Tennessee has launched a new First to the Top website to help keep Tennesseans informed about the state’s Race to the Top program implementation. Located online at www.TN.gov/FirstToTheTop/, the site includes Tennessee’s application and related documents, resources for educators, school systems and vendors, and details about First to the Top programs and projects.
After the graduation rate in Hamilton County dipped to 70.9 percent in 2009 — down 4.2 percent from 2007 — school officials are expecting a significant jump in the district’s graduation rate this year as a result of new programs and initiatives. Based on school records, the district has projected the 2009/2010 graduation rate to have increased by more than 5 percent — the largest single increase in five years.
For education officials in Tennessee, the recent news of staggeringly low achievement on new state tests was all but surprising. For the public, however, Tennessee’s new curriculum standards are expected to make a tough introduction. And in the midst of new challenges and sweeping reforms, the transition into higher standards raises many hard questions about Tennessee's history of low expectations.
It might surprise many Tennesseans to know that across the nation, Tennessee has become a state to watch — and not for the usual music, barbecue or sports-teams reasons — but because in just a few short years, Tennessee has become a national leader in education reform.
Governor Phil Bredesen announced on Wednesday that Tennessee's nearly $501 million Race to the Top budget has been approved by the U.S. Department of Education, allowing the state and all 136 school districts to move forward in implementing comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years.
A sizable majority of Tennessee voters “strongly support” high academic standards in K-12 public schools despite expectations that raising the bar will lead to lower student test scores in the short term, according to the results of a new statewide
Once Tennessee secured $500 million in federal money to turn around its education system, it was up to individual school districts to decide how to spend their money.
If an East Ridge High School class can build a reasonably priced solar panel in the classroom, why shouldn’t anyone? They should, says East Ridge High School environmental science, biology and French teacher Davis Mounger. With some reading and talking to shop colleagues, he said he made a project plan. [Ed: this project was funded through a PEF Jane Harbaugh Innovation in Teaching grant.]
Godfrey Saunders, a 32-year veteran educator and former principal of Bozeman High School in Montana, will lead 13 assistant principals through a program designed to give them practical knowledge about how to run a school. ... Funded with about $600,000 in donations from Unum, businessman Joe Davenport and an anonymous donor, the academy is a joint partnership of Hamilton County Schools, the Public Education Foundation, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
Zac Brown says he's never been more excited about the first day of school. Although it's still several weeks away, the first-time principal can't wait to meet all the students and teachers he'll be guiding at East Ridge High School. ... In 2008 he became assistant principal at Hixson High School, and signed up for the county's Principal Workshop last year.
Dr. Godfrey Saunders has been named director of the Principal Leadership Academy, a joint effort to train aspiring Hamilton County schools’ principals. The Academy, which launches this month, is the outcome of a partnership among the Hamilton County Department of Education, the Public Education Foundation (PEF), the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
At the urging of community partners, Superintendent Jim Scales and his administration have engaged with outside organizations to develop a comprehensive accountability plan for the Hamilton County Department of Education....Though the plan comes at a critical time in his administration, Scales’ efforts to reorganize goals around expanding school reform began two years ago when the Benwood Foundation brought in the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) to evaluate the district's performance. Since 2001, the Benwood Foundation has invested $18 million in reforming urban schools in Hamilton County through a program called the Benwood Initiative.
Seven local 10th grade girls were named Passport Scholars through the Public Education Foundation. As part of PEF’s college access initiative, Passport Scholars provides scholarships for those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend programs like the Summer Science and Engineering Program at Smith College or the Teton Science School at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
...UT is introducing two new programs aimed at reducing the severe shortage of math and science teachers in the state."Vols Teach" kicks off in about two weeks and "Teach Here" will start this fall.
Governor Phil Bredesen announced on Monday 14 appointments to the Tennessee First to the Top Advisory Council, a broad-based group of Tennesseans and national experts who will provide strategic guidance, direction, and thought leadership to state policymakers overseeing Tennessee's Race to the Top grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
America's Choice, a nationally recognized educational solutions provider, has been approved by the Tennessee Department of Education to help transform Tennessee’s lowest performing schools.
The Public Education Foundation (PEF), through the Jane Harbaugh Teacher Innovation Fund, has recently announced $7000 in awards to groups of innovative educators at eight schools in Hamilton County.
The Public Education Foundation, through the Jane Harbaugh Teacher Innovation Fund, has recently announced $7000 in awards to groups of innovative educators at eight schools in Hamilton County.
School districts may get some say in how their teachers are evaluated as part of a new Tennessee law that requires educators to be graded partly on the success of their students...During a teleconference Monday, the 15-person committee appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen to figure out details of the new plan said that while another 35 percent will come from standardized tests showing how much a student progressed in one academic year, the remaining 15 percent is up for grabs.
Throughout the area, teachers work diligently to educate and mentor students. Through their dedication, creativity, ongoing pursuit of excellence and passion for teaching, these talented professionals prepare boys and girls to pursue their passions and excel in life.
Learn about the Title I School Improvement Grant Program and how the communities of Mobile, Alabama; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Chattanooga, Tennessee were successful in implementing turnaround, restart and transformation models to revitalize and transform their lowest performing schools.
See video on WDEF News 12's website.
Learning the ropes 5/28/2010 | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Nearly 30 assistant principals in Hamilton County schools graduated Thursday from a yearlong intensive training program that they say has equipped them to take the reins at local schools.
Carr and Adams are among 50 candidates competing for 18 positions. 10 will end up in Hamilton County, while 8 will go to Knox County.Teach/Here officials will review all the candidate evaluations in the days to come. Those selected for the special program will be notified before the end of next week, and in a classroom this fall.
The occasion celebrated the educational impact of the Benwood Initiative, which defines itself as a grant machine “with a laserlike focus on literacy and teacher effectiveness.”
