For the students of today, a role in the workforce of tomorrow might have very little to do with a desk and a cubicle – instead, for some of them, a normal day could involve the use of a 3D printer, a laser cutter, a drone, or even a robot. Who better to help students explore these new skills as early as possible than a K-12 school? Franklin Road Academy presented its own brand of future-minded thinking in 2017 when it launched the Innovation Lab, a 2,000-square-foot space that offers students hands-on learning experiences using the tools and technologies they might encounter in a modern STEM workplace, while also allowing for creativity and problem-solving. Today, in addition to their regular coursework, you’ll find Franklin Road Academy (FRA) students using the Innovation Lab for robotics and Science Olympiad competitions.
Our Students Deserve Better: The Nashville P.R.O.P.E.L. Success Story
“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.” This Chinese proverb is embodied in the work of Nashville PROPEL, a parent-led organization dedicated to equipping Metro Nashville Public Schools parents with the knowledge and tools to demand a world-class education for all.
An abbreviation for “Parents Requiring Our Public Education System to Lead”, Nashville PROPEL is committed to educating parents and grandparents, particularly in Black and Brown communities, about the state of their local schools and of the larger education landscape. They do this by prioritizing conversations around student and school data, aiming to answer the question: what should a good school look like? The organization helps to train and support parents so they can feel confident in advocating for their children. “We’re not into convincing people. We do want to provide the knowledge and have them make informed decisions,” said the organization’s Executive Director, Sonya Thomas.
Parents who are willing and ready to take action are encouraged to join the movement via the Fellowship, a 6-week program that provides education on the history of Nashville’s public schools, the landscape today, and how parents can advocate for improvement. As part of the effort, participants are encouraged to attend school board meetings, press conferences, and other public events so that their voices can be heard.
Just this year, PROPEL has built 900 unique relationships with parents in the Nashville Community. Nearly 400 parents have completed training sessions with Nashville PROPEL and 80 parents have graduated from PROPEL’s public advocacy fellowship. Since its founding in 2018, PROPEL has gained not only local attention, but also statewide and national recognition. Although Sonya Thomas says the organization’s most significant accomplishment has been its ability to amplify local parent voices, the organization is also proud to have been featured on APM Reports “What the Words Say”, BET’s “Disrupt and Dismantle” and the NBC Nightly News, among other media outlets!
PROPEL is committed to organizing and developing parent leaders that will advocate for equitable education practices and policies in Nashville public education. The Scarlett Family Foundation is proud to support the work of an organization that empowers families and so clearly shares the belief that every student in Nashville deserves access to a high-quality education, no matter their zip code.
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Helping a Diverse Group of Local Students Become Nashville Teachers
It is undeniable that teachers have an incredible influence and make an everlasting impact in the lives of their students. According to a Teach For America article posted in 2019, studies also show that students taught by teachers who share their identities and look like them can benefit even more, both academically and emotionally.
In an effort to better match the the system’s teacher population to the increasingly diverse student population in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), Lipscomb University, with the support of MNPS and the Scarlett Family Foundation, launched Pionero Scholars, a scholarship and outreach program to create a local pipeline of aspiring teachers from students who grew up in Nashville and understand the culture and context of Nashville’s many different neighborhoods.
Pionero offers MNPS graduates the scholarship support and opportunity to become a part of Lipscomb University’s nationally-ranked College of Education. The program encourages students from underrepresented backgrounds, those who are first in their family to attend college, and/or those from low-income backgrounds to consider the teaching profession. Past and present Pionero Scholars have enrolled from eight different high schools across Metro Nashville, representing 12 different countries of origin, and speaking eight different languages.
For some students, the scholarships can be crucial in their ability to attend college. But Pionero students also enjoy a loving and
supportive community of peers and mentors that support them throughout their teacher preparation and as they transition as teachers into their classrooms.
Ruby, a Pionero alumni who now works at her alma mater, Glencliff High School in Nashville, talks about the Pionero Program and the impact it has had on her life and career path: “I’m thankful for Pionero for the simple reason that there were people in the program that took a chance on me and believed in my potential and my power in making a change in my community.
