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  • Developing Strong School Leaders is Critical for Student Success

    March 26, 2012

    Last week, the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released its State of Education in Tennessee report. SCORE’s work in 2012 centers on four priorities: sustained policy leadership; robust professional learning for educators; strengthening teacher preparation programs; and expanding and strengthening the principal pipeline.

    These priorities are centered on the need for strong leadership from educators and policymakers as Tennessee’s bold education reforms are implemented at the school level. They also tie directly to the idea that, by creating a pipeline of stronger, better-prepared and supported educators and school leaders, Tennessee will be more likely to meet the challenge of becoming the fastest-improving state in the nation in terms of student achievement gains.

    The Chamber understands the importance of developing school leaders. Last year, we partnered with the Committee for Economic Development (CED) in bringing national experts on human capital reform in public education to Nashville to speak to approximately 200 Chamber members and educators. The speakers all agreed that reform does not occur overnight, but the effects of shifting a school system’s organizational culture to expect and reward exceptional performance can have a profound impact on student success.

    The Chamber’s 2010 Education Report Card also included leadership development as one of the report’s main areas of study. The report encouraged Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) to create a more formalized system for leadership development and broaden its scope beyond principal identification.

    These needs are being addressed by MNPS. The Achieving Student Success through Effective Teaching (ASSET) initiative is the district’s plan to attract, retain and reward outstanding teachers in Metro Schools. By taking deliberate steps to develop outstanding teachers and educators, MNPS has demonstrated that it is committed to improving student learning through strong school leadership.

    Because school leadership is such a critical piece of improving our education system, we commend SCORE – particularly SCORE’s founder, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and SCORE President and CEO Jamie Woodson – for taking the lead on this important work at the state level.

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    Stephanie Coleman - Policy

    Education

    Bill Frist Tennesseee State Collaborative on Reforming Education K-12 education Committee for Economic Development SCORE MNPS Jamie Woodson ASSET Achieving Student Success through Effective Teaching CED

  • Chamber Brings Expertise to the Table in Developing Teacher Leadership

    March 09, 2011

    Mayor Karl Dean and Dr. Jesse Register have launched ASSET, a multi-year human capital reform process in Metro Schools. In order to meet their goal of attracting, developing and retaining outstanding teachers in Metro, ASSET will employ many different strategies, one of which will be the creation of a Teacher Leadership Institute. The idea is to identify the best teachers in the district early in their careers and develop their leadership potential, giving them a new challenge and tapping their capabilities in a way that may not necessitate them leaving the classroom to become principals. These leadership roles could involve mentoring new teachers, serving as a department chair, or leading an academy team of teachers.

    The idea for a Teacher Leadership Institute in Nashville came from the Chamber’s 2009 Leadership Study Mission to Denver, Colorado. Dr. Jesse Register and Mayor Dean were part of the Chamber delegation that heard about Denver Public Schools' pay-for-performance plan for teachers (Pro-Comp) from Senior Academic Policy Advisor Brad Jupp, as well as other school district, union and foundation leaders. In January, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Washington, D.C.-based Committee for Economic Development brought Debbie Hearty, Jennifer Stern and Nikki Rivera from Denver Public Schools to Nashville to work with the ASSET team for two days. The Denver educators talked about the challenges they faced as they created the Denver Teacher Leadership Academy and provided ideas and advice to the Nashville team. The ASSET group was joined by six private-sector human resources professionals who volunteered their morning to be a part of the discussion and offer a perspective outside the education field. These professionals were: Metro Schools is to be commended for reaching out to the private sector for advice and guidance throughout its ASSET work. We are looking forward to additional opportunities to contribute to this work, including the invitation to include private-sector HR leaders in the selection process for the new MNPS Teacher Leadership Institute this spring. We’re also looking forward to our Education 2020 Speaker Series luncheon on human capital reform on Thursday, March 24. Click here to register.

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    Marc Hill - Policy

    Education

    Mark Marshall Tiffany Coursey Renee Bradford Dr. Jesse Register Mayor Karl Dean Becky Kantz Debbie Hearty Lamar Wade Committee for Economic Development Gari Cowan Jennifer Stern Metro Schools Nikki Riviera ASSET

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