Race to the Top Finalist Interview State of Tennessee Leadership Team March 16, 2010

1. Race to the Top Finalist Interview • State of Tennessee Leadership Team • March 16, 2010 • Washington, D.C.

2. The Tennessee Story

3. Sustaining Real Reform …We Are All Going There Together • Bipartisan and statewide political support • 100% of districts and 93% of unions signed on • Urban and rural districts leading the innovation • Strong multi-sector leadership across the state • All gubernatorial candidates have pledged to implement and support • Significant philanthropic & business support We have launched this work. We invite you to invest and be part of its success.

4. We Demonstrate Commitment Protected education focus and investments • Annual full funding of Basic Education Program • Longstanding investment in data • Statewide strategy for early childhood education • College- and career-ready standards for all through the Tennessee Diploma Project • Charter schools & innovation • “First to the Top” legislation

5. Courage to Make ChangeSenate Bill 5: First to the Top Act • Enacted significant reform for educators, schools, and postsecondary education in special legislative session • Set a framework for teacher & principal evaluation with 50% being based upon student achievement data (where available) • Created an Achievement School District to clarify and provide authority for state takeover of lowest-performing schools • Set in place a college completion agenda that includes performance-based funding • Much of this was part of the Tennessee plan before Race to the Top. The funding opportunity provided an incentive for timely action.

6. We Build On Success • Ambitious and achievable plan built on a strong foundation • Accelerates goals of the Tennessee Diploma Project: college- and career-readiness for all students • Shared priority for Tennesseans This is not a pilot project. It is a comprehensive roadmap for transformational reform for the entire state.

7. Making It Happen • First to the Top Oversight Team • Based on the Office of Tennessee Recovery Act Management model • Across multiple agencies • State and local • Measurement for results • Tennessee Department of Education • Realigning the department for the work ahead • Creating Race to the Top Implementation Centers • Partnering with the U.S. Education Delivery Institute • Working with experts from Tennessee and across the country • Ongoing research and evaluation component built into the proposal to inform decision-making

8. Sustainable Across Time & Politics It’s how we do business in Tennessee: • Build sustainable policies and programs with a broad base of support • Support statutory change in a bipartisan fashion, with many champions • Create collaborative structures to advocate for solutions (SCORE, Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee, College & Career-Ready Policy Institute Leadership Team, etc.) Tennessee is the place to get things done.

9. Standards & Assessment

10. We Are Making Progress, And We Can Accelerate … GOAL: All students college- and career-ready Leaders are committed to reaching student achievement goals.

11. Leading In High-Quality Standards & Assessment • A national leader • American Diploma Project • Governor co-chairs Achieve • College & Career-Ready Policy Institute • College & career-ready policies for all students • Standards, assessment, accountability • Alignment to postsecondary education • College completion agenda in place Our goal: all students college- and career-ready.

12. STEM: Raising the Bar • STEM skills critical to economic development • Significant STEM assets already exist • Oak Ridge National Laboratory managed by University of Tennessee and Battelle • Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) • STEM centers at postsecondary institutions • TN STEM Innovation Network will bring assets together to share and learn in partnership with Battelle, ORAU, and the Ohio STEM Learning Network; and to develop more opportunities for teachers and students

13. Ahead Of The Curve • Will adopt Common Core Standards in July • Close alignment with Tennessee’s existing standards • Allowing for smooth transition • Leading role in Common Core Assessment Consortia • Already committed to college- and career-ready anchor assessment

14. Realizing the Power of Data

15. Data To Support Instruction • Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) • Nation’s first value-added system • Student academic achievement and growth data available at the district, school, and teacher level • Fully functional & statistically reliable student growth model already in place (since 1992!) We don’t have to build it. Our goal is to use the robust data we have more effectively.

16. Using Data Can Transform Teaching & Learning • Statutory limitations on data use removed • Already in 2010: data dashboards and educational data access are now available to every teacher in the state • Longitudinal Data System plan calls for 3600 view of the child • Links horizontally & vertically to agencies across government • Links to value-added data • Links to “dashboard” for educators • Presents opportunity for educators and others to see the full set of supports and/or challenges a student faces that could affect learning • Professional development will focus on effective use of data to enrich and improve instruction & student learning

17. Data Will Inform Preparation Programs & Tenure • Removes the prohibition on using teacher effect data until data from three complete academic years are obtained – so that this information can inform tenure granting decisions • Authorizes teacher effect data to be shared with SBE-approved teacher preparation programs of the individual teacher, if it does not personally identify the particular teacher

18. Adding & Growing Capacity All of our proposed investments in making our data useful for teachers are designed to: • Add short-term expert capacity to implement, train, and coach • Create tools, networks, and innovations that remain long after the grant period • Build long-term capacity of Tennesseans to manage reform and increase student achievement This is designed to improve student achievement in financially sustainable ways.

