Race to the Top Finalist InterviewState of Tennessee Leadership Team

March 16, 2010Washington, D.C.

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The Tennessee Story

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Sustaining Real Reform …We Are All Going There Together

Bipartisan and statewide political support 100% of districts and 93% of unions signed on Urban and rural districts leading the innovation Strong multi-sector leadership across the state All gubernatorial candidates have pledged to

implement and support Significant philanthropic & business support

We have launched this work. We invite you to invest and be part of its success.

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We Demonstrate Commitment

Protected education focus and investments→Annual full funding of Basic Education Program→Longstanding investment in data→Statewide strategy for early childhood education→College- and career-ready standards for all

through the Tennessee Diploma Project→Charter schools & innovation→“First to the Top” legislation

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Courage to Make ChangeSenate Bill 5: First to the Top Act

Enacted significant reform for educators, schools, and postsecondary education in special legislative session

Set a framework for teacher & principal evaluation with 50% being based upon student achievement data (where available)

Created an Achievement School District to clarify and provide authority for state takeover of lowest-performing schools

Set in place a college completion agenda that includes performance-based funding

Much of this was part of the Tennessee plan before Race to the Top. The funding opportunity provided an incentive for timely action.

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We Build On Success

Ambitious and achievable plan built on a strong foundation

Accelerates goals of the Tennessee Diploma Project: college- and career-readiness for all students

Shared priority for Tennesseans

This is not a pilot project.It is a comprehensive roadmap for

transformational reform for the entire state. 04/19/23 6

Making It Happen

First to the Top Oversight Team→Based on the Office of Tennessee Recovery Act Management model→Across multiple agencies→State and local→Measurement for results

Tennessee Department of Education→Realigning the department for the work ahead→Creating Race to the Top Implementation Centers→Partnering with the U.S. Education Delivery Institute

Working with experts from Tennessee and across the country

Ongoing research and evaluation component built into the proposal to inform decision-making

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Sustainable Across Time & Politics

It’s how we do business in Tennessee:

Build sustainable policies and programs with a broad base of support

Support statutory change in a bipartisan fashion, with many champions

Create collaborative structures to advocate for solutions (SCORE, Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee, College & Career-Ready Policy Institute Leadership Team, etc.)

Tennessee is the place to get things done.04/19/23 8

Standards & Assessment

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We Are Making Progress, And We Can Accelerate …

Leaders are committed to reaching student achievement goals.

GOAL: All students

college- and career-ready

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A national leader→American Diploma Project →Governor co-chairs Achieve→College & Career-Ready Policy Institute

College & career-ready policies for all students→Standards, assessment, accountability→Alignment to postsecondary education→College completion agenda in place

Our goal: all students college- and career-ready.04/19/23 11

Leading In High-Quality Standards & Assessment

STEM: Raising the Bar

STEM skills critical to economic development Significant STEM assets already exist →Oak Ridge National Laboratory managed by University of

Tennessee and Battelle →Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)→STEM centers at postsecondary institutions

TN STEM Innovation Network will bring assets together to share and learn in partnership with Battelle, ORAU, and the Ohio STEM Learning Network; and to develop more opportunities for teachers and students

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Ahead Of The Curve

Will adopt Common Core Standards in July→Close alignment with Tennessee’s existing

standards→Allowing for smooth transition

Leading role in Common Core Assessment Consortia→Already committed to college- and career-ready

anchor assessment

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Realizing the Power of Data

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Data To Support Instruction

Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) Nation’s first value-added system Student academic achievement and growth data

available at the district, school, and teacher level Fully functional & statistically reliable student growth

model already in place (since 1992!)

We don’t have to build it. Our goal is to use the robust data we have more effectively.

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Using Data Can Transform Teaching & Learning

Statutory limitations on data use removed Already in 2010: data dashboards and educational data access

are now available to every teacher in the state Longitudinal Data System plan calls for 3600 view of the child

→Links horizontally & vertically to agencies across government→Links to value-added data →Links to “dashboard” for educators→Presents opportunity for educators and others to see the full set of

supports and/or challenges a student faces that could affect learning Professional development will focus on effective use of data

to enrich and improve instruction & student learning

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Data Will Inform Preparation Programs & Tenure

Removes the prohibition on using teacher effect data until data from three complete academic years are obtained – so that this information can inform tenure granting decisions

Authorizes teacher effect data to be shared with SBE-approved teacher preparation programs of the individual teacher, if it does not personally identify the particular teacher

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Adding & Growing Capacity

All of our proposed investments in making our data useful for teachers are designed to: → Add short-term expert capacity to implement, train,

and coach→ Create tools, networks, and innovations that remain

long after the grant period→ Build long-term capacity of Tennesseans to manage

reform and increase student achievement

This is designed to improve student achievement in financially sustainable ways.

