Tennessee graduation rate improves for third straight year
Tennessee graduation rates had steadily risen for about 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic and related disruptions triggered a three-year slide in the state.
Topic: Chalkbeat Tennessee
RSSThere are 43 article(s) tagged Chalkbeat Tennessee:
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October 2025
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In increasingly Hispanic Memphis schools, immigration enforcement surge brings fear, absences
Board member Amber Huett-Garcia said multiple high school teachers told her that students “have just stopped showing up.”
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Fewer Memphis students are showing up to mental health assemblies. This state law may be to blame.
MSCS Mental Health Director Donna Goings said attendance at suicide and bullying prevention trainings fell by two-thirds last year. That’s because most students don’t return parent permission slips required by a 2024 state law.
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Tennessee should fully fund special education pre-K, districts say
The Lakeland School System has criticized the state’s focus on private school choice over fully funding special education pre-K classes.
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Memphis lawmaker to lead national standardized test board
State Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) will lead the National Assessment Governing Board which oversees “the nation’s report card.”
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September 2025
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Tennessee educators ask lawmakers to dial back or amend state testing
Dr. Kevin Schaaf, a Metro Nashville Public Schools reading specialist, said students are often fatigued and disengaged in class, stressed by the emphasis on test performance.
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Memphis teacher vacancies decline, but district still struggles to hire certified educators
Memphis-Shelby County Schools cut teacher vacancies by hundreds compared with this time last year, thanks to a bolstered HR team, an official said. More than 200 new hires hold conditional licenses, which expire in three years.
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Memphis schools are increasing dyslexia support to boost state reading test scores. Will it work?
MSCS is required by state law to screen every student for signs of dyslexia, but Tennessee allows only an outside provider, such as a licensed psychologist, to give an official dyslexia diagnosis.
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August 2025
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Memphis students outpace state growth in reading and math, but lag in social studies
Memphis-Shelby County Schools earned the highest score in the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System for the fourth year in a row. But younger students lost progress in social studies, falling behind expected growth.
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June 2025
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Tennessee won’t know how many new vouchers go to existing private school students
As Tennessee lawmakers debated a new universal voucher program earlier this year, one financial analysis projected that 65% of vouchers would go to students already enrolled in private schools.
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Here’s where Shelby County families can find free meals and snacks this summer
For the first time in five years, many Shelby County families are missing out on supplemental grocery cash this summer after Tennessee stopped participating in a federal program that served the entire state.
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Tennessee schools could remove students with disabilities from classroom before assessment under proposed rule change
Tennessee may soon make it easier for schools to temporarily remove some students with disabilities from their classrooms.
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Tennessee launches its summer food benefits this week. Most students in the state will miss out.
The program is a significant rollback of Tennessee’s previous summer food benefits initiative.
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February 2025
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Here are the charter operators applying to open or run schools in Tennessee in 2026-27
Two groups want to open the first charter schools for at-risk students under a new state law.
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November 2024
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Tennessee teachers scoff at proposed bonuses linked to Gov. Lee’s school voucher plan
“It’s a one-time bonus that’s basically asking us to sell out our public schools,” said Liz Marable, a longtime Memphis educator who is currently president of the United Education Association of Shelby County. “But we are not for sale.”
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Tennessee’s costly, disruptive school-turnaround work didn’t help students long term, says research
The analysis has national implications for ongoing reforms aimed at making swift and dramatic improvement to persistently low-performing schools.
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October 2024
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Tennessee is gearing up for another private school voucher debate. Here’s what we know.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson told school board members the governor is planning a “substantial” increase for public education funding in 2025 but didn’t specify how much or for what.
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With all of Tennessee’s hurricane damage, will funding priorities change for schools, vouchers?
“Our first priority now has got to be taking care of our neighbors in East Tennessee and helping them recover from this storm damage,” Rep. Mark White said.
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May 2024
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MSCS’ $200 million funding request reflects soaring cost of new high schools
MSCS is asking the county for more than $200 million in funding for school buildings, both to address maintenance needs at existing schools and to support construction of two new high schools.
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March 2024
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Proposed U of M district wouldn’t lead to school takeovers, supporters pledge
But there are still some lingering concerns about the proposal, which would make the proposed University Schools district the 10th public school operator in Shelby County.
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New MSCS superintendent’s contract includes ethics clause
The former superintendent departed under an investigation into allegations that he abused power and violated district policies.
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Tennessee universal school voucher bill clears two more legislative hurdles after contentious debate
Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to create a statewide school voucher program easily cleared its first Senate hurdle Wednesday, but took a split vote and five-plus hours of often contentious debate to pass out of a House committee.
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Incoming Memphis schools leader Marie Feagins begins work, set to assume superintendent role April 1
Maire Feagins’ temporary employment with the Memphis-Shelby County Schools took effect March 1 on a per diem basis. She’s likely to become MSCS superintendent on April 1, months ahead of the July 1 start that board members had planned.
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Memphis school board appointment bill on hold amid talks with state lawmakers
“Our city is begging for change when it comes to education, and I want to know that this school board has a plan,” said Rep. Mark White, who chairs a House education committee.
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February 2024
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Some Tennessee fourth graders have to meet individualized ‘adequate growth’ measure or risk retention
Tennessee fourth graders will have to show during state testing this spring that they’ve made progress toward becoming better readers in order to move to the fifth grade.
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