Education News

Nashville public schools board lists four properties as surplus to help fill $13 million budget hole

This is a corrected version. The Brookmeade property is located at 1015 Davidson Drive. The Nashville public schools board wants to sell four properties to make up a portion of its $13 million budget hole, a unanimous decision that came after a heated discussion over a fifth property some members wanted to sell. Metro Nashville Public Schools, under the city’s 2018-19...Read More

How we are working to support students and teachers in our lowest performing schools

My guiding philosophy is that all means all. All students, regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status, deserve a chance to receive a quality education from our state’s public schools. We must create a pathway for success for each and every child. Simply doing nothing while students languish in schools that have underperformed for generations is counter to our principles as...Read More

How Tennessee districts are honing in on strategies to address struggling schools

The roadmap to improve struggling schools includes effectively retaining teachers, and leaders that are qualified for the work in the building, according to a recently published study by Tennessee’s research partner. The blueprint, published last week by the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, lays out five factors that can drive improvement at the...Read More

Reading Grants Announced for Tennessee 2019 Program

Tennessee has awarded $8.9 million for next year’s summer reading program. The state Education Department said Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced the 218 public school recipients on Thursday. The funds go toward tuition-free, monthlong literacy camps for 8,910 students in need statewide. Next summer will be the fourth year of the grant program, known as Read to be Ready Summer...Read More

Read Candice McQueen’s advice for her successor as Tennessee education commissioner

For the first time in four years, Tennessee will have a new education commissioner in January, a position held by Candice McQueen since Jan. 1, 2015. As McQueen exits from the top education post in the state to lead a national nonprofit, she offered advice for the person Gov.-elect Bill Lee selects as her successor. McQueen will become the CEO of the National...Read More

State of Nashville: As economy thrives, residents struggle with health, housing, prosperity

Median income gains in Nashville lag peer cities, prenatal care is declining in nearly all Middle Tennessee counties, health insurance coverage has dropped and the percentage of residents living below the poverty line is on the rise. New data released by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in its annual Vital Signs report comes in stark contrast to the steady stream of economic wins the...Read More

Chief of SCORE to step-down and Pass Baton to Colleague

The longtime leader of one of Tennessee’s most influential education advocacy organizations is stepping down and will be succeeded by her chief lieutenant. Jamie Woodson will leave her job as CEO of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, also known as SCORE, to become the group’s senior adviser. David Mansouri, SCORE’s president for the past three years, will take over as both...Read More

Nashville Announces Scholarship to Make College Completely Free

Nashville is launching a new scholarship to make higher education completely free for many students. It’s one of the first local government efforts in the nation to target non-tuition expenses, and it will help students at two colleges in Nashville beginning fall 2019. Nashville GRAD — or Getting Results by Advancing Degrees — will work alongside the state’s two existing initiatives that...Read More

This Memphis teacher wanted to make learning physics more engaging, so he created a website. Now it’s used in 40 countries.

Three girls explode into laughter and cheers as they roll a small cart across the table, successfully getting a rubber band to launch the cart just fast enough to knock a washer off the back of the cart, but not quite fast enough to knock over two washers. These high schoolers might look like they are just playing with toys inside their Memphis classroom, but they are actually in the...Read More

Tennessee Releases New State Report Card

Education Commissioner Candice McQueen today released the new, redesigned state report card for 2017-18. This tool was developed over the past year with educators, parents, and community organizations and includes a number of new features based on that feedback, including school ratings, a Spanish translation of the site, and additional new data about the performance of different student...Read More