Brooke Reed's shoulders are feeling a little lighter these days as she shops for colleges without worrying about a possible deal-breaker: the price tag.
Brooke Reed’s shoulders are feeling a little lighter these days as she shops for colleges without worrying about a possible deal-breaker: the price tag. The Red Bank High School junior recently won the Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship, a four-year, all expenses-paid scholarship that just a handful of students nationwide receive. The award will cover tuition and fees, room and board, a laptop and a stipend to the college or university of her choice beginning in the fall of 2011.
...Chattanooga made use of tools that Obama would like to see adopted in all states, such as the system of measuring a student's academic growth over time rather than on static test scores, as Nebraska and most states do.
The announcer said out loud, "extraordinary achievement, nobile character, drive to succeed." To any one who knows Red Bank junior Brooke Reed, that's her. And it's exactly why she's Hamilton County's first Leonore Annenberg college scholarship award winner. Four years all expenses paid, to the school of her choice.
An innovative study of 17 schools across the country suggests that putting literacy coaches in schools can help boost students’ reading skills by as much as 32 percent over three years...The study finds that reading gains are greatest in schools where teachers receive a larger amount of coaching. It also finds that the amount of coaching that teachers receive varies widely and is influenced by an array of factors, including relationships among staff members and how teachers envision their roles.
The Public Education Foundation announced on Monday that the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children, through a partnership with PEF, has awarded generous grants of $100,000 each to East Side Elementary School and Brown International Academy.
Teachers who are eligible next year to receive tenure will not be judged under a new teacher evaluation program being piloted in Hamilton County, officials said Friday. ...School officials, principals, teachers and union officials discussed some particulars of the district’s new evaluation model during a workshop Friday at United Way of Greater Chattanooga.
Top magnet 5/6/2010 | Chattanooga Times Free Press
For the second time in five years, Hamilton County Schools is home to the top magnet school in the nation. At a Magnet Schools of America conference this week, Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts earned the distinction of the No. 1 elementary magnet school in the nation.
The Department of Education's video on the Benwood Initiative - In 2000, the Hamilton County School District in Chattanooga, Tenn., teamed up with a community partner to transform eight of the 20 lowest-performing grade schools in the state of Tennessee. The county built leadership teams to establish staff development and incentive programs to attract and retain talent.
Governor Phil Bredesen and Tennessee Education Commissioner Tim Webb led a Race to the Top Summit in Chattanooga on Friday. County Mayor Claude Ramsey, state and local elected officials and business and civic leaders joined with Hamilton County Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales to "begin a community conversation on the benefits of Tennessee’s First to the Top law and new federal Race to the Top funding for Hamilton County schools."
170 eighth graders at Brown Middle School will got on college tours to Covenant, Lee, Sewanee and Tennessee Wesleyan, on Tuesday, April 27...
Thirteen more Hamilton County high school graduates decided to go on to college in 2009 over the previous year, officials announced Wednesday. The 72 percent college bound rate is up from 70 percent in 2008, but hasn’t fully recovered after dropping from 73 percent in 2007, records show.
The Hamilton County Department of Education and the Public Education Foundation released data on Tuesday on the number of May, 2009 Hamilton County public school graduates who enrolled in college for the fall of 2009. 1,522 students enrolled in 146 public and private colleges and universities around the country. This number represents 72% of the May graduating class, and is up from 2008, when 70% (1509 students) enrolled in college.
65 high school seniors, their parents and their mentors attended a celebration honoring their commitments to college enrollment at a banquet on Tuesday evening, April 13, at Loose Cannon Art and Events. These students have been participating in the College Access Mentoring program conducted by the Hamilton County Department of Education and the Public Education Foundation.
The day after Tennessee public schools hit the $500 million jackpot, Hamilton County administrators began work on a pilot teacher evaluation system that could become a statewide model. Figuring out a way to evaluate teachers every year was one piece of legislation approved during a special General Assembly session in January.
...The fact that every district in the state agreed to participate is a big reason why Tennessee was awarded the $500 million for which officials applied, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Monday. “Tennessee’s plan truly is a statewide effort,” he said during a teleconference announcing Race to the Top winners. Tennessee shares the prize only with Delaware, which won about $100 million.
Author Tony Wagner has written that companies in the new global economy want employees to have seven “survival skills,” including critical thinking, collaboration, communications, curiosity and imagination, among others. Teams of students, parents, principals and school leaders will grapple with how to teach those skills in middle school at the Middle Schools for a New Society planning retreat on Wednesday, March 31 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Chattanoogan.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that Delaware and Tennessee have won grants in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition. “This is a landmark opportunity for Tennessee,” said Governor Phil Bredesen. “Our success in Race to the Top speaks to the commitment we’ve made to meaningful and significant improvement in public education, and the funds provided by the grant will carry us forward in a dramatic and positive direction.”
The local academy to train would-be public school principals has received another $250,000 gift, this time from an anonymous donor. The Principal Leadership Academy — a partnership of Hamilton County Schools, the Public Education Foundation, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce —now has received a total of $600,000 in donations. To fully fund the program, leaders say they need $300,000 a year.
Joe Davenport of Pointer Management has made a five-year, $250,000 commitment to the Principal Leadership Academy currently under development by the Hamilton County Department of Education, Public Education Foundation, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
A project that will train area education leaders to become principals just got some help from a local business and civic leader. Joe Davenport, a local investment manager who has long been an advocate for private schooling in Chattanooga, made a five year, $250,000 commitment to the Principal Leadership Academy now under development by Hamilton County Schools, Public Education Foundation, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Local business and civic leader Joe Davenport has made a five-year, $250,000 commitment to the Principal Leadership Academy that is under development by Hamilton County Schools, Public Education Foundation, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and UTC.
