Supporting Effective Teaching in Tennessee: Executive Summary | Page 31

Williamson County. The agreement also caps the number
of charter schools in the state at 90, limiting the number in
Nashville to 20 and in Memphis city to 35.
There is significant debate about the effectiveness of charter
schools. Charter school proponents argue charter schools can
be a source of innovation for traditional public schools and
are often much more effective at increasing achievement for
disadvantaged students. Opponents argue charter schools do
little different from traditional public schools and take funding
away from traditional public schools.
The only in-depth study about the performance of charter
schools in Tennessee was conducted by the University of
Memphis’s Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP).
The study found Tennessee’s charter schools outperformed
a comparison group of traditional public schools on 45
comparisons of student achievement but performed worse on
25 comparisons.

Career and Technical Education
Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are high
school programs of study that integrate traditional academic
content with a career-focused specialization. Whether a student
elects to pursue a postsecondary degree or immediately enter
the workforce after high school graduation, CTE programs

are desig