“That went a long way in a moment when I doubted myself just to know that I had a community of mentors and of peers who were in the journey with me and more than willing to help me along the process. They understood that as a student of color, I had different needs and they were there to help me find the necessary resources to accomplish my goal of graduating from college.”
Watch this video to hear about Ruby and two other Pionero alumni who are now shaping the lives of MNPS students everyday in local classrooms.
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Success Story: Minority Liaison at Warren County High School
For too many high school seniors, the transition from high school to college or to a career can be a period of confusion and uncertainty. As college brochures, job listings, and financial aid forms pile up in front of them, even the most determined student may find themselves desperate for support. For minority students at Warren County High School in McMinnville, TN, this is where Leah Simpson steps in. Employed as the school’s Minority Liaison since 2018, Leah is responsible for guiding underrepresented students – many of them identifying as Hispanic/Latino – to their best-fit post-secondary pathway. With a focus on building trust and fostering relationships, Leah is working to create a new generation of college-and-career-ready high-school graduates in her community.
A former teacher at Warren County High School (WCHS), Leah’s desire to support underserved students stemmed from years of watching too many graduates leave the high school without a post-grad plan. She noticed that this transition seemed to be particularly challenging for students whose parents had not attended college themselves, had immigrated to the United States, or did not speak English. With this observation in mind, Leah set out to support not only students, but entire families. Today, when Leah begins the process of educating a WCHS student on their post-high school opportunities, she is sure to include the student’s family in the conversation.
In a normal year, a week in Leah’s shoes might involve a field trip – the class of 2020 visited Cumberland University, Tennessee Tech University, and a Nissan manufacturing facility – or a FAFSA Frenzy event, along with dozens of one-on-one meetings with her students. However, 2020 was not a normal year. As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted school-as-usual, Leah leaned on Google Classroom to ensure continued support to her students. This digital solution allowed Leah to provide the guidance she would ordinarily offer inside school walls – guidance related to the ACT, college admissions, community services opportunities, summer programs, and more. Despite the many challenges caused by COVID-19, 80% of Leah’s students in the class of 2020 reported post-graduation plans involving postsecondary education, career, or military service. Those students who pursued postsecondary education were awarded a combined total of over $1.5M in scholarship funds.
As Minority Liaison, Leah’s support of her students extends beyond the high school years. She uses technology to keep in touch with her students; even years after graduation, WCHS graduates have approached Leah for help with everything from FAFSA renewal to assisting with a transfer application. Because Leah invests so much time into building relationships with her students and their families, she is viewed as a trusted resource that can be relied upon to offer guidance and support to her community for years to come. The Scarlett Family Foundation is proud to support Leah Simpson and Warren County High School in their mission to guide all students to a life of success after high school.
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Nashville Teacher Residency Success Story
There is perhaps no greater gift to a child’s educational experience than the gift of a highly-skilled teacher. Since 2016, Nashville Teacher Residency (NTR) has provided educator preparation training that aims to foster diverse cohorts of new teachers, develop in them an appreciation for their Nashville and Clarksville communities, and – through the cultivation of this high-quality educator pipeline – bring Middle Tennessee one step closer to the dream of excellent education for all.
Through a one-year, state-approved education program, NTR transforms teacher hopefuls from novices to highly effective educators – due in large part to the support of Mentor Teachers, seasoned classroom teachers who provide hands-on, consistent mentorship to NTR residents. This on-the-job training during the school day is the perfect complement to the practice-driven coursework administered by NTR staff at night. NTR’s approach to educator education is not just practical; it’s also proven. According to the 2019 Tennessee Educator Preparation Report Card, Nashville Teacher Residency has the highest percentage of teachers at TVAAS Level 3 and above, as well as the highest percentage of teachers at TVAAS Level 4 and above – compared to 38 total educator preparation programs statewide.
