being on pace to meet
the ACT college-ready benchmark in that subject. Define this
proficiency threshold prior to students taking the assessments in
the spring of 2010.
5. Create a process by which alternative providers can be granted the
authority to certify principals.
6. Require students score at least basic on select end-of-course tests for high
school graduation with appropriate alternative assessment opportunities
for special education students and English Language Learners.
Implement this recommendation over time as the reliability of each endof-course assessment is validated. Ideally, the State Board of Education’s
Middle Grades Policy would be implemented concurrently.
7. Either remove the Praxis I as an option for gaining entry into
teacher training programs or raise the performance requirements
on the Praxis I to make them equivalent to current ACT and SAT
score requirements.
8. Participate in a task force to revise the existing Teacher Training
Program Report Card and to create a School Leadership Program
report card.
9. Propose enhancing the Tennessee’s College-and-Career Ready
Policy Institute (CCRPI) progress report by: (1) making goal #2
track both 4th and 8th grade student college-readiness (2) replacing
metric #3 with the percent of students who score at or above
proficient in reading and math on the 4th and 8th grade TCAP and
NAEP assessments and the gap between the percent proficient on
the two tests (3) adding dual credit and International Baccalaureate
programs to metric #7 and (4) adding a new metric to track the
percent of first time postsecondary students completing degrees
within 150 percent of normal degree program time (e.g., three years
for associate’s degree and six years for bachelor’s degree).
10. After these changes have been made, align metrics tracked by
the State Board of Education and metrics tracked in the Annual
Joint Report on Pre-Kindergarten through Higher Education in
Tennessee with the College-and-Career Ready Policy Institute
report so that all entities involved in education are tracking a single
set of outcome metrics.
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A ROADMAP TO SUCCESS
Tennessee Department of Education
Data and Assessment
1. Identify best practices for school readiness assessments for students
in grades K-2. Over time, provide state funding for these new
assessments and add an additional metric to the CCRPI report
tracking student readiness on these assessments.
2. Negotiate a statewide contract for K-12 formative assessments that
districts can purchase at a reduced price. Over time, provide state
funding for these formative assessments.
3. Directly provide all principals and teachers log-in information to
the appropriate portions of the TVAAS database.
4. Reconfigure existing TVAAS, teacher effect, and other student
achievement data reports to ensure they are transmitted
electronically and easy for teachers to understand.
5. Create an easy-to-understand printout of each child’s student
achievement data that is clearly connected with projections of how
a child is likely to perform in the future and ensure this printout is
given to each child’s teacher.
6. Track postsecondary remediation rates and costs of recent high
school graduates back to each high school and district on the
Tennessee Department of Education Report Card.
Professional Development and Accountability
1. Focus professional development efforts on (1) helping principals,
teachers, and guidance counselors successfully implement the
Tennessee Diploma Project and (2) training superintendents,
principals, guidance counselors, and teachers how TVAAS works
and how it and other assessment tests (e.g., PLAN and EXPLORE)
can be effectively used to improve classroom instruction. Use the
Electronic Learning Center as a method for delivering this training
and a forum for teachers to collaborate and share resources.
2. Identify ways for improving the effectiveness of interventions for
low-performing schools and districts by enhancing evaluation
mechanisms of current support programs (e.g., Exemplary
Educators, AGE, and STAT teams) and better