Local colleges aren't churning out enough new math and science teachers. Jamie Parris, Director of Secondary Math & Sciences for Hamilton County, says "in the past two years, we've had 70 math and science teachers retire. And we began this school year with 11 vacancies in Math and Science." Last July, Hamilton County school leaders opted to join a highly selective recruitment initiative, known as Teach/Here. The residency program offers to ease college graduates and those looking for a career change into teaching.
Hamilton County Schools officials already are plotting how the district might spend its share of federal Race to the Top money after Tennessee was announced as a finalist Thursday. Hamilton County Superintendent Jim Scales said he would like the system to look at a new assessment model for teachers, as well as programs aimed at recruiting and training quality educators. “We were pretty optimistic in our hope that Tennessee would be a finalist in the first round,” he said. “This gives us plenty of reason to start planning for if Tennessee is one of the winners.”
When Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Jim Scales became a principal in 1977, nobody gave him much training, he said. “They threw me a set of keys and said, ‘sic ’em.’ That’s about it,” he said. But schools have changed and now require more of their principals, Dr. Scales said. So on Thursday, the superintendent said he was excited to announce the creation of a Principal Leadership Academy that will give practical advice and training to assistant principals hoping one day to take over leadership of a school.
Saying it is "recognizing the connection between strong public schools and the economic vitality of our community," Unum officials announced Thursday that the firm is providing $100,000 to help the Hamilton County Department of Education establish a Principal Leadership Academy.
According to Supply and Demand for Teachers in Tennessee, a study by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the state will face a teacher shortage estimated at over 31,000 by the 2013–2014 school year. The study found that Tennessee must fill about 40 percent of all pre-K through grade 12 public school teaching positions in only four years. Beginning this Friday, an initiative called Teach/Here aims to reverse the trend in Hamilton and Knox Counties by recruiting and retaining nontraditional teaching candidates through an urban teacher residency program.
Hamilton County Schools has some test scores to celebrate, the system announced Wednesday. After the district slipped in many academic areas on last year’s state standardized test — middle schoolers, in particular — officials announced that eighth graders outpaced their counterparts nationwide this year in a precursor to the ACT.
County school officials said eighth graders in Hamilton County middle schools outpaced the nation on the 2010 ACT Explore test. The composite score (a combination of English, math, reading and science scores) rose from 14.9 to 15.3 in Hamilton County. The National composite score was 14.9. State scores are not available.
The ACT EXPLORE test is given to all eighth graders in Hamilton County. It is considered a predictor for how a student will score on the ACT PLAN test, which is administered in the 10th grade, and ultimately how students will do on the ACT, a college-readiness exam that is typically given in the 11th grade.
Grant Law said he was just a stand-in for the weather-predicting “Chattanooga Chuck” on Groundhog Day, but the community leader still was honored to accept the Kiwanis Club’s 2010 Distinguished Service Award. ... Despite all of Mr. Law’s work in the community for more than 30 years — including service as chairman of the Community Foundation and sitting on the boards of the Metropolitan YMCA and the Public Education Foundation — there’s still “much important and unfinished work to do,” he said.
One legislative critic likened it to buying a “pig in a poke,” while even a supporter said he and fellow lawmakers were acting “somewhat on a wing and a prayer.” But with one eye fixed on the chance to win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds and the other on the opportunity to make a difference in Tennessee’s quality of education, state lawmakers last week approved a sweeping education overhaul.
As debate swirls in the Tennessee General Assembly over K-12 education reforms, a group of fifth-grade teachers...gathered Thursday to swap some last-minute advice on how to teach writing. Fifth graders in Hamilton County will take the writing assessment portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test at the beginning of February. ... The event was held at the Public Education Foundation by Clara Sale-Davis, PEF’s director of the Benwood Initiative, and Susan Swanson, director of urban education for Hamilton County Schools.
Hamilton County Schools system could see as much as $10.56 million if Tennessee wins its application for federal Race to the Top funds, according to preliminary state estimates. Other area systems also would get a share of the one time funding.
Gov. Phil Bredesen on Friday issued his official call for a special legislative session on K-12 and higher education reforms...“I look forward to working with you this session to capitalize on the unique opportunities that are in front of us in public education,” the governor said in his letter, dated Thursday. In his proclamation, Gov. Bredesen cited the history of K-12 education reform in Tennessee and noted that the state now is competing with other states for a piece of some $4.35 billion in federal Race to the Top funds.
... The groups will return to negotiations in early January after talks this week produced no agreement on how much weight student test scores should have when it comes to evaluating teacher job performance. That meeting comes just a week before Jan. 12, when Gov. Phil Bredesen wants to convene a special legislative session on education. He wants state lawmakers to change current laws that he says stand in the way of Tennessee, competing against other states for “hundreds of millions” in federal Race to the Top funds.
Math teachers at three high schools will be trained on how to administer nationally recognized benchmark assessments and use those results to refine instruction, thanks to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation...The Public Education Foundation will partner with the district on implementation of the grant.
Gov. Phil Bredesen said Tuesday he will call the General Assembly into a special legislative session next month to enact far-reaching changes in how K-12 teachers and principals are evaluated and granted tenure. The governor said changes are necessary to help Tennessee qualify for federal Race to the Top funds.
The 2009 Tennessee College Access and Success conference will be held in Chattanooga on Monday and Tuesday at the Chattanoogan. ... Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Jim Applegate, senior vice president for Program Development of the Lumina Foundation for Education, will serve as the keynote speakers to open and close the event.
They probably won’t argue over Austen, deconstruct Hemingway or decipher Tolkien. The new book clubs at public schools around Hamilton County have more to do with a love of learning than of literature, as teachers and administrators are taking their own time to read up on how to be better educators. Through the Public Education Foundation, an anonymous donor gave $40,000 to buy books for each of the 44 book clubs that will start soon in the county’s elementary, middle and high schools.
