Supporting Effective Teaching in Tennessee: Executive Summary | Page 18

Tennessee Exemplary Educator program, which is administered
One strategy for continuously driving improvement
in all Tennessee districts and schools is the Tennessee
by the non-profit Edvantia, Inc. Exemplary Educators (EEs), the
Comprehensive Systemwide Planning Process (TCSPP) and
majority of whom are retired teachers with records of success,
the Tennessee School Improvement Planning Process (TSIPP).
go through a rigorous selection process. Typically, a team
TCSPP and TSIPP respectively require districts and schools
of eight to ten EEs will spend 100 days at a low-performing
to periodically develop improvement plans, with districts and
school assessing its challenges by working with school leaders
schools that have failed to meet AYP for two consecutive years
to observe practices in the school and analyze TCAP scores,
being required to review and revise their
graduation rates, and other data. EEs can
TCSPP or TSIPP annually. Although all
then perform a variety of functions to try
schools must have an improvement plan
and assist schools, including modeling
and school improvement plans must
innovative teaching strategies, serving as
W h i l e T e n n essee d oes a
mirror districts’ improvement plans, it
mentors for teachers, helping instructional
is unclear how much real change these
staff analyze student performance data,
planning processes drive in school
and providing appropriate professional
fa ir ly g oo d j o b a ssisti n g
buildings and individual classrooms.
development. After 100 days, EEs have
several meetings with the school to
l ow - per for m i n g d istricts
The state has several programs focused
recommend areas for improvement. The
solely on supporting both high-priority
team monitors the school’s progress on
a n d sc h oo l s , it stops
districts and high-priority schools. The
these recommendations until the end of the
state’s primary support for high-priority
year, at which point the EE team prepares
s h ort o f p l aci n g
districts is the state’s System Targeted
an end-of-year status report summarizing
Assistance Teams (STATs). Started
the school’s progress, strengths, and areas
h e av y s a n ctio n s o n
in 2007, STAT teams are composed
in need of improvement. Since 2001, the
of
experienced
superintendents,
program has trained 180 EEs and assisted
str u g g l i n g sc h oo l s
principals, and teachers who work with
276 schools in 26 districts. With the help
high-priority districts to implement
of EEs, 180 schools have moved off the
their TCSPP. STAT consultants play
target list. However, informal discussions
a n d g ives very f ew
a variety of roles including helping
suggest the success of EEs varies
identify professional development
somewhat across the state depending
rewa r d s to t h e h i g h est
needs, promoting best practices, and
upon the quality of the individual EE.
helping district leaders decide how
Nonetheless, the program was one of only
per for m i n g sc h oo l s .
to allocate resources across schools.
two educational programs in the nation
Although effective and of high quality,
to receive Harvard University’s Top 50
Innovations in American Government
these teams are stretched very thin
Award in 2007.
across multiple districts.24
The state also has several programs for assisting low-performing
schools. When schools have failed to meet AYP for one year and
become target schools, the Department of Education’s nine field
service centers (see details on page 37) work closely with these
schools to develop and implement their TSIPP. If a school fails
to meet AYP for a second year and enters School Improvement I,
the school is assigned an Achievement Gap Elimination (AGE)
consultant to visit and assist the school on a more regular basis.
If schools fail to meet AYP for a third year and enter School
Improvement II, the state implements the much more intensive

Tennessee has very few rewards for high-performing
schools. The primary reward programs are the federal Title I
Distinguished Schools Recognition Program and the federal
Blue Ribbon Schools Recognition Program, both of which
reward schools that both have large percentages of students
from disadvantaged backgrounds and high levels of absolute
student achievement. While these federal programs are nice
recognitions, the state of Tennessee offers no additional statelevel recognitions. Moreover, unlike Florida, North Carolina,
and several other states, Tennessee does not give financial
rewards to high-performing schools.

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