SCS shows reading, math improvement on national test
The most significant jump in student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, was in eighth-grade math where the average score increased by about eight points.
Topic: Penny Schwinn
RSSThere are 100 article(s) tagged Penny Schwinn:
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October 2019
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September 2019
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Schwinn retreats on plan to change Tennessee’s system for judging schools
For the time being, Tennessee will stick with a framework that emphasizes academic growth for all students, regardless of whether those students are deemed proficient on state tests.
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Setting up voucher program a ‘challenge,’ says Mark White
House Education Committee Chairman Mark White says the Tennessee Department of Education faces a difficult task in setting up an education savings account program in time for the 2020-21 school year.
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Tennessee renews debate on how to judge schools
Debate over student growth versus proficiency has been ongoing for decades. Tennessee's William Sanders came up with the nation’s first system for evaluating teachers based on student growth, and the state was an early adopter of the model.
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August 2019
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Tennessee signs $40 million school testing contract
British-based Pearson took over the student testing program July 1. The contract runs through June 30, 2021, and the state has the option to renew terms annually for up to three years through 2024. The five-year cost would be $93.1 million.
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Summer reading camps are popular, getting results – and in peril
Read to be Ready camps first opened in 2016, and Tennessee has expanded the program annually with funding from the U.S. Department of Human Services. But state officials learned in January that the federal grant now has to be used for child care programs.
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Manager named for Tennessee school voucher program
Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn named Amity Schuyler voucher project manager. “She believes in education savings accounts. And to take the lead on this project, I need someone who believes in it,” Schwinn said.
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Tennessee will wait another year to grade its schools A-F
It’s a reprieve for low-performing schools that are academically in the state’s bottom 5%, known as priority schools. Most are in Memphis and Nashville and were expected to receive some of the lowest letter grades.
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What you need to know about the 2019 school year
Tennessee’s State Department of Education, as well as the state’s two largest school districts, Memphis and Nashville, are heading into their first new school year after major leadership changes.
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July 2019
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In a reversal, Memphis charter network to stay with state district for now
Freedom Preparatory Academy will continue operating its Westwood neighborhood elementary school as part of the state turnaround district instead of moving the school to Shelby County Schools oversight.
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Education leaders offer advice about Tennessee’s turnaround schools
A dozen people from other states answered Tennessee school chief Penny Schwinn’s request to meet in Nashville and talk about the Achievement School District. Seven years after its creation, the Tennessee district’s third leader recently left; a study found the program has not improved student achievement; and Schwinn said no new schools will join this year.
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Parkinson calls for elimination of ASD after bad report
While some officials contend a new strategy is needed for the state’s Achievement School District following a poor report, state Rep. Antonio Parkinson says it’s time to ditch the program.
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Bartlett teacher a finalist for Tennessee Teacher of the Year
Amanda Tutor, a photography and visual arts teacher at Bartlett 9th Grade Academy, is one of nine finalists for the 2019-20 Tennessee Teacher of the Year award.
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June 2019
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As funding shrinks reading program, Gov. Lee says literacy is a priority
Tennessee used discretionary funds to ensure the Read to be Ready camps continue this summer, but there was no reprieve for a major component of the reading initiative: a statewide network of coaches created three years ago to help teachers improve their literacy instruction.
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Tennessee’s literacy initiative in jeopardy as funding dries up
“I’m really struggling to see how equity is in the equation when 114 districts suffer” as Read to be Ready collapses. – Superintendent Joey Hassell of Haywood County Schools, a rural district near Memphis.
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Education chief says feedback shows No. 1 concern is mental health needs of students
Student mental health is one of 12 priorities identified in the state education department’s proposed five-year strategic plan.
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Pearson bid $20.1 million to take over TNReady testing next year
The world’s largest and oldest testing company, Pearson will become the third vendor in five years to administer TNReady in the state’s messy transition to computer-based testing.
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Tennessee bumps base teacher pay up to $36,000
The newest upticks are expected to affect about 3,500 teachers in 62 mostly small or rural school systems now meeting the state’s lowest salary threshold.
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May 2019
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The fine print: Five things to know about the state’s voucher legislation
The state education department must administer the education savings accounts, establish a fraud-reporting system, and suspend or terminate schools that don’t comply with rules. It must produce an annual report on the number of students participating, the results of a parent survey, overall student performance and “graduation outcomes.”
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April 2019
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Here’s who Penny Schwinn will lean on in Tennessee
For her chief of staff, Schwinn has picked Rebecca Shah, who worked at the Texas Education Agency where Schwinn served as deputy commissioner of academics before Gov. Bill Lee hired her as Tennessee education chief.
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So far so good? Nearly halfway through, Tennessee state testing remains glitch-free
Tennessee’s school districts are nearly halfway through online testing, and for the first time in three years, no major issues have been reported.
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March 2019
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Schwinn faces critical decisions on TNReady online achievement testing
Tennessee education leaders can now track glitches with the revamped TNReady testing system in real time. But the state education commissioner says she still must decide whether to throw the switch or wait another year to resume online achievement tests.
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February 2019
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Schwinn tours Douglass and Millington Central
Tennessee education commissioner Penny Schwinn makes stops at two Shelby County High Schools just days after taking the state's top education post.
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January 2019
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Just months before its next testing company is supposed to start, Tennessee has yet to receive its first bid
With just months to go before a company is supposed to take over Tennessee’s troubled assessment program, the state has yet to release its request for proposals.
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Tennessee’s next education chief starts in February. Here’s how she’s prepping
Penny Schwinn is scheduled to take the reins Feb. 4 of Tennessee’s education department, where she’ll oversee 600 full-time employees and work on new Gov. Bill Lee’s agenda for public education.
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