Test scores are down in Hamilton County schools and the district’s graduation rate continued a three-year decline, according to the state’s annual Report Card released Tuesday. Math and reading scores in elementary and middle schools went down 1 percentage point each. In 2008, 90 percent of students were proficient or advanced in math. In 2009, 89 percent were proficient or advanced. Reading scores were 91 percent and 90 percent for those years. The district’s graduation rate now is at 70.9 percent.
Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist thinks Tennessee’s education can be No. 1 in the Southeast. And he says it can happen in five years. For nearly a year, he’s been crisscrossing the state and meeting with principals, teachers, superintendents and business leaders to figure out what’s working well in Tennessee education and how to replicate it statewide.
Thanks to an anonymous donor who contributed $40,000 for this purpose, the Public Education Foundation announced grant awards for 44 Hamilton County public schools to develop or continue educator book clubs.
As part of the Public Education Foundation’s Excellent Teachers campaign, life-size cutouts of some of Hamilton County’s many excellent public school teachers will be displayed in BI-LO stores, at Unum headquarters and at Public Education Foundation offices.
Becoming a school principal is like absorbing several giant doses of culture shock all at once, say those who have done it. ... “Nothing can prepare you for sitting in that chair as principal,” said Bill Kennedy, director of secondary school reform with the Public Education Foundation. Mr. Kennedy and James Colbert, the school system’s assistant superintendent and a former high school principal, are creating a principal preparation workshop where current assistant principals and others eligible to be principals can be trained on what they’ll need to know to one day take over leadership of a school.
Seeing her father lose his job and her mother working in a carpet mill was all the encouragement Rosario Reyna needed to know she should go to college. “I knew I needed to better myself in order to be able to help them later on in life,” said the 18-year-old first-generation college student from Calhoun, Ga.
The county’s public school system wants to pinch pennies wherever possible, so officials are examining whether a change in schedules would save money. Hamilton County high schools now operate on a “block schedule” — four 90-minute classes every day with a new batch in the second semester, for a total of eight classes each year.
The Public Education Foundation and the College Access Center, both in Chattanooga, announced the merger of their operations this week. Dan Challener, president of the foundation, said the merger was “just common sense” because both organizations work to achieve similar goals. “We saw a great opportunity for synergy,” Mr. Challener said. Susan Street, founder of the College Access Center, said the merger “just came together” because the two organizations had worked together on many projects in the past.
The Public Education Foundation has announced a recent merger with the local College Access Center. “This merger is just common sense,” said PEF President Dan Challener. “PEF’s College Access Initiative grew out of our high school reform work and has become a major focus for us. As part of that, we’ve been working so closely with the College Access Center over the last few years that it’s hard to draw a line between our work and theirs.”
The Public Education Foundation announced that David Breckinridge, general manager of ALSTOM Power, Inc., and Domina Coleman Alford, accounting manager for Hamilton County General Government, have joined the Public Education Foundation Board of Directors.
Chattanooga Times Free Press - Letter to the editor
I serve on former Sen. Bill Frist's SCORE steering committee with Tom Kinser, who wrote an article for the Times Free Press on Sunday (Aug. 16). Tom gave an urgent call to action for Tennesseans to address the weaknesses of our education system, and we at PEF agree completely. We were pleased, but not surprised, to find that several reforms suggested in SCORE's interim report are already under way here in Hamilton County...
- Dan Challener, President of PEF
Chattanooga Parent
While other local book clubs have been tackling some well-known
titles—The Shack, say, or Three Cups of Tea—12 groups in Chattanooga
have been meeting to discuss less familiar fare, like Rigor is NOT a Four-Letter Word and Why Are School Buses Always Yellow? The books might not be on the bestseller rack at Barnes & Noble—but, for these readers, they might be mind-changing, even life-changing stuff.
Chattanooga Times Free Press op-ed
The current big picture of public education is not good. The United States' education system has slipped in its standing in the world. Within the country, the Southeast is the lowest, and Tennessee ranks behind North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky and Virginia in our region. In other words, we are in the bottom half of the bottom group. ... One reaction to these appalling numbers is cynicism. Some say, “Yes, we know all that; we have for years. Nobody does anything.” We think we can change this.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Hamilton County school system is desperate for qualified math and science teachers, and officials think they've found the perfect formula to supply more. Beginning next summer, the system is partnering with Knox County Schools, the Public Education Foundation and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to offer a teacher residency program that will give college graduates a chance to earn teaching credentials and a master's degree in one year.
Chattanoogan.com
Mary Ehrenworth, deputy director for middle schools at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, will be leading a workshop for ten teachers who are working to boost reading skills for students at Loftis Middle School from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday in the library. ... Loftis is using funds from Middle Schools for a New Society (MSNS) to bring Ms. Ehrenworth to their campus. MSNS is a partnership between Hamilton County schools and the Public Education Foundation that is working to improve student achievement in all 20 of Hamilton County's middle schools.
NewsChannel 9
For some high school students, going to college isn't part of their plans. But one program in Chattanooga is trying to change that.
LaJarvis Russell, a rising Senior at Ooltewah High School said he "wasn't really interested in going to college because I want to go to cooking school. But it's still a good opportunity to go make sure, see if I was missing anything in the college life."
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Over sandwich wraps and potato salad, Chattanooga business leaders plotted with high school principals about how to ready the next generation of local workers. After two years of partnering with Lookout Valley High School, Glenn Morris, president and CEO of M&M Industries, decided it was time for other businesses to get involved with schools.
Chattanoogan.com
Through the Public Education Foundation and the College Access Center, over 100 rising high school seniors are participating in a college-mentoring program funded by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission ... it offers guidance and support to students who have grades and skills that make them eligible for higher education, but who are uncertain of their opportunities and qualifications. Many of them will be the first generation in their families to attend college.
