State of Education in Tennessee Executive Summary – 2011-12 | Page 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

March 20, 2012
Dear Friends,
Last August, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan traveled to Tennessee and challenged our schools to become
the fastest-improving in the nation. The Secretary’s comments reflected the fact that Tennessee’s actions to establish
itself as a leader in education reform have put the state in a unique position to start realizing significant gains in
student achievement. As we move into the first year of wide scale implementation of our policy commitments, it is
crucial that we reflect on how we arrived at this point to ensure that we better prepare our students for the challenges
of college and the workforce.

This State of Education in Tennessee report that follows will provide you with an overview of the work that was done in
Tennessee over the last year, update you on Tennessee’s progress in meeting its First to the Top goals, feature the work
of schools and districts that are making significant improvements in the lives of our students, provide extensive state
and district data, and highlight SCORE’s priorities for Tennessee in 2012. Although we have made significant strides
in changing policy conditions, our work over the next few years in ensuring that those policies are being effectively
implemented and that districts and schools have the supports they need to make our policy goals a reality is critical.

As you will see, SCORE’s priorities for 2012 highlight the actions that we believe must be taken to ensure that the state
can build upon its early gains in student achievement and become the fastest improving state in the country. All of
us — educators, parents, students, policy experts, and state and local officials — continue to have an important role
to play in implementing reforms. SCORE will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure we stay on a pathway
to success.

Very sincerely,

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THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE 2011–12

THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE 2011–12

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