Education Commissioner McQueen holds regional ESSA town hall meeting

Published 9:03 am Thursday, January 12, 2017

Star Photo/Curtis Carden  Tennessee Commissioner of Education Dr. Candice McQueen was at Tennessee High School Wednesday evening for a region town hall meeting to provide an update Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and receive feedback from local school systems.

Star Photo/Curtis Carden
Tennessee Commissioner of Education Dr. Candice McQueen was at Tennessee High School Wednesday evening for a region town hall meeting to provide an update Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and receive feedback from local school systems.

Strategic planning for education in the state was on full display this week.
Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Candice McQueen along with department leaders meet with families and school leaders during a regional town hall on Wednesday, Jan. 11, inside Viking Hall on the Tennessee High School campus in Bristol to provide updates on the Every Students Succeeds Act – a new federal law replacing No Child Left Behind – to have discussions about what’s ahead for the state’s plan, “Tennessee Succeeds”.
Having the opportunity to make it to the region is always, Dr. McQueen said.
“It is really great to be in upper East Tennessee and receiving feedback from this area about a new opportunity we have in Tennessee under a new federal law called the ‘Every Student Succeeds Act’, … Tennessee is taking our strategic plan ‘Tennessee Succeeds’ and we’re getting feedback from communities across the state and we’re allowing folks to weigh-in on standards, assessments and accountability,” she added.
While looking at the intangibles of No Child Left Behind, the commissioner said they were good parts, but the new law in place will make items move smoother.
“There were good parts of the No Child Left Behind Act but ultimately, as soon as that law was written and states had it to comply with, states were turning in waivers,” she said. “We had two waivers that we actually put forth as a state because we couldn’t meet some of the minimum thresholds, so this is an opportunity to say ‘what would you do as a state to actually meet the thresholds we put forth’ but allowing more flexibility on how we meet those thresholds. There are some things you do that are nonnegotiable that you do as a state … but what that accountability model looks like and the flexibility that can be provided with that are really now for the state’s to control.”
McQueen added that Tennessee Success has set priority areas, including work with literacy, high school and the bridge to secondary schools, educator support and district empowerment.
“We want to make sure that not only more of our students are going to postsecondary through this great opportunity through Tennessee Promise and other avenues, but that they are actually ready when they get there,” Dr. McQueen said. “So that when they get there, they don’t have to take remedial education or a development course. They’ll be ready day one to walk into that postsecondary class and be successful.”
Carter County and Elizabethton have followed suit with other school systems by implementing a work ready diploma, allowing students an opportunity to receive a head start for postsecondary schooling, including work with TCAT – Elizabethton.
“We want to take advantage of our wonderful colleges of applied technology and move more of our students into careers in technical career education pathways,” she continued. “Right now, we only have two percent of our high school graduates going to a TCAT. Average age of a TCAT student is 26. We need more of our high school students on these college and career pathways that are in Career Technical Education (CTE) programs and taking advantage of these credentialing opportunities that they have through TCAT to get better and higher paying jobs.”
McQueen added she is a fan of the diplomas put in place and the current work with Tennessee Succeeds is about utilizing K-12 education to have students in the right place before continuing school at the next level.
The ability to improve in math, ready, and state level report cards will also prove to be a key factor in economic development, Dr. McQueen added.
Currently, the department is holding these types of town halls and the commissioner added she’s already received written feedback and opinions through other avenues on ESSA and Tennessee Succeeds. The plan in place is to utilize the current time period in place – January 31 – to take in all the feed before submitting the plan to the Department of Education.
The department provided updates on some of the brights spots over the past year, which include:
• Students making Tennessee the fastest improving state in the country in science. Tennessee moved into the top half of states in both fourth and eighth grade science.
• Graduation rate in the state rose to the highest on record – 88.5 percent.
• College-going rate improved by five percent, a sizeable increased from the past six years combined.
• State leaders made a “historic investment” in the state’s education funding.
• High school students earned more college credits – 7,500 more in 2016 compared to 2014.
While current success has been experienced, the department implement their plan in the fall of 2015 to hit four goals over the next five years.
• Tennessee will rank in the top half of all states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress by 2019.
• 75 percent of Tennessee third graders will be proficient in reading by 2025.
• The average ACT composite score in Tennessee will be a 21 by 2020.
• The majority of high school graduates from the class of 2020 will earn a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree.

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