Students will be able to ask questions such as, "Does a person need a college degree to become a firefighter?" "It helps a lot," says Captain Andre' Hicks of the Chattanooga Fire Department.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More Hamilton County public school students taking the ACT college entrance exam scored a 25 or better this school year than last, according to district data. About 335 students out of 3,487 who took the test between August and April scored at least a 25, which ACT officials said is competitive for most colleges and universities in the nation.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
East Side Elementary teacher Patricia Clark faces an uphill battle at the beginning of each school year. She must teach her students to read, but most of them don't yet speak English. “It's a very big challenge,” said the 18-year East Side veteran. ... She's one of 33 teachers, two principals and two assistant principals being honored for making huge gains at high-poverty schools from 2005 to 2007.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
When it comes to working out the details of a pet project, it's all about who you know, said former U.S. Senator Bill Frist. Dr. Frist, a former Senate majority leader, stopped by Orchard Knob Elementary on Monday to brainstorm with teachers on how to improve education across the state ... Dr. Frist chose to meet with teachers and principals at Orchard Knob because of the school's involvement in the nationally recognized Benwood Initiative.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Red Bank Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce speakers Christa Payne and Frances Haman[-Prewitt] of the Public Education Foundation are working to improve the local community by strengthening schools. “At Public Education Foundation we believe passionately that public schools are the key to a thriving community,” said Payne, PEF's director of development and external relations.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County middle schoolers found a voice Tuesday as the students told groups of parents, teachers and administrators what they want out of school. ... During a session Tuesday at the Chattanoogan hotel, students examined test scores from the Explore test, a pre-ACT test taken by eighth graders. “It shows us where we are,” said East Ridge Middle student LeeAnn DeFriese, 12. “We're not there now, but we can get there if we persevere.”
Chattanoogan.com
Over 100 rising high school juniors are expected to attend the first College Bonanza at UTC on Tuesday from 9:15 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Students will hear a panel of representatives from various nearby colleges, tour the UTC campus, and learn about applying for admission and financial aid.
In the afternoon, they will meet their mentors – local college students who graduated from targeted Hamilton County high schools and can give peer-to-peer advice on getting into and staying in college.
Chattanoogan.com
The Public Education Foundation announced two new grants to supplement work already in progress at Hamilton County schools. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission has awarded $155,000 over two years to PEF to establish a peer mentoring program for targeted high school juniors at Ooltewah High, Hixson High, Central High and Howard School of Academics and Technology. ... This program aims to reach beyond students who are highly likely to go to college and add to their ranks students from low-income families or with lower grades or test scores who might need extra help to successfully realize their hopes of going to college.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Tennessee's high school graduation rate improved more than any other state's in a new report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. While the national high school graduation rate remained flat at about 75 percent between 2002 and 2006, the Volunteer State is one of a dozen states that made substantial gains, according to the report, released Thursday by the university's Everyone Graduates Center. “It's really a tribute to the hard work of teachers in each school in Tennessee,” said Rachel Woods, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Education. “Those are the ones really making the difference.”
Chattanooga Times Free Press
As the Public Education Foundation celebrates its 20th year, President Dan Challener is celebrating the success and support in public schools. He thanked the Southside Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce for its continuing contributions to public education. “To support public schools, especially today, I can't think of anything more important,” he told Council members at their March meeting.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Some people might bristle at the thought of outsiders evaluating their work and telling them what they're doing wrong. But, for the most part, teachers at Brown Academy welcomed the critique. ... Education consultants Dick Corbett and Bruce Wilson observed teachers and students at Brown Academy and other high-poverty elementary schools in Hamilton County last week.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Three years after PBS education reporter John Merrow reported on the Benwood Foundation's work in eight local high-poverty elementary schools, he returned to Chattanooga on Tuesday for an update.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Thursday he is largely stepping away from electoral politics — at least for now — and will devote much of his time to a grassroots initiative aimed at dragging Tennessee's K-12 education system out of the basement.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Exploring the world of social media, the Public Education Foundation is working to get the community more aware and involved with teachers and students in public schools. “We want people to hear directly from the source that good things are happening in public schools,” said PEF Director of Development and External Relations Christa Payne.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
...Despite the overall decrease in the graduation rate, the news from the state Report Card wasn't all bad. At 10 county high schools, the graduation rate improved last year, including at Brainerd and Howard School of Academics and Technology. ... Hamilton County's 2.5 percent drop in the overall graduation rate is somewhat misleading, administrators contend, because of a change last year in how some of the district's graduates were counted.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
This year's graduating class at Soddy-Daisy High School will be the first to participate in a new program designed to help them apply what they learn in the classroom on a yearlong project of their choosing. Administrators hope the programs will provide opportunity for students to apply their academic skills outside the classroom and get a taste of the kind of work they will do after graduation.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
After scoring a 17 on the ACT, Khala Stewart didn't think she would qualify for a college scholarship, she said. Then she attended the Infinite Scholars Scholarship Fair hosted Wednesday by the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, at which Stillman College representatives considered her 3.1 grade-point average and offered her $3,500. ... Bi-Lo stores, Hamilton County Schools and the College Access Center all helped to sponsor the fair, Urban League officials said
Chattanoogan.com
The NEA Foundation has announced that it will award $1,341,000 to three of its Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative pilot sites, including the Hamilton County Schools. The grants will continue the work to advance systemic efforts to increase academic achievement, especially for low income and minority students, officials said.
Hamilton County Education Association President Sharon Vandagriff said, ”This exciting 2004 initiative began as the direct result of cooperative efforts of the Hamilton County Education Association (HCEA), the Hamilton County Department of Education and the Public Education Foundation to improve student performance and strengthen city schools. Hamilton County's teachers are thrilled to have this chance to do even more through this expansion.”
