STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE: 2012-2013 – Letter from Senator Bill Frist and Jamie Woodson
February 5, 2013
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Dear Fellow Tennesseans,
Over the last several years, Tennessee has become a national leader in education reform by enacting bold policies
to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared for college and the workforce. Beginning in 2011,
wide scale implementation of those policy commitments
began. This made the last year Tennessee’s opportunity
to prove whether it would be able to ensure that the policies we have passed – from raising academic standards to
evaluating principals and teachers in new ways – would
lead to positive impacts for our students. The hard work
of a broad range of stakeholders has helped Tennessee’s
students make the most academic progress in the state’s
history. While Tennessee has shown that it was up to this
reform challenge, much work remains to accelerate
these improvements and ensure that all our students are graduating with the skills they need
to compete in the global economy.
Since the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) was
founded, we have been committed to ensuring that every student in Tennessee graduates high
school prepared
for college
and the
work-
force. As the state’s work has shifted from changing policy
conditions to ensuring those policies are implemented
with fidelity, it is crucial that we understand the successes
and challenges that we have faced in helping districts and
schools make our policy goals a reality. The 2012-13 State
of Education in Tennessee report that follows will provide
you with an overview of the academic gains the state has
made, update you on the work that has contributed to the
improvements students have experienced, provide extensive state and district data, and highlight education priorities for Tennessee in 2013. While we have made significant
strides in improving achievement outcomes for students,
far too many of our students remain ill-prepared for life
after high school. There is much more to be done, and we
must sustain the important work taking place now.
As you will see, the priorities for 2013 focus on the actions we believe must be taken to ensure that Tennessee
continues its work to become the fastest improving state
in the country. These priorities are based on the notion
that in order to effectively implement reforms, educators
need the right supports and resources. All of us—parents,
educators, policymakers, business leaders, and community members—have a unique role to play in supporting
educators and sustaining the reforms that have been put
in place.
Whether we succeed or fail in this work over the next few
years will have significant implications in the lives of the
next generation of Tennesseans. We have already proven
that we can rise to significant challenges as a state and
overcome them to improve outcomes for students. As the
link between producing an educated workforce and creating jobs remains of critical importance, it is imperative that
we learn from our successes and challenges to continue
on our pathway of improvement.
With warmest regards,
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