Nashville Teacher Residency’s recent success extends to the national level. In 2019, NTR became one of only eight programs to receive funding through the National Center for Teacher Residencies’ Black Educators Initiative. NTR will use these funds to expand and improve its efforts to recruit and develop Black teachers in Middle Tennessee. Teacher diversity stands as a high priority for the NTR program; across four cohorts, two-thirds of residents have identified as People of Color.
Upon completion of their residency requirements, NTR stays with its cohort members as they navigate the search for full-time employment in the teaching profession. Nashville Teacher Residency’s style of teacher prep might best be described as “all-encompassing”; its individualized style of training and support ensures that residents must never walk alone. The Scarlett Family Foundation is proud to support the work of Nashville Teacher Residency, an organization that so clearly shares the belief that every student deserves the opportunity to learn from the best.
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Pathways Counseling: Where We Are and Where We Could Go
Part One of the “Pathways Counseling: The New Essential Service” series presents both the function and incalculable value of a specialty college and career counselor, and makes the case for an expansion of this role across Tennessee schools. The piece’s central argument hinges upon a stark reality: not every high school student has access to guidance from adults equipped to provide education and/or career advisement (also referred to as pathways counseling) to a young person. In the transition from secondary school to college or career, too many students are flying solo.
The latest installment of this series takes a solutions-focused view of pathways counseling. Though our state lacks a comprehensive strategy for college-and-career advising – a plan that would extend these services to all Tennessee students – there do exist both state-led and community partner-organized advising programs working to fill these gaps in some communities. This piece does not seek to spotlight the totality of these programs, but will highlight several strategies for pathways counseling that should force us to wonder what could be – if even one of these models could find a home in every school in Tennessee.
State-Level Efforts to Close the Advising Gap
In 2016, under the leadership of the Haslam administration and with the recently-established Drive to 55 goal in mind, the state of Tennessee sought to address the lack of college and career counselors in our state’s public schools with the launch of Advise TN. The program, designed to “provide college advising services to up to 10,000 junior and senior students across Tennessee”, has placed pathways counselors in 33 high schools across Tennessee – including one in Davidson County. State-level work has also led to the creation of TN Achieves, a partnering organization to the TN Promise Scholarship that offers mentorship from community volunteers to local students as they prepare to enter postsecondary education. But mentorship is only offered to high school students who have already been approved for the TN Promise scholarship, and have therefore already taken steps toward attending college.
Although both the Advise TN and TN Achieves programs are capable of providing helpful guidance to those students who are selected to participate, obvious gaps remain. Who will provide intentional college-and-career advising to students not enrolled in the 33 Advise TN schools? If the guidance of a TN Achieves mentor is only provided to students who have already applied to a postsecondary institution, what happens to the student who has never believed that college could be an option for them? With the creation of these programs, the state of Tennessee has taken a noble first step; but students will inevitably fall through the cracks if college-and-career advising initiatives like these are not expanded to a wider student audience.
Locally Grown Approaches to Pathways Counseling
Across Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), pockets of high school students receive advising services from college and career counselors employed by local nonprofit organizations. Two of these organizations, Oasis College Connection and the Martha O’Bryan Center, are grantee partners of the Scarlett Family Foundation. Oasis College Connection staffs five full-time college counselors (called “Mentors”) at 11 MNPS high schools, and begins college-going conversations with students as early as the ninth grade. Oasis Mentors make it their job to meet students where they are – literally – whether in the cafeteria or the basketball court; and the program’s near-peer model allows students to form authentic relationships with well-trained advisors not much older than themselves.
The Martha O’Bryan Center takes a more embedded approach to pathways guidance through its Academic Student Unions (ASUs), dedicated spaces found in three MNPS high schools and one MNPS middle school, and offers college and career-related guidance as one option on a menu of student-centric services. Inside these Academic Student Unions, designed to be appealing, comfortable and welcoming, a student may walk in for a cooking class or homework help, but also leave with a TCAT course guide. In this advisement model, as in the Oasis College Connection model, access is key – advisors are steps away from students, and accessible to the entire student population at almost any time.