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County Schools continue to make progress in improving student achievement - 27 schools received straight A's in Value Added Assessments, and scores for kindergartern through eighth grade improved from a B to an A in math and a C to a B in science. Reading and science scores held steady. "We feel like we have a really good report this year," Superintendent Jim Scales said at a news conference.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
It is almost the halfway point of the school year, and while thoughts of the future are just starting to creep into the minds of area high school juniors, their senior counterparts have had a year to stress out. To alleviate some of the pressure they face during these last months, college advisors have been placed in many area schools by the College Access Center, a Chattanooga-based nonprofit that helps students plan for their future education.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
To avoid a perceived conflict of interest, District 4 Hamilton County Board of Education candidate George Ricks said he would resign from his post on the Public Education Foundation board if he were elected. “I love the work, but it wouldn't make sense,” he said. “I can't serve on the (PEF) board and make decisions about the school system.”
Education Week
Boston's toughest schools knowing almost exactly what they can expect and what's expected of them. That's because they've already spent a year in those buildings, observing and teaching classes under the watchful eye of a specially trained master teacher ... The teachers are graduates of the Boston Teacher Residency program, a yearlong, selective preparation route that trains aspiring teachers, many of them career-changers, to take on jobs in some of the city's highest-needs schools.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
It's fall break for Hamilton County students, so most kids in Stephen Coleman's Alton Park neighborhood are kicking back to enjoy a day free of books, learning and responsibility. But Mr. Coleman isn't like most children.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More students have graduated from Hamilton County Schools each year since 2004, despite relatively flat enrollment, according to numbers released Thursday by the school system. ... "This is really good news for the kids who graduated and for the community," said Dan Challener, president of the Public Education Foundation, which jointly released Thursday's report.
Chattanoogan.com
Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, John Morgan, told the Chattanooga Rotary Club on Thursday, “If Tennessee is going to succeed in a global economy, which places a premium on knowledgeable workers, we are going to have to plug the leaks in the student pipeline.”
Editorial, Chattanooga Times
Thirty-six students in the region have been named as semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program. Their scores indicate they are among the best and brightest of their generation, and they are to be congratulated for their accomplishment. Drawing any inference other than that of personal achievement from their selection, however, is a risky enterprise.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
With thousands of blue-collar jobs to be filled by Volkswagen in the next several years, educators know they have a choice: Train technically inclined students locally or risk losing the positions to out-of-towners...
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Strong leadership and a data-driven approach to education helped two Hamilton County elementary schools meet “adequate yearly progress” requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for the first time since the 2002 law was implemented, a state official said. After about eight years of not meeting state or federal education standards, East Lake and Orchard Knob elementary schools have moved into “good standing,” state education officials announced Monday morning.
Letter to the editor, Chattanooga Times Free Press
It would have been easy to herald the success of the Benwood 8 as evidence of the power of reconstitution, incentives, and better data systems. The Education Sector report told the other half of this remarkable story. Investing in the knowledge and skills of the teachers committed to the success of a school can produce a profound turnaround.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Don't be afraid to raise standards. That was the advice given Tuesday by Dan Challener, president of Chattanooga's Public Education Foundation, to a group of Washington, D.C., educators.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Six years into the Benwood Initiative, a program to narrow the achievement gap between Hamilton County students in high-poverty schools and their counterparts in richer schools, the improvement continues.
Education Sector, a national independent nonpartisan education think tank, today released a new report “The Benwood Plan: A Lesson in Comprehensive Teacher Reform.”
Chattanooga's Benwood Initiative is one of the most widely touted school-reform success stories of recent years. And many credit its success to financial incentives used to lure new teachers to low-performing schools. But the Benwood Initiative was about much more than pay incentives and attracting new teacher talent, concludes a new report from Education Sector.
Christa Payne brings energy and enthusiasm to newly-established position.
The Public Education Foundation has named Christa S. Payne as Director of Development and External Relations. Ms. Payne will direct the Foundation's fundraising efforts, including the creation of a long-range development plan.
Seventy-three percent of Hamilton County's May, 2007 graduates enrolled in college during the fall of 2007. This number is up from 70% in 2006 and 69% in 2005. Of these students, the percentage enrolling in four-year colleges rose from 57% in 2006 to 62% in 2007.
Click the link to view the data in detail, including a map showing where graduates of the Class of 2007 went to college.
Voices in Urban Eduation, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
In this article, Debra Vaughan (PEF's Director of Data and Research) and Kirk Kelly (HCDE's Director of Accountability and Testing) discuss how the school district and the Foundation are working together to promote the use of quality data in decision-making.
Thanks to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform for granting permission to reprint Deb's article on this web site.
In this article, "Urban Schools Aiming Higher Than Diploma," PEF President Dan Challener joins other experts in discussing how high schools must reinvent themselves so that all students are prepared for college. Dan reflects on the "transformational change" brought on by the School Board's decision to grant a single, college-prep diploma for all Hamilton County graduates.
New York Times
In Chattanooga, Tenn., the schools have abolished their multitrack curriculum, which pointed only a fraction of students toward college. Every student is now on a college track. ... Those efforts, and others across the country, reflect a growing sense of urgency among educators that the primary goal of many large high schools serving low-income and urban populations — to move students toward graduation — is no longer enough. Now, educators say, even as they struggle to lift dismal high school graduation rates, they must also prepare the students for college, or some form of post-secondary school training, with the skills to succeed.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Members of the East Ridge and Lookout Valley Networked Learning Communities work with Cris Tovani, a nationally-known reading consultant.
