December is shaping up to be a busy month for the Chamber policy team in education. This Thursday, December 15, at 8 a.m., we’re hosting an Education 2020 Speaker Series event in the morning featuring renowned academic Andy Hargreaves. Professor Hargreaves spends much of his time at Boston College researching how organizations perform beyond expectations, pulling examples from education, but also business and sports. He speaks to groups, quite literally, around the world, but is in Nashville for a couple of days this week as a member of Dr. Register’s National Advisory Panel. You have a chance to visit with him over a cup of coffee at the Martin Professional Development Center for free, if you register in advance.

Santa’s bringing an early gift this year in the form of the Chamber’s annual report card of Metro Schools on Tuesday, December 20, at 10 a.m. The past five report cards have all been produced in February, and this year’s committee started a month earlier (in August), so we could produce the document in the same calendar year as the school year we’re examining. Sharp observers will also note that we have reduced the number of recommendations from 10 in previous years to only five this year. The committee’s focus topic this year was parent and family involvement, so most of our recommendations relate to making improvement in that area. The presentation of each year’s report is a must-attend for anyone interested in public education in our city. Not only do attendees get to hear Co-Chairs Ron Corbin and Pam Daly present the findings, you’ll also be the first in town to have a shiny new report the minute the ink dries! Click here to register, and come early if you want a seat!

Businesspeople, educators and advocates gathered yesterday morning for the latest installment of the Education 2020 Speaker Series, “Charter Schools 101.” Hosted by Lipscomb University’s College of Education, in partnership with the Chamber and the Mayor’s Office, the program provided an overview of what charter schools are (a public school run by a nonprofit organization that has a contractual agreement with an authorizer to operate independently of a local school district) and why they are important (they are innovative and bring additional outside resources into public education).

John Danner, founder of Rocketship Education, talked about his years living in Nashville as a teacher at Glengarry Elementary and as a founder of KIPP Academy Nashville, and how those experiences inspired him to form his own charter schools in Palo Alto, CA. The Rocketship model includes 30 hours of non-mandatory services for parents in the school, as a way to ensure engagement with the home. Rocketship also has an extensive professional development program for teachers that includes an academic dean observing classroom instruction and giving teachers immediate feedback during lessons through a microphone headset and earbud system. In addition, the school model includes a two-hour “lesson lab” session in a six-hour instructional day, in which students work at their own ability level on computers supervised by support staff, rather than certified teachers. This enables the school to hire fewer teachers and pour much of the savings into teacher salaries to help recruit and retain the best possible talent. Five years ago, Rocketship paid its teachers 20 percent more than the surrounding school districts, and today they pay 50 percent more with a goal of doubling the salary in the near future.

Chris Barbic, director of Tennessee’s Achievement School District (ASD), a new entity that has the power to take over the state’s lowest-performing schools or convert them into charter schools, told the audience that the real focus needs to be on “good schools,” whether those are charter schools or traditional district schools. According to Barbic, creating great schools is relatively simple: they have great leaders and excellent teachers, and it’s often “politics” that makes education complicated and shifts the focus to the needs of adults rather than students.

While Tennessee law has been amended significantly over the past couple of years to encourage charter school expansion, several of the panelists listed school facilities as the No. 1 challenge facing charter operators. Kristen McGraner, founder of STEM Prep in South Nashville, told the audience that she spent about 90 percent of her time during the school planning phase on finding a suitable facility. She also raised the point that, because STEM Prep and many other charters grow their schools one grade at a time, new operators are forced to decide between a temporary school location and an expensive facility that may be underutilized for several years.

Derwin Sisnett, founder of Power Academy in Memphis and an organization that was recently approved to take over a low-performing school next year through the state ASD, agreed that facilities were a major challenge. But he also related the story about how the scarcity of suitable facilities and his economic development background led him to creatively assemble a 43-acre campus of blighted property in the heart of their chosen neighborhood. Through a number of grants and partnerships, the property will allow for a new school with performing arts center and gymnasium, with the hopes of someday adding residential and commercial development.

We’re looking forward to announcing the details of a second speaker series event on charter schools that will take place in spring 2012, which will provide further insights into this exciting reform model.

To view additional photos from this event, please click here.


John Danner, founder of Rocketship Education.


L-R: Chris Barbic, director of Tennessee’s Achievement School District; Derwin Sisnett, founder of Power Academy in Memphis; and Kristin McGraner, founder of STEM Prep.

Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and current thought leader on education policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told a Nashville audience of more than 200 last week that it will be up to local communities and states to stay the course on rigorous academic standards and accountability. As Congress gets ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- or No Child Left Behind (NCLB), as it was known during the last reauthorization -- Spellings said the law should be “clear, transparent and speak to every school and every student.” She said NCLB should be “preserved, strengthened and improved,” but she worried that Washington was headed toward a “new normal” that would excuse continued low performance for groups of students. She praised Tennessee’s reform efforts and encouraged the use of student growth data as an accountability measure in any new federal legislation.

Why should the business community get involved in education? Spellings painted a stark picture:

• Half of U.S. Chamber members reported having trouble finding skilled/knowledgeable workers.
• In 2010, the private sector was forced to spend $50 billion on job training.
• By 2020, there are projected to be 123 million high-skill/high-wage jobs, but only 50 million workers qualified to fill them.

Spellings referenced the work that Nashville’s business community is doing, through the Academies of Nashville and other initiatives, as a model for other cities to emulate. This past summer, the U.S. Chamber released a report, Partnership Is a Two-Way Street, which profiled Nashville’s efforts.