Though Oasis and Martha O’Bryan differ in their methods of operation, both have seen tremendous success on their mission to guide students to fulfilling lives post-high school. In order to serve as many students as possible with the resources available to them, both Oasis and Martha O’Bryan have adapted and innovated. As we consider how more Tennessee students could be served by college and career Counselors, both programs should be regarded as model innovators.
Other Innovators on the Pathways Counseling Landscape
There are lessons in pathways counseling innovation to be found all across the country; and one model in particular has reached new levels of importance in the COVID-19 era. Virtual college-and-career counseling, already a feature of dozens of student readiness programs nationwide, is more necessary today than ever before. College Advising Corps (CAC), established in 2005, has risen to prominence due in part to its success in bringing virtual college-specific counseling to communities – many rural – where such guidance is limited and college-going has not historically been a part of school culture. CAC’s virtual model employs eAdvisors who rely on a mix of video chat, email, phone calls and text messages to create and sustain student relationships. In a time of school closures and social distancing, leaders in Tennessee and across the nation should consider that a virtual approach to college-and-career counseling may be the solution to the challenge of offering seamless advisement through the pandemic.
To their credit, traditionally in-person counseling programs (like Oasis College Connection and Martha O’Bryan ASUs) have pivoted to a similar approach in recent months. At some point, we will be living in a post-COVID-19 world; and with virtual pathways counseling programs firmly in place, trained counselors may be equipped to reach students in numbers and from distances they could never have achieved through a traditional model.
Though an emphasis on well-trained, student-centered college and career counselors is necessary and important, it would be a mistake to imagine these counselors only as adult administrators. The 2018 documentary “Personal Statement” highlights the work of Peer College Counselors at a New York City high school – young people, themselves high school seniors, guiding their classmates on a path to post-secondary success. The students featured in “Personal Statement” are part of a CARA (College Access: Research and Action) peer-led college access and persistence program, a model that offers 70-80 hours of training and financial compensation to its Peer Leaders as they guide their fellow students through the challenges of college fit, readiness, persistence, and more. As Tennessee confronts the reality that many of our young people do not have access to any form of college and/or career counseling, it is worth considering how the power of mentorship and guidance could flow through the students themselves – another excellent example of innovation in the face of scarcity.
Yes, obstacles to increased counseling services do exist. A lack of funding, lack of classroom space, and lack of necessary time in the school day are perhaps the most oft-cited hurdles. These challenges are real and legitimate; but the state of Tennessee is already home to organizations and initiatives who, through out-of-the-box thinking, have found a way to serve where they are needed. Locally, and across the nation, solutions abound. When we are innovative, we get closer to our goal of bringing intentional, student-centric, college-and-career specific guidance to all TN students. Let’s decide, as a state, that all students are deserving of such guidance; and allow proven solutions to guide our course ahead.
Katie Hazelwood is a Program Officer at the Scarlett Family Foundation, where she champions the Foundation’s college scholarship program and “College and Career Ready” initiatives.
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Pathways Counseling: The New Essential Service
All too often, we place the onus of a college or career pathways choice on young people themselves. Community leaders – in education, government, industry and beyond – make note of the gaps between degrees earned and degrees required, of the chasm between number of students graduating from high school and the number earning a skilled credential or entering the workforce. In Tennessee, we react to these realities – but it’s time we caught the problem upstream. How might our community look different if each of us had been provided intentional, student-centric, college-and-career specific guidance during our high school years – or even earlier?
Perhaps our own parents, guardians, or other trusted adults helped us determine which path we would take after high school. Maybe we benefitted from the service of a college and career-specific counselor. But an assumption that all students have access to this specific brand of academic support would be incorrect, and would not reflect the thinking of a truly equitable public education system. The truth is that not every high-school student has access to guidance from adults equipped to provide education and/or career guidance (also referred to as pathways counseling) to a young person.