19. A Learning AgendaFor The Nation • Tennessee Consortia for Research Evaluation and Development (TN CRED) • Brightest researchers from within Tennessee and across the country • Research all reform elements in the proposal • Ongoing data and reporting to inform implementation & understand outcomes • Funded through the proposal as well as grants • TN CRED will be a link to national researchers • Already coordinating grants and IES opportunities Tennessee’s research will help the entire country learn what works for students and what doesn’t.

20. Focus on the Lowest-Performing Schools

21. Changing Business As Usual • Desire and passion to pursue change • Deep investment, partnerships, and governance changes for the lowest-performing schools • New statutory mechanisms and supports to keep struggling schools from falling further • Changes in the way funds are leveraged to accomplish goals and decide who will provide support to certain schools

22. Pyramid Of Intervention

23. Focus Schools • Schools in second year of School Improvement • Serious intervention to prevent these schools from being chronic low-performers • Schools remain with district and will be served with Tennessee’s existing school improvement resources (Exemplary Educators, etc.)

24. Renewal Schools • Designed to keep schools on the edge from falling further – to renew them in their communities • Drawn from the categories of Corrective Action and Restructuring 1, or from schools that fall into either the lowest 5% in achievement OR Restructuring 2 • A mix of 18 urban, small-city, and rural schools expected in this category in 2010-11 • Schools remain with district but must choose a certified partner to build capacity and/or implement turnaround model • State will issue RFI to solicit high-quality capacity-building, model, and turnaround partners, with $300,000 in RTTT funds per school annually • District can choose only from the high-quality providers to work with these schools based on individual school and district fit • Must provide the level of autonomy the chosen partner requests to conduct their work

25. Achievement School District (ASD) • Drastic action for schools in the lowest 5% in achievement AND in Restructuring 2 & beyond • 13 schools in major urban districts expected in 2010-11 • Commissioner has the authority to take over schools • Place them in a “virtual district” under the direction of the ASD Superintendent • ASD Superintendent will report directly to Commissioner • May contract with entities to operate • Significant authority and resources to support the work • Structured planning and possible return to home district if successful • Collaborative of five national partner organizations will work with ASD Superintendent and Commissioner to run the schools

26. Make It Happen For Students In Tennessee • Hungry for change, motivated to help students achieve • Ready to do the work • Can serve as a benchmark for the nation • Committing resources will make a greater impact here than anywhere in the country Tennessee thrives when every student is college- and career-ready. Investing can make it happen faster.

27. Teachers & Leaders

28. Theory Of Change: Teachers At The Heart Of Boosting Student Achievement

29. Teacher & Principal Evaluation • The creation of Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee (TEAC) to build new teacher & principal evaluation instruments to be adopted by SBE • Requires annual evaluation of all teachers & principals and that personnel decisions be based in part on evaluations, including: • Promotion • Retention • Tenure • Compensation

30. Teacher & Principal Evaluation • 50 percent of the evaluation criteria developed must consist of student achievement data, as follows: • 35 percent of the evaluation criteria: TVAAS or some other comparable measure of student growth, if TVAAS data not available • 15 percent of the evaluation criteria: other measures of student achievement selected from list of measures developed by TEAC & adopted by the SBE • Other mandatory criteria include: • Review of prior evaluations • Personal conferences to include strengths, weaknesses and remediation • Relative to teachers only: classroom or position observation followed by written assessment • Relative to principals only: additional criteria pursuant to the principal’s employment contract

31. Alternative Compensation • LEAs to submit proposed salary schedules to be approved by the commissioner & SBE as an alternative to the state base salary schedule. Such alternative schedules shall: • Be subject to collective bargaining where applicable • Not reduce the salary of a teacher employed by the LEA at the time of the adoption of the salary schedule • Be subject to appropriation by the governing body empowered to appropriate the funds

32. Districts At Work Already • State following innovative districts • The Benwood Initiative in Chattanooga • TAP Model in Knoxville • Memphis Teacher Effectiveness Initiative • Districts learning from and networking with each other to accomplish reform • Nashville Teacher Effectiveness Initiative • CLASS • AIMS • Southwest Tennessee Rural Consortium

33. Professional Development For All Teachers To Help Students Achieve • Common Core Standards • Use of data dashboard early warning system • Data use for instruction, evaluation, professional development, and compensation systems at the local level • Teacher & principal evaluation instrument and value-added assessment • Data training for using Teacher Working Conditions survey These are statewide investments that will pay dividends well into the future.

34. The Tennessee Plan • Rigorous standards & assessments • Longstanding commitment to data • Strategy for turnaround schools • Focus on great teachers & leaders

35. Get the best return on your investment. Invest in Tennessee.