Education News

Strategic Retention Of Effective Teachers And Leaders Critical To Success

One way that organizations improve is by making strategic decisions about their personnel: hiring good people, placing them where they can be most effective, supporting them, and holding on to them—or not, depending on their fit and their job performance. As two Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) studies highlight, this thinking applies to schools and school districts as well. First,...Read More

In Tennesseee, black educators stick with teaching, but change schools more often says a new study

Tennessee’s black teachers are more likely to leave their schools than their white peers, but in most cases are not exiting the profession altogether, according to new research. Data collected from 2011 to 2016 shows that the state’s black teachers, especially males, are transferring to other schools within the same district at a higher rate than white teachers. The findings are a surprise and...Read More

After-School Programs Keep Learning Going With Student Data

Not long after the last school buses leave Isaac Litton Middle School at the end of the day, the first buses from a dozen other East Nashville schools start to arrive for the after-school enrichment program, Backfield in Motion. Teacher Candra Clariette helps a double handful of boys slowly work through Peggy Kern’s book “No Way Out.” It’s always a tricky task, she...Read More

Amazon in Nashville: Area colleges want to be key player in company’s workforce development

Before Amazon’s announcement earlier this month to bring an operations hub to Nashville, college leaders rallied for months to sell the company on the city’s workforce training. Belmont University’s Bob Fisher told the tech giant last year that there would be a collective effort from universities throughout Middle Tennessee to train future Amazon workers. “Vanderbilt,...Read More

Focus On Improving School Leaders To Benefit All Tennessee Students

The job of a school leader has changed dramatically in recent years, leading many education advocates to a new, heightened focus on principals as instructional leaders and to an increased interest in better supporting principals. Through work that includes supporting teacher growth and creating a strong school culture, school leaders account for up to a quarter of in-school factors that affect...Read More

Food Pantries Help Food-Insecure Students Breathe a Sigh of Relief

Twenty-eight of the 427 students at Two Rivers Middle Prep are experiencing homelessness. Nearly 90 percent of the student body is classified as economically disadvantaged. Two Rivers is a part of what’s known as the McGavock cluster, which includes 16 other schools. Of the group, Two Rivers has the largest in-school food pantry, and it serves as a food distribution point for low-income...Read More

Biz leaders to Bill Lee, Marsha Blackburn: Focus on education and infrastructure

Nashville and Tennessee business leaders are urging the state’s newly elected leaders to focus on education and infrastructure to best support business communities statewide. Bill Lee, owner of a heating and air company, won the governor’s race Tuesday; U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn won a senate seat and U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper was re-elected to represent Nashville in the House of...Read More

One state uses data about job needs to help decide what colleges should teach

The nursing students at Missoula College wield their medical syringes with life-and-death intensity, even though they’re only practicing on fruit. This bright, high-ceilinged classroom overlooking the Clark Fork River buzzes with enthusiasm born of not only the knowledge that such work is important, but also that registered nursing is among the highest-demand occupations in Montana. It’s not...Read More

Bill Lee is Tennessee’s next governor. Here’s how he’ll begin to shape education.

A political novice, Republican businessman Bill Lee has defied conventional wisdom to become Tennessee’s next governor. Now he’ll have to show that he can govern, too, over a state that has pioneered education reforms for a decade and climbed national rankings on student achievement. Lee touted his outsider and business background in cruising to victory Tuesday over former Nashville Mayor Karl...Read More

Nashville public schools boosts the number of AP exams taken thanks to free-test program

Nashville public schools students took more college-level exams last year than ever before, a result that officials say stems from an effort that foots the bill for the tests. In the 2017-18 school year, district-run school students took 6,636 Advanced Placement exams, about a quarter more than the previous year’s total of 4,811 exams. The increase happened in the same year the district...Read More