The need for expertise in such a role is clear – this counselor should be an individual who knows the ins-and-outs of post-secondary attainment, career pathways, technical education, military opportunities, and so on. A 2018 study found that students with access to advising services are seven percent more likely to enroll in postsecondary education. As the state of Tennessee pushes forward its Drive to 55 Initiative – a goal to see 55 percent of Tennesseans equipped with a college degree or certificate by the year 2025 – dedicated college and career counselors should be regarded as crucial assets in the mission to set young Tennesseans on a path toward economic success.
It is critical to remember that the role of college and career counselor is different from that occupied by a school counselor, who is responsible for myriad student needs including academic counseling, social and emotional health services, and crisis management. With a statewide student-to-counselor ratio of 335:1, and large caseloads proving to be the rule rather than the exception, it is not realistic to assume that Tennessee school counselors have the time, capacity, or requisite training to provide robust pathways counseling in addition to their other key duties.
School counselor education has historically emphasized the social-emotional component of student care, frequently leaving pathways counseling out of the equation. Fortunately, change is coming; in 2016, the main accreditor of American counseling programs added college and career readiness to its practice standards. But applicable programs have until 2023 to comply; and this change will only affect candidates who are in the process of completing a counseling program. Though currently-practicing school counselors may have a deep desire to offer college and career counseling to their students, a robust base of knowledge in the field of pathways counseling cannot be guaranteed. In order to appropriately counsel students through their college and career options, it is essential that college and career counselors – trained to provide exactly this form of guidance – be made available to young Tennesseans.
A pathways counselor’s first priority will often be to walk with a student, hand-in-hand, through the pros and cons of various post-high school pathways. In a perfect world, this pathways counselor will have access to information regarding each student’s individual aptitudes and interests – perhaps determined through a program like YouScience – and will use this information to guide students to their next level of education or to a career. The process of making a pathways choice can be an emotional one, often involving deep self-reflection on one’s own skills, passions, and hopes for the future – combined with consideration of subjects like cost and eligibility. Students who have a trusted hand guiding them through this whirlwind are likely to benefit in the long-term; a 2020 research study found that high-school students guided by effective counselors were more likely to graduate high school, attend college, and persist in college than peers who did not have the same access.
Through a pathways-specific guidance process, a counselor also has the opportunity to introduce students to careers they may never have discovered otherwise. Students do not always have access to such neutral forms of career exploration; research tells us that for many students, a pathways choice is highly influenced by the profession of their parents. In some instances, a student will be well-placed to follow in the footsteps of their parents. But this certainly is not the case for all. A dedicated college and career counselors can coordinate a field trip to the site of a large local employer, organize guest speakers from various walks of professional life, or coordinate internships for their high school students. In today’s socially-distanced reality, a college and career counselor may lean on virtual job-shadowing software to accomplish the same goal. By increasing the availability of college and career counselors, students will be given the opportunity to seek professional guidance from a non-familial adult who has been trained to meet that very need.
The process of pathways examination should eventually lead students to a phase of decision-making – a period of time that will often involve a flurry of forms, tests, deadlines, and fees, all of which can be more easily navigated with the guidance of someone who has experienced this process many times before. This moment in a student’s college-or-career-going journey may also require a series of pivots. Perhaps a career in medicine sounds perfect, until a student comes to understand the time commitment involved with that particular pathway. Maybe launching into a manufacturing career post-high school sounds tempting, until a student realizes that they will not have the opportunity to advance upward without a particular degree in hand. These twists and turns can come loaded with stress and a fear of the unknown – the perfect moment for a professional pathways counselor to step in and responsibly guide the student through the process of changing course.
For so many pieces of a student’s academic journey, a well-trained adult supervisor is regarded as not only beneficial, but absolutely essential. Today, Tennessee schools include teachers, paraprofessionals, speech and language therapists, special education service providers, school counselors, principals – the list goes on and on. But when it comes to the crucial cliff between secondary school and the real world – the world of college, certificates, careers and independence – too little has been done to prevent students from merely dangling off the edge. But there is hope; intentional and thorough college-and-career counseling can help our students bridge this gap. The Scarlett Family Foundation firmly believes that we must prepare our students for success after high school; as such, we designate “College and Career Readiness” as one of our four key initiatives and proudly support organizations who empower students through pathways guidance.
