TN.gov Newsroom

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is proud to announce that six Tennessee schools have been chosen as 2009 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools. The award is given by the U.S. Department of Education each year to schools helping students achieve at a high level and for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap.

“Receiving this designation is an outstanding accomplishment and evidence that these schools are doing the right thing in educating our children while still meeting intense federal benchmarks,” Education Commissioner Timothy Webb said. “Teachers, parents and students should be very proud of themselves and their schools.”

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen, Education Commissioner Timothy Webb and the Tennessee Department of Education launched the 2009-10 Middle and High School Reading Summit beginning today with a spotlight on promoting reading success.

“Reading is the key to a successful education,” Governor Bredesen said. “While we have made reading a priority with early learning initiatives like Books from Birth, it’s now time to apply that same level of focus to keep reading on the forefront for middle and high school students as we increase standards this year.”

NASHVILLE – Each year, the Tennessee Department of Education recognizes outstanding administrators with the Principal of the Year and Supervisor of the Year awards. The finalists below were selected by fellow principals and supervisors and represent the nine field service. The winners will be named at the annual Tennessee Educational LEADership Conference in October.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is proud today to announce three Tennessee school systems have received top honors from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for best practices in school nutrition.

Knox County (Powell High), Montgomery County (Burt Elementary) and Unicoi County Schools were recognized by the Southeast Regional Office of the USDA in various categories related to school health and nutrition including increasing participation in school breakfast and lunch and customer service.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education has been awarded a $22 million grant through the United State Department of Education to support the state’s 22 existing charter schools and to increase the number of high-quality charter schools opening in the future.

NASHVILLE – Textbooks being considered for use in Tennessee public schools beginning with the 2010-11 school year are now on display in ten district textbook collection sites located across the state (see chart below). Tennessee is in the process of adopting new textbooks in the areas of English Grammar and Composition, English as a Second Language and Foreign Languages.

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and Education Commissioner Timothy Webb today announced $8.13 million in federal 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. The grants support programs that seek to raise achievement levels of low-income students and students attending underperforming schools through research-based enrichment programs operated outside of the school day.

“We’ve made a serious commitment to our students by raising our standards through the Tennessee Diploma Project and these grants help support our efforts to see that all students graduate ready for college and the workforce,” Gov. Bredesen said.

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education released today the list of schools and school districts that showed gains and those that did not show sufficient progress on performance standards under the federal No Child Left Behind guidelines for the 2008-09 school year.

Every Tennessee district that was on the high priority list showed progress and moved into “improving” status. Those school districts include: Bedford County, Davidson County, Madison County and Murfreesboro City. Robertson County Schools came off the high priority list entirely. Another 42 schools across the state came off the high priority list as well, a 50 percent increase over the number of schools that came off last year.

WHAT:            The Tennessee Department of Education will be announcing both the schools and school districts that showed academic gains and th

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education’s Career and Technical Education Department is proud to announce its summer conference “New Directions for Career and Technical Education” at MiddleTennessee State University this week.

With a focus on delivering 21st Century skills that will help students succeed in the classroom as well as the workplace, CTE teachers and directors from across the state will attend the conference to learn new techniques for preparing students for post-secondary achievement and financial literacy.