Through its Excelerator program, AT&T is partnering with PEF to support electronic collaboration for teachers in Hamilton County.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County High School, also known as the "adult high school," successfully assists 79 students in obtaining their high school diploma.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
PEF is pleased to announce the hiring of Clara Sale-Davis, a 25-year veteran of public education, to lead the Benwood Initiative.
Chattanoogan.com
The NEA Foundation selected Chattanooga to host a national exchange of the best ideas in middle school reform.
Chattanoogan.com
The Hamilton County Schools reported straight A's in student academic progress, and the high school graduation rate is up.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
PEF President Dan Challener joined Governor Phil Bredesen at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chattanooga Times
The Foundation is recognized as a partner for strong schools.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The second phase of the Benwood Initiative is launched. School improvement expert Patricia Davenport joins Hamilton County teachers to begin the year on a high note.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Superintendent Jim Scales and PEF President Dan Challener comment on the progress made possible by the partnership between the school district and the Foundation.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Carnegie Corporation continues its support of Hamilton County High Schools, with a shift in emphasis from literacy to math.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
A summary of some strategies being used by Hamilton County middle schools in their individual school reform plans.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Article includes a map showing 2006 graduates' college choices.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
85% of Hamilton County Schools make adequate yearly progress and are in good standing under No Child Left Behind guidelines.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
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Chattanooga Times Free Press
375 teachers attend PEF's literacy institute
Diana Green
PEF's Diana Green offers advice on encouraging children to read over the summer
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More Hamilton County graduates are enrolling in college
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Osborne fellows design class innovations
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Partnership for College Access and Success hires college students to help high school students apply for college
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Natalie Elder named top “K-8 Tennessee Effective Educator"
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More Hamilton County graduates are enrolling in college
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Middle school leadership teams meet to plan next steps
Edna Varner invited to present testimony on No Child Left Behind
Video Link
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Sequoyah High's automotive career academy builds racing stock car
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Middle schools test strategies to reach students during critical years
NEA Today
NEA focuses on Hamilton County
Focus
Lumina Foundation Focus magazine features Soddy Daisy High School college access program
Chattanooga Times Free Press
45 HCDE students score 30 or higher on the ACT
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More HCDE students are taking AP courses as part of district focus on ‘academic rigor'
Chattanoogan.com
15 HCEA school representatives discuss change strategies for improving school culture
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chattanooga Times Free Press
HCDE high school for adults gives former dropouts a second chance
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Test scores advanced for disadvantaged students
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Red Bank High's Teaching Academy wins 2006 Career Academy of the Year award in San Francisco
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chattanoogan.com
Christopher Wheatley heads the Math, Science & Health academy
Chattanoogan.com
Success of the Osborne Fellows profiled at national event
Chattanoogan.com
Administrators from Soddy Daisy NLC meet for strategy planning
Education Trust's Achievement Alliance highlights Benwood Schools
Parade Magazine Cover Story
Parade magazine highlights the role of local education funds in school success
An audio podcast of PBS reporter John Merrow's interview with 8 Benwood teachers
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Special Correspondent for Education John Merrow reports on efforts to fix a group of troubled elementary schools in Tennessee.
Teacher Magazine
Twenty years after it was shoved aside to make room for academic standards, vocational education is now something of a comback kid. Nowhere is that more evident than in southern Tennessee, where the small-school academies in one district combine academic rigor with real-world skills.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Beverly A. Carroll Staff Writer Nine out of 10 Hamilton County residents who responded to a Washington, D.C., telephone poll said high school reform requires the support of the entire community, survey results show. Four out of five people said failing high schools cannot get better by themselves. "That really does signal a change in attitude and awareness," said Connie Warren, senior program director for Carnegie Corp. of New York, a group funding high school reform throughout the country, including Hamilton County. "People are starting to understand that education is a community institution that requires multiple partners in the business and civic communities and from grass-roots parents groups," she said.
Education Week
By bettering the teaching staffs at its inner-city schools, the Hamilton County school district is lessening the differences in achievement between such schools and their suburban counterparts.
Anniston Star
“What we have learned in 20 years is that it isn't all about the money. It is about how you use the money to bring about transformative change.”
Chattanooga Times Free Press
If anything should disprove the criticism heaped so relentlessly, recklessly and unjustifiably on the county school system by County Commissioners Curtis Adams and Fred Skillern, it is the steady, dramatic improvement of the system's students across the board in the state's TCAP achievement scores.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
With Hamilton County schoolchildren, their teachers, administrators, parents, a variety of supporting foundations and others making prodigious efforts to improve local educational opportunities and student achievement, there is great new proof that their efforts are succeeding.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
A foundation this month will launch a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project to boost achievement in Hamilton County's 21 middle schools and prepare students better for high school.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County's suburban schools, already performing above other school groups, continued to make improvements in math and reading/language arts, according to 2005 test data.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Student achievement improved for all Hamilton County students for the third straight year, and the performance gap between poor and more affluent students narrowed, according to 2005 test data released Thursday.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Seventy-one percent of last year's Hamilton County Schools' high school graduates pursued degrees at 122 colleges in 30 states, figures from the Public Education Foundation show.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
East Side Elementary School principal Emily Baker and her staff were proud to be noted by Reader's Digest as one of two elementary schools reporting success proving "even the hardest-to-reach student can be inspired to learn."