In the next installment of the “Pathways Counseling: The New Essential Service” series, we’ll explore the wide range of innovative counseling solutions popping up across the state of Tennessee and around the country. In the field of pathways counseling, student success stories are plentiful; it’s worth wondering how many Tennessee students could become the stars of such stories if given the right counselor-champion.
Katie Hazelwood is a Program Officer at the Scarlett Family Foundation, where she champions the Foundation’s college scholarship program and “College and Career Ready” initiatives.
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PENCIL: Providing Vital Support to Nashville’s School Communities
Each day, the educators and administrators of Metro Nashville Public Schools bring their fullest effort, the very best of themselves, to their classrooms in service of Nashville’s children; it is only appropriate that they be given the benefit of a strong support system. Since 1982, PENCIL has played that role for Nashville’s public schools – and in the almost 40 years since the organization’s founding, PENCIL’s impact on the community has only grown. As MNPS educators, students, and families prepare for a back-to-school experience unlike ever before, the tireless work of the PENCIL organization deserves a moment in the spotlight.
PENCIL takes a multi-pronged approach to supporting Nashville’s public education community, one of these being its brick-and-mortar LP PENCIL Box, a teacher supply store that offers classroom essentials to MNPS teachers at absolutely no cost. The value of free classroom supplies cannot be understated, particularly when – as reported by the Tennessean in February 2020 – Nashville teachers regularly spend an average of $410 per year on their own classroom supplies. In the 2019-20 school year, the LP PENCIL Box distributed over $1.8 million in supplies to educators from 159 MNPS schools. But for the PENCIL team, this impressive reach is not good enough. PENCIL understands that certain barriers do exist between Nashville teachers and a visit to the LP PENCIL Box – distance, shop hours, and awareness of the resource, to name a few – and remain committed to developing solutions to these challenges in order to make the Box a truly accessible benefit for all MNPS educators.
Behind the scenes, PENCIL staff serve as the bridge between generous community members interested in supporting MNPS schools and the schools themselves. Equipped with a deep knowledge of school needs, PENCIL is able to recruit and match community members with the students and teachers in need of their skills. In the 2020-21 school year, PENCIL’s Partnership Managers oversaw over 750 such partnerships, working with a range of businesses, universities, faith-based organizations and civic groups. PENCIL staff work diligently to identify a best-fit volunteer opportunity for interested parties, from sorting supplies at the LP PENCIL Box to hands-on tutoring or success coaching in MNPS schools. PENCIL volunteers have been particularly essential in the COVID-19 era, meeting the needs of MNPS students and families by creating at-home learning tool kits to be shared at the district’s meal distribution sites.
PENCIL’s student-centric, partnership-focused work ensures a strong bond between the Nashville community and our MNPS schools. By linking community resources to Nashville’s public education system, PENCIL creates a world of opportunity and support for students, families, and educators. The Scarlett Family Foundation has been proud to support PENCIL since 2009.
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Laptops for all MNPS students is crucial first step in bridging digital divide | Opinion
The public education landscape in Nashville has always been littered with inequities, but the COVID-19 shutdown has aired much of this dirty laundry, and technology, or lack thereof, has become the subject of significant community attention.
As school-aged children across Nashville moved to a remote-learning system, a “digital divide” was quickly brought to light. In a city often celebrated for its economic prosperity, we learned that over half of the students in our public education system do not have access to both a device and to high-speed internet. By taking steps to close this divide, we will position our community to benefit far beyond the days of COVID-19.
COVID-19 will badly damage some student’s learning
As we consider how technology might expand opportunity for all children, let’s first consider how a lack of technology has already harmed many of them. The Brookings Institute tells us that when students are out of school for the standard two-month summer vacation, they lose 25%-30% worth of school-year learning, and the numbers are even worse for students of color.