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A Learning AgendaFor The Nation Tennessee Consortia for Research Evaluation and

Development (TN CRED)→Brightest researchers from within Tennessee and across

the country→Research all reform elements in the proposal→Ongoing data and reporting to inform implementation &

understand outcomes→Funded through the proposal as well as grants

TN CRED will be a link to national researchers Already coordinating grants and IES opportunities

Tennessee’s research will help the entire country learn what works for students and what doesn’t.

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Focus on the Lowest-Performing

Schools

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Changing Business As Usual

Desire and passion to pursue change Deep investment, partnerships, and

governance changes for the lowest-performing schools

New statutory mechanisms and supports to keep struggling schools from falling further

Changes in the way funds are leveraged to accomplish goals and decide who will provide support to certain schools

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Pyramid Of Intervention

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Focus Schools

Schools in second year of School Improvement

Serious intervention to prevent these schools from being chronic low-performers

Schools remain with district and will be served with Tennessee’s existing school improvement resources (Exemplary Educators, etc.)

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Renewal Schools

Designed to keep schools on the edge from falling further – to renew them in their communities

Drawn from the categories of Corrective Action and Restructuring 1, or from schools that fall into either the lowest 5% in achievement OR Restructuring 2

A mix of 18 urban, small-city, and rural schools expected in this category in 2010-11

Schools remain with district but must choose a certified partner to build capacity and/or implement turnaround model→ State will issue RFI to solicit high-quality capacity-building, model, and

turnaround partners, with $300,000 in RTTT funds per school annually→ District can choose only from the high-quality providers to work with these

schools based on individual school and district fit→ Must provide the level of autonomy the chosen partner requests to conduct

their work04/19/23 24

Achievement School District (ASD) Drastic action for schools in the lowest 5% in achievement AND in

Restructuring 2 & beyond

13 schools in major urban districts expected in 2010-11

Commissioner has the authority to take over schools→Place them in a “virtual district” under the direction of the ASD

Superintendent→ASD Superintendent will report directly to Commissioner →May contract with entities to operate→Significant authority and resources to support the work →Structured planning and possible return to home district if successful

Collaborative of five national partner organizations will work with ASD Superintendent and Commissioner to run the schools

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Make It Happen For Students In Tennessee

Hungry for change, motivated to help students achieve

Ready to do the work Can serve as a benchmark for the nation Committing resources will make a greater impact

here than anywhere in the country

Tennessee thrives when every studentis college- and career-ready.

Investing can make it happen faster.04/19/23 26

Teachers & Leaders

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Theory Of Change: Teachers At The Heart Of Boosting Student Achievement

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Teacher & Principal Evaluation

The creation of Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee (TEAC) to build new teacher & principal evaluation instruments to be adopted by SBE

Requires annual evaluation of all teachers & principals and that personnel decisions be based in part on evaluations, including:→Promotion→Retention→Tenure→Compensation

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Teacher & Principal Evaluation

50 percent of the evaluation criteria developed must consist of student achievement data, as follows:→35 percent of the evaluation criteria: TVAAS or some other

comparable measure of student growth, if TVAAS data not available→15 percent of the evaluation criteria: other measures of student

achievement selected from list of measures developed by TEAC & adopted by the SBE

Other mandatory criteria include:→Review of prior evaluations→Personal conferences to include strengths, weaknesses and

remediation→Relative to teachers only: classroom or position observation followed

by written assessment→Relative to principals only: additional criteria pursuant to the

principal’s employment contract

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Alternative Compensation

LEAs to submit proposed salary schedules to be approved by the commissioner & SBE as an alternative to the state base salary schedule. Such alternative schedules shall:→Be subject to collective bargaining where applicable→Not reduce the salary of a teacher employed by the

LEA at the time of the adoption of the salary schedule →Be subject to appropriation by the governing body

empowered to appropriate the funds

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Districts At Work Already

State following innovative districts→The Benwood Initiative in Chattanooga→TAP Model in Knoxville→Memphis Teacher Effectiveness Initiative

Districts learning from and networking with each other to accomplish reform→Nashville Teacher Effectiveness Initiative →CLASS→AIMS →Southwest Tennessee Rural Consortium

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Professional Development For All Teachers To Help Students Achieve

Common Core Standards Use of data dashboard early warning system Data use for instruction, evaluation, professional

development, and compensation systems at the local level

Teacher & principal evaluation instrument and value-added assessment

Data training for using Teacher Working Conditions survey

These are statewide investments that will pay dividends well into the future.

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The Tennessee Plan

Rigorous standards & assessments Longstanding commitment to data Strategy for turnaround schools Focus on great teachers & leaders

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Get the best return on your investment.

Invest in Tennessee.

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