TN.gov Newsroom

Bredesen Accepts ECS Award

NASHVILLE - Governor Phil Bredesen accepted the Education Commission of the States 2009 Frank Newman Award for Innovation on behalf of the State of Tennessee on Wednesday.

The award was presented at the ECS 2009 National Forum on Education Policy being held in Nashville through Thursday. The award, which recognizes excellence in shaping education policy, acknowledges Tennessee’s commitment to education reform through expansion of pre-K, teacher pay increases, higher standards and other education initiatives.

NASHVILLE – A new report prepared as a collaboration between the Tennessee Department of Education and SAS Institute, Inc. shows almost half of last year’s sixth grade students have a 50 percent chance of scoring a 21 on the ACT college exam, enough to earn them a Tennessee Hope Scholarship.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Education Commissioner Dr. Timothy Webb today joined the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a state-led process to develop common English-language arts and mathematics standards. The Common Core State Standards Initiative will be jointly led by the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and the Tennessee Department of Education today announced the commencement of the 2009 Governor’s Schools of Tennessee.

The State of Tennessee provides twelve summer programs for gifted and talented high school students, many beginning this week. These programs offer challenging summer study experiences for college credit hosted by various state universities in various disciplines.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is pleased to announce the 2009 Spring Content Knowledge Institute. Combining use of the Department’s innovative Electronic Learning Center (ELC) and the Instructional Technology Support Center of Middle Tennessee State University, teachers and administrators will have access to theses training sessions across the state.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education today is proud to announce the United States Distance Learning Associated (USDLA) has recognized e4TN, Tennessee’s online curriculum resource, as a leader in best practices in distance learning.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is proud to announce the commencement of the first statewide evaluation of the effectiveness of Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program.

The five-year, $6 million statewide study of rigorous scientific design is being funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education’s Institute of Education Science and is being conducted as a collaborative project by the TDOE and the Peabody Research Institute at Vanderbilt University.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program has received high marks in the National Institute for Early Education Research’s (NIEER) annual report, ranking in the top half of states for both the percentage of children enrolled and funding.

Tennessee’s Pre-K program met nine out of 10 quality standards benchmarks in the report, The State of Preschool 2008. The state increased enrollment of 4-year-olds to 21 percent, and the $4,465 in per-child state spending earned the state a 13th place ranking on resources.

“Quality Pre-K classrooms are one of the best investments we can make in the education of children in Tennessee,” Governor Bredesen said. “Even in difficult budget times we have been able to maintain our support for these classes and, as this report shows, it’s paying off.”