If Nashville students return to classrooms in August, they will have been out of the classroom for a period of five months. If the Brookings’ numbers are to be believed, it is entirely possible that tens of thousands of Metro Nashville Public School students will have lost up to 75% of school-year learning by the time this summer ends.
But for some Nashville students, learning never stopped. Some schools and educators provided high-quality online resources to their students — of which there are countless — and some even provided real-time lessons through videoconferencing platforms. But it must be noted that without access to the internet and a device, a student would not have even had the option to take part in such offerings. Come fall 2020, these students may find themselves standing at the starting line — while their classmates are already halfway down the track.
John Cooper took a crucial first step
It doesn’t have to be this way. On June 8, Mayor John Cooper announced that every public school student in Nashville-Davidson County will be provided a laptop and, if needed, internet connectivity. This is an excellent first step in what is sure to be a long, grueling journey to create a more equitable public education system. But with a technology plan in place, one that will serve ALL Metro Nashville Public Schools students, we have reason to hope. With virtual learning opportunities in place, our school system has an additional tool in its toolbox, a way to inch toward closing the many student learning gaps we know exist.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, our community faced a terrible battle with college and career readiness: 70% of graduating MNPS students did not meet this mark. Literacy had long presented its own challenge: three out of four MNPS students do not read on grade level. The data has long tried to tell us that students required additional supports.
Imagine an inclusive future
Today, let’s imagine what Nashville’s student technology plan might make possible for MNPS families. How quickly and conveniently might students be able to take part in tutoring, self-paced academic courses or summer learning? For English language learners or students with disabilities, specialized supports could be offered around the clock. With fully equitable access to technology, we could push the doors of opportunity open for more than 80,000 students.
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As we approach the 2020-21 school year, we would be remiss as a community if we did not prepare for a schooling scenario that involves a combination of in-school and home-based learning. With the appropriate technology in the hands of every MNPS child, virtual learning solutions can be pursued with vigor, educators secure in the knowledge that all students have the ability to participate.
There will be challenges, certainly — we’re all familiar with the pains of technical glitches and internet outages. But by investing in a comprehensive technology plan for all public school students, our city has taken an enormous step in the right direction. Pandemic planning aside, equitable access to technology for Metro Nashville Public School students could lead us to a world in which students are not bound only to those supports that exist inside their school building. A one-to-one technology plan just makes sense.
A conversation about opportunity
At its core, this is a conversation about opportunity. With a technology-for-all plan, we move closer to creating a community in which every single student has access to a high-quality public education, regardless of where a student lives in our city. We can offer students a true 21st-century education, providing them a strong sense of digital literacy while supplementing traditional literacy work. We can better prepare every student for college and career by introducing technology-based pathways counseling, virtual job shadowing, career aptitude tests and so much more — to all students.
The first step to equitable public education in 2020? Connected devices for all. Thank you, Mayor Cooper, for leading our community in this direction.
Tara Scarlett is president and CEO of the Scarlett Family Foundation.
Read more at The Tennessean.
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Franklin Road Academy Innovation Lab: Learning STEM By Doing
But the impact of the Innovation Lab extends far beyond FRA’s own student community. Thanks to a partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), FRA has hosted and collaborated with hundreds of MNPS students and educators through the Summer Innovation Institute. In the summer of 2019, the Institute welcomed over 100 students and eight teachers from four MNPS middle schools for summer camps held in the Innovation Lab. Summer 2019 marked the third summer of this partnership, meaning hundreds of middle school students across MNPS have now had the opportunity to craft, solve, and create using tools like 3D scanners and a virtual reality computer.
Perhaps most impressively, the Summer Innovation Institute experience has sparked community-wide good: in the summers of 2018 and 2019, student innovators used their lab to create products for the Nashville-based nonprofit Shower The People, which provides mobile shower and bathroom facilities to homeless individuals. Through this partnership, students are able not only to explore their own potential, but also to explore how these skills may be a force for good in their communities for years to come.
