State begins tough stage of reform

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By Michael Cohen

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.

Ten­nessee went from being near the back of the pack to being a leader in hav­ing a com­pre­hen­sive K-12 edu­ca­tion reform agenda that will ensure all high school grad­u­ates are ready for col­lege and careers, lead­ing the way to increased oppor­tu­nity and pros­per­ity for all Tennesseans.

The reform now under way will not be easy, and there will be bumps along the way, but the path that Ten­nessee has set is the right one.

How did Ten­nessee become a leader in edu­ca­tion reform? Gov. Phil Bre­desen cred­its a 2007 report issued by the U.S. Cham­ber of Com­merce, which gave Ten­nessee a fail­ing grade for “truth in adver­tis­ing.” Ten­nessee was hand­ing out diplo­mas to its stu­dents and telling them they were ready for employ­ment or col­lege when many of them weren’t.

Rather than shy away from the report or con­test its find­ings, the state of Ten­nessee, under Bredesen’s lead­er­ship, embraced those find­ings and imme­di­ately launched an effort to raise the bar so that a high school diploma means that grad­u­ates are ready for the world they will enter, and that their options are not lim­ited because they weren’t given the tools they need to succeed.

Assess­ments to be more accurate

Ten­nessee joined Achieve’s Amer­i­can Diploma Project Net­work, a coali­tion of now 35 states com­mit­ted to not just grad­u­at­ing all stu­dents, but grad­u­at­ing them col­lege– and career-ready. Ten­nessee then went to the next level through a statewide effort known as the Ten­nessee Diploma Project. Gov. Bre­desen and law­mak­ers, busi­ness and com­mu­nity lead­ers and edu­ca­tors from across the state joined forces to begin rais­ing the rigor of stan­dards, grad­u­a­tion require­ments and devel­op­ing tests that more accu­rately mea­sure how well-prepared stu­dents are for life after high school.

This past spring, Tennessee’s efforts received national acclaim when it was selected as one of two states to win the national “Race to the Top” edu­ca­tion reform com­pe­ti­tion, no doubt in part because of its strong com­mit­ments to col­lege and career readi­ness for all students.

As part of the reform, just this past Fri­day, the State Board of Edu­ca­tion took the bold step of rais­ing the bar on how Ten­nessee defines the pro­fi­ciency of its stu­dents on state tests. “Truth in adver­tis­ing” means that test results for the near future won’t be pretty, but they will be an hon­est assess­ment of where stu­dents cur­rently are — and the work that will need to be done by the adults in the sys­tem to get stu­dents to where they need to be.

This is when reform gets hard and where pol­i­cy­mak­ers, edu­ca­tors and stu­dents need our full sup­port. Test results may cause some to ques­tion the mer­its of these efforts, but Ten­nessee is on the right path, and the alter­na­tive — telling stu­dents who are not pre­pared for the demands of the real world that they are — is not a viable option for a state com­mit­ted to the suc­cess of its citizens.

The Vol­un­teer State has cap­tured the nation’s atten­tion with its com­mit­ment to improv­ing pub­lic edu­ca­tion. Now, it’s time to see it through. Stay the course, Tennessee.

Michael Cohen is pres­i­dent of Achieve Inc., an inde­pen­dent, bipar­ti­san, non­profit edu­ca­tion reform orga­ni­za­tion based in Wash­ing­ton.