Students at MLK College Preparatory High School in Frayser will get to choose from among six schools to attend beginning next school year, as Memphis-Shelby County Schools begins construction of a new high school on the same site.

When Lizzette Reynolds took over as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education in late July, she immediately inherited the huge job of deciding how to provide an A through F letter grade to every public school in the state.Thursday, Commissioner Reynolds unveiled exactly how her department plans to do that, through a simple calculation that mostly splits student achievement and student growth equally. 

A new survey of Tennessee teachers shows a strong majority are supportive of the state’s efforts to improve literacy.The 2023 Tennessee Educator Survey found perception of the English language arts (ELA) curriculum improved for more than 70 percent of educators.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) released key findings and responses from the survey this week. The state administered the survey to 50 percent of teachers and 47 percent of administrators from February 27 to April 17.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools announced Wednesday that it’s launching a new field trip program to give students free learning opportunities outside the classroom walls.The $3 million investment called Discovering Memphis will fund field trips to the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) for eighth and eleventh-graders and the children’s museum for first-graders.

If his school community had to choose between himself and its nine therapy dogs, David Snowden jokes that “the director of schools would have to go.”Now in his 23rd year as leader of Franklin Special School District, south of Nashville, Snowden has championed the canine program since Mattie Grace became the school system’s first trained therapy dog in 2018.

Tennessee’s efforts to increase early literacy appear to be paying off according to the latest review by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.The Comptroller released its second annual review of the implementation of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act (TLSA), which aims to ensure that students are on track to becoming proficient readers by the end of third-grade.The review found that Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores in English language arts (ELA) are increasing along with the universal reading screener results showing positive trends.

Today is the deadline for high school seniors to apply for the Tennessee Promise, which offers two years of tuition-free college. Here’s what you need to know to apply.

In 2021 the Tennessee Department of Education announced a major undertaking to reform early childhood literacy.The department’s Reading 360 initiative aimed to invest $100 million to help Tennessee students learn to read through the science of reading.A nationwide study released earlier this year illustrates just how big of a challenge Tennessee is facing ensuring all future teachers are utilizing research-based reading instruction techniques.

Sumner County parents urged school board members last week to follow through on promised athletic facility improvements.

The Sumner County School Board approved moving $15.5 million out of reserves to fund the first wave of rebuilds, facility updates, and stadium renovations in the district last month.

Members of the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to push for harsher consequences for students who threaten their school.The resolution calls for the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation allowing for the revocation of the driver’s license of students who make false bomb threats or other threats against their school.“Many of the punishments for such actions are not sufficient deterrents to some students. The revocation of a student’s driver license may be a more effective deterrent for some students,” said Director of Schools James Sullivan.Board member Tammy Sharp proposed the resolution after working in collaboration with Representative Robert Stevens, R-Smyrna.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education says Director Dr. Adrienne Battle met every expectation for the 2022-23 school year.Board members provided that positive evaluation at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The number of farms in the United States may be declining but the same isn’t true of the youth organization that’s spent decades preparing students for a career in agriculture. The Tennessee FFA is enjoying record membership with more than 32,000 members across the Tri-Star state.

The search for a new superintendent to lead Memphis-Shelby County Schools appears to be reaching its home stretch.Tuesday night School Board Chair Althea Green requested the board to add three ad hoc committees to ensure members can play a part and be there for support.The first committee would focus on scoring and assessment and include board members Frank Johnson, Amber Huitt-Garcia, and chair Althea Greene.Garcia questioned what this means for their role.

When Tennessee launches the School Letter Grades next month parents will be able to see how well their child’s school is serving students by reviewing whether it received A, B, C, D, or F grade. The hard part has been determining what makes one school an A and another a B or lower.The School Letter Grades Working Group held five meetings this month to work that out and most members appear to agree that student growth should matter just as much as student achievement.

Williamson County students say they faced intimidation following last month’s discussion on whether pride flags should be allowed in classrooms.Amy Duncan with LQBTQIA+ group Wilco Iris told board members at Monday’s meeting that some members of the crowd opposing the flags purposely intimidated students after the previous meeting.Duncan says she came to the board meeting to speak on behalf of those students who were advised not to attend the meeting by the adult volunteers at Wilco Iris who also feel the students’ safety is in danger.

A seemingly routine rule change involving the process of reviewing local school districts that authorize public charter schools faced opposition from Nashville lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly’s Joint Government Operations Committee Thursday.The rule change Nashville lawmakers objected to allows the State Board of Education to use only external evaluators when conducting those reviews instead of both internal and external reviewers that are currently required. Board Deputy Executive Director Nathan James told members of the Joint Government Operations Committee this rule change is needed to avoid conflicts of interest.

Tennesseans who’ve been thinking about becoming a mentor have a little more time to apply.tnAchieves announced today it’s extending the registration deadline to Friday, October 27 for adults that want to mentor a current high school senior.“Our mentors are local supports for students who need it most. And we’re really grateful to anyone who serve in this role,” tnAchieves Senior Director of Mentors, Tyler Ford.The tnAchieves mentor program will run from mid-November through until October 2024. Mentors will invest one hour a month for a total of 12 hours annually assisting students.

Members of the School Letter Grades Working Group have spent more than 13 hours this month discussing the right way to provide each public school in Tennessee with a grade.  If there’s one takeaway from that time spent in virtual meetings, it’s that the diverse group of parents, legislators, state education leaders want the grading system to include a variety of factors.When it launches next month, the School Letter Grades system is expected to evaluate student achievement, student growth, and other factors like graduation rates to provide each school with an A through F grade.

Metro-Nashville Public Schools broke ground Thursday morning on the new and updated Lakeview Elementary Design Center.The district plans to build the school on its existing campus in south Davidson County’s Antioch community over a multi-year period.“This groundbreaking event is symbolic of our city’s commitment to educational excellence for every child in Metro Nashville Public Schools and it marks the beginning of a new era in how we educate our children here in the Antioch community. We’re preparing our students for the rest of their lives, and it has never been more exciting than right now,” said Lakeview principal Shantrell Pirtle.

Interim Superintendent Tutonial “Toni” Williams told members of the Memphis-Shelby School Board that closing buildings is not the goal of the academic facilities reuse plan now under consideration by the district’s new Facilities Steering Committee.That committee held its first meeting last week to discuss multiple scenarios to fund $500 million in school upgrades and address the district’s deferred maintenance costs. One idea under consideration would be to designate 23 facilities for reuse.