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Fourteen local educators earned master's degrees in literacy instruction and urban teaching through a unique fellowship program created and sponsored by the Public Education Foundation, Hamilton County Department of Education, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation and the BellSouth Foundation.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Free Press Editoral: Downtown Rotary hears about school improvements and challenges from PEF President Dan Challenter.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Times Editoral: Now another big opportunity boost is coming for Hamilton County youngsters in our middle schools. Itís a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Education Association Foundation, in concert with the Hamilton County Education Association
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Free Press Editorial: Hamilton County Schools have successful reform initiatives under way at both the elementary and high school levels. Now the system is going to bridge the two with a middle-school improvement program.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Leaders of the National Education Association Foundation announced Tuesday they have awarded their largest grant to Hamilton County for improving middle schools
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Guest editorial by Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corp. of New York
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Guest editorial by Cathy Turner, Academy Facilitator, Central High School
Chattanooga Times Free Press
UTC finds fewer local public school graduates require remediation courses
Chattanoogan.com
Hamilton County is one of eight communities to receive a grant from the Lumina Foundation for increasing college access and student success.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Soddy-Daisyís 9th-grade academy funded by Carnegie Corp. money
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Carnegie Corp. President Vartan Gregorian visited to praise the progress in high school reform on several levels.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Higher standardized test scores and higher rates of students being promoted from the ninth to the 10th grade are evidence that the generous gifts from the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the Public Education Foundation are making a difference.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The president of Carnegie Corp. of New York came to Chattanooga on Thursday to celebrate reform -- funded by Carnegie -- in Hamilton Countyís 17 high schools.
Chattanoogan.com
State testing results show Hamilton County Schools out performed Davidson, Knox and Memphis while equaling the scores of Shelby County on the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS).
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Scores show progress, help find weaknesses. Eight Hamilton County schools earn top marks in state tests.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County elementary and middle school students are learning more than the state standard in reading and math, and high school students rank at the top in writing, according to tests that measure how much students learn from year to year.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
'This is to all the people who didn't think we would amount to anything,' said Ash-Lee Henderson, a member of the first graduating class of Hamilton County's first adult high school.
A letter from PEF President Dan Challener
Hamilton County students have made significant achievement gains at all levels.
Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
Test scores improved across the board from 2003 to 2004 scores in all categories and among all ethnic groups and all special education groups in the K-8 grades tested.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The percentage of Hamilton County students scoring proficient or advanced on state reading/language and math tests increased from 2003 to 2004.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Educators and construction industry professionals from as far away as Alaska are in Chattanooga to study a model construction career academy at East Ridge High School.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
'We have the best pool of principals and principal assisútants we have had in years,' Hamilton County Board of Education member Debbie Colbum said.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Plans to expand East Ridge High School's construction career academy were shelved this year after schools officials' bid for additional funding for staffing and facilities improvements failed.
What do you do when you can no longer be the dynamo of dixie?
By PEF President Dr. Dan Challener
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Adult School helps students who have had problems in a traditional setting
Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
The growing recognition of rising achievement levels in the city's Benwood schools, and the report on this year's scores on SAT college entrance exams underscore the value of investing the resources needed to lift achievement in schools that often are dismissed disdainfully as 'low-performing.'
Chattanooga Times Free Press
In a report to Congress last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige highlighted the partnership between Hamilton County Schools, the Benwood, Public Education and Weldon F. Osborne foundations and the city of Chattanooga to promote recruiting, training and retaining highly qualified teachers.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
More of Hamilton County's public schools met all student achievement standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Act this year.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Local instructors and Carnegie representative agree foundation funds are being used correctly.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Teachers and administrators participate in two-day professional Ddevelopment workshop
Third Annual Report on Teacher Quality
The combination of extensive, high-quality professional training, additional staff, strong building and district leadership and incentives has yielded exceptional improvement in all nine schools.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Teachers are surrounded by people all day, but they often are alone when they might wish to share ideas and tips with other professionals on how to do their jobs better. To help teachers bridge that gap, the Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga trains educators in how to create Critical Friends Groups at their schools.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The National Education Association Foundation will give five Hamilton County middle schools up to $2.5 million over the next five years to help low-income and minority pupils close an 'achievement gap' with their more affluent peers.
Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
Community residents understandably rank public education as the top issue currently confronting Hamilton County. They're also willing to support a tax increase to underwrite improvements in public schools — if the increase were specifically directed toward improvements in the education system here.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
A countywide poll released Tuesday showed most Hamilton County residents support a tax increase to improve education.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Educational field trips are fairly commonplace for Hamilton County students. But for students in East Ridge High School's construction academy, a recent field trip offer opportunities to operate forklifts, practice welding techniques, and learn CPR.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Community Foundation makes a major investment in local schools by awarding the PEF a $500,000 grant to support high school reform.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
High school will focus on technology, communications and business.
The Washington Post
Teachers transfer to poorest-performing schools in Chattanooga, TN as part of an effort to raise test scores
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Five students from 17 Hamilton Country high schools recently participated in the Second Annual Hamilton County Student Speak Out forum
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Benwood Elementary Schools post higher gains in reading than top 10% of state.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Curriculum includes foreign language, global art and entertainment courses.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
School funding among topics at 2nd 'Speak Out'
Dallas Morning News
Chattanooga's incentives, shuffling of educators boost urban campuses
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Incentives used to recruit teachers to Hamilton Countyís urban elementary schools are starting to pay off, school officials said.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Grant Will Fund Master's Studies for 15 Educators
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The PEF and the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation introduce first cohort of Osborne Fellows in groundbreaking urban master's degree program.
Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
The Public Education Foundation and the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga are working together to provide a forum in which residents of all ages and interests can help create a blueprint for improved teacher quality in Hamilton County Schools.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Area public school officials say funds are needed to attract and retain the best instructors
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Public meetings begin Monday on recruiting, retaining best in county
Press Release
The PEF and the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga are hosting a series of public forums to gain community ideas on teacher quality.
Press Release
Winter Institute provides training and support in whole school improvement and instructional leadership
Press Release
Year-long study serves as blueprint for creating outstanding educators
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County teachers to be recognized tonight
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Johns Hopkins University to host the Osborne Fellows project
Press Release
Chattanooga-Hamilton County one of five sites sharing $2.6 million over three years