Thanks to Franklin Road Academy’s Innovation Lab and the Summer Innovation Institute, students across Nashville can dive deeper into science and technology, practice collaboration and problem-solving, and discover new passions. Although the COVID-19 pandemic prevented FRA from hosting a 2020 Summer Innovation Institute, the Innovation Lab stands prepared to host students as soon as it is safe to do so, and for many years to come. The Scarlett Family Foundation is proud to support this program.
Tags: Grantee Story
What We’re Learning: Updated Data Underscore Unique Features and Challenges for Each MNPS District
Although many of us are quick to associate school leadership with teachers, principals, and superintendents, it is important to remember that many of the key decisions made on behalf of Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and our community are made by our city’s nine school board members.
2020 brings another school board election cycle for Nashville – this time for districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. As such, there’s no time like the present for all local voters to re-familiarize themselves both with the responsibilities of the MNPS school board and with the schools and students served in each of these nine districts.
To aid in this pursuit, the Scarlett Family Foundation is excited to release an updated version of our District Data Pages, a collection of profiles featuring achievement, student culture, and teacher data for each MNPS school board district.
These updated pages, consisting of data from the 2018-19 school year, reveal to us a few notable themes.
Total student enrollment has changed dramatically, but only in certain districts.
The most significant decreases in total enrollment can be found in District 1 (North Nashville), which saw a drop of 1,002 students from 2016-17 to 2018-19, and in District 5 (Central & East Nashville), which saw a loss of nearly 4,000 students from 2016-17 to 2018-19. During the same time, District 6 (South Nashville) experienced a boom in student enrollment, growing from 10,765 students in 2016-17 to 13,771 in 2018-19.
The MNPS student body has become increasingly diverse.
When our 2016-17 District Data Pages were assembled, only District 2 (South Nashville)’s student population was so diverse that it had no racial or ethnic majority. The 2018-19 data show that the same can now be said for District 4 (Central & East Nashville). Only in Districts 1, 5 and 8 does any single racial or ethnic demographic group make up 50% or more of the entire student population.
More Nashville students are attending charter schools.
This trend is particularly evident in Central & East Nashville (District 5), where the percentage of students attending public charter schools increased from 38% in the 2016-17 school year to 59% in the 2018-19 school year. This is the only MNPS school board district in which a majority of students attending public schools are attending public charter schools. Northwest Nashville (District 1) saw its own notable increase, jumping from 24% of students attending charter schools in 2016-17 to 32% in 2018-19. Charter school enrollment also grew in Districts 2 (South Nashville) and 6 (South Nashville). There are no charter schools in Districts 8 or 9 (both Southwest Nashville).
Every district struggles to get its high school students “College Ready”.
With only 22% of all MNPS students hitting the “College Ready” benchmark (a score of 21 or above on the ACT exam,) achievement in this category is a struggle for every school board district. Not a single district can say the majority of its high school seniors achieved “College Ready” status in 2018-19. Districts 8 (Southwest Nashville) and 9 (Southwest Nashville) saw the highest number of students reaching college readiness, at 44% and 43% respectively. In District 5 (Central & East Nashville,) measures of college readiness range widely, with 47% of students at LEAD Academy high school meeting this mark, while only 9% of its Pearl-Cohn students do the same.
How does this data connect to the school board?
If the collected information in these district pages prove anything, it’s that each of Nashville’s nine school board districts is unique. In addition to making key decisions around subjects such as budget, curriculum, school calendar, director accountability, school openings and closings, and more, it is crucial that an MNPS board member serve as a voice for the students and families of their unique district.
In Nashville, school board members are elected by the public; and good data empower parents, advocates, local leaders and community members to cast a confident and informed vote when that vote is required. Though school board districts cannot be fully understood through facts and figures alone, we hope that the at-a-glance information found in these data pages will be helpful to those who seek to better understand the students and school communities in their district before visiting the polls in August.
The election for school board seats in Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will take place on August 6, 2020.
Tags: High Quality Schools
