Race to the Top Finalist Interview State of

Race to the Top Finalist Interview State of Tennessee Leadership Team March 16, 2010 Washington, D. C. 11/23/2020 1

The Tennessee Story 11/23/2020 2

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. 11/23/2020 3

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 11/23/2020 4

Courage to Make Change Senate 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 performancebased funding § Much of this was part of the Tennessee plan before Race to the Top. The funding opportunity provided an incentive for timely action. 11/23/2020 5

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. 11/23/2020 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 11/23/2020 7

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. 11/23/2020 8

Standards & Assessment 11/23/2020 9

We Are Making Progress, And We Can Accelerate … GOAL: All students college- and career-ready Leaders are committed to reaching student achievement goals. 11/23/2020 10

Leading In High-Quality Standards & Assessment § 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. 11/23/2020 11

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 11/23/2020 12

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 11/23/2020 13

Realizing the Power of Data 11/23/2020 14

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. 11/23/2020 15

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 11/23/2020 16

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 SBEapproved teacher preparation programs of the individual teacher, if it does not personally identify the particular teacher 11/23/2020 17

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. 11/23/2020 18

A Learning Agenda For 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. 11/23/2020 19

Focus on the Lowest -Performing Schools 11/23/2020 20

Changing Business As Usual § Desire and passion to pursue change § Deep investment, partnerships, and governance changes for the lowestperforming 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 11/23/2020 21

Pyramid Of Intervention 11/23/2020 22

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. ) 11/23/2020 23

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 work 11/23/2020 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 11/23/2020 25

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 student is college- and career-ready. Investing can make it happen faster. 11/23/2020 26

Teachers & Leaders 11/23/2020 27

Theory Of Change: Teachers At The Heart Of Boosting Student Achievement 11/23/2020 28

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 11/23/2020 29

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 11/23/2020 30

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 11/23/2020 31

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 11/23/2020 32

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 valueadded assessment § Data training for using Teacher Working Conditions survey These are statewide investments that will pay dividends well into the future. 11/23/2020 33

The Tennessee Plan § § Rigorous standards & assessments Longstanding commitment to data Strategy for turnaround schools Focus on great teachers & leaders 11/23/2020 34

Get the best return on your investment. Invest in Tennessee. 11/23/2020 35