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Ralph Schulz then moderated a panel to dive into the details of business engagement in education. Steve Turner, co-chair of the Chamber’s CEO Champions, a group that advocates for the Academies of Nashville, reported that there were now 150 businesses and organizations partnered with Metro’s high school academies, and these partners were doing everything from serving as guest speakers, to providing student internships, to working with teachers on curriculum through “teacher externships.”

Mike Edwards, president & CEO of the Knoxville Chamber, told the crowd that philanthropy is important, but it needs to direct results. He urged business leaders to pay attention to policy debates, because education legislation “can affect our bottom line.” Edwards said school districts could lean on the private sector to improve management skills because businesses are used to managing to an outcome.

Darrell Freeman, chairman of SuccessPAC, a political action committee that endorses candidates in Nashville’s school board elections, reminded the audience that “education is a child’s ticket out of poverty.” Leaving no doubt as to his feelings on the urgency around this work, Freeman encouraged systems to remove “nonperformers” quickly.

Kevin Huffman, Tennessee’s commissioner of education, urged businesses to “keep pushing and engage” with school boards and superintendents, always asking “Did it work?” and “How do we know?” Commissioner Huffman said he had heard many excuses for delaying or watering down Tennessee’s ambitious education reforms, but no one had offered insight as to why Kentucky’s poor students were a full grade level ahead of Tennessee’s poor students. “The burden of proof is not on the people who want change,” said Huffman. “The burden of proof is on the people who want the system to remain the same.”

The luncheon, part of the Education 2020 Speaker Series presented by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Karl Dean and Lipscomb University, was a collaborative effort with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Look for details soon about the next speaker series event, to be held Wednesday, December 7, at Lipscomb University.



Margaret Spellings, former secretary of education, visited Nashville to discuss business engagement in public education as part of the Education 2020 Speaker Series presented by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Karl Dean and Lipscomb University.


Panelists Mike Edwards, president & CEO of the Knoxville Chamber; Darrell Freeman, chairman of Zycron; Kevin Huffman, commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education; and Steve Turner, co-chair, CEO Champions, delved into the issues surrounding business engagement in public education. To view additional pictures from the event, click here.

Margaret Spellings, former secretary of education and current president of the U.S. Forum for Policy Innovation, will visit Nashville this Wednesday, Oct. 12, to speak at the Education 2020 Speaker Series.

Spellings, a leading national expert on public policy, also serves as a senior advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009. In that role, she oversaw an agency with a nearly $70 billion budget and more than 10,000 employees and contractors. As a cabinet member, she led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, a historic national initiative to provide enhanced accountability for the education of 50 million U.S. public school students.

We sat down with Spellings to ask about what role the business community can play in improving public schools.

Q. Why involve the business community in improving public education?
A. Our education system in America is in need of transformative improvement, and business can play a valuable role in retooling our nation’s school systems. Business can provide the leverage, expertise and leadership that will help educators and public officials make tough decisions and take hard steps they may not take on their own.

Q. What can the business community do to improve schools that other organizations and institutions can't?
A. They can do two things: leverage their financial resources and use their expertise. In an effort to be good corporate citizens, business leaders often involve their companies in local schools by partnering with education officials, backing bond issues, arranging for employees to work as mentors, providing money for scholarships, and supplying goods and services to schools. While all of these efforts are admirable and can benefit many students, they don’t create the transformative change required to significantly raise student achievement. Because the business community is a sought after partner by the education community, often because they can bring financial resources to the table, they are in a position to leverage their support for real reform and help school officials tackle tough issues. This is what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks to provide - guidance to business leaders on just how to engage in a substantive way that supports reform focused on student achievement and closing the gaps. In addition, business leaders possess unique skills and resources that can be brought to the table to help solve real problems faced by educators – human resource issues, budgeting, data, management, etc. These are all areas where business has expertise to contribute.

Q: What's the incentive for the business community to get involved?
A: Aside from being leaders in the community as well as parents and grandparents, business leaders are trying to be successful in their fields and to remain competitive in a global economy. In many cases, they are struggling to find the skilled workforce they need. Fifty-three percent of business leaders say they have difficulty hiring non-managerial employees with the right skills, training and education. Even though our national unemployment is more than 9 percent, there are more than 3 million jobs going unfilled in this country today. I attribute that to an education system that is failing on many levels.

Q: Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce working to improve public education?
A: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation, representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions. Education is more often than not a priority issue for our state and local chambers across the country. A strong public education system means a steady stream of skilled workers for the companies in the area; it helps attract business to the area, and it’s the foundation for a strong community. As a result, the U.S. Chamber has been involved in education reform efforts for many years.

Q: What, specifically, is the U.S. Chamber doing to help?
A: The U.S. Chamber engages in a variety of ways. As a well-respected trade association in Washington, we can bring our considerable resources to bear on issues of concern for the organization. We advocate for reform at the federal level – reform focused on accountability for results, given the billions of taxpayer dollars for education that the federal government provides. We also seek to engage the business community in education reform efforts in their communities and assist those who are already engaged. Through scholarly research, resources, convenings, publications and communications efforts, we seek to ensure an educated and skilled workforce for our members so that they and our nation remain competitive in this global economy.

Q: What are other cities doing to improve public education? How does Nashville’s business community compare with peers around the country in terms of involvement?
A: While businesspeople in other communities have achieved varying levels of engagement and success in the arena of education reform, there are models for success. Just this past spring, the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce released a report titled Partnership is a Two-Way Street: What it Takes for Business to Help Drive School Reform. The report profiles three locations where the business community has successfully engaged in school reform in their community. Along with Austin, Texas, and the state of Massachusetts, Nashville was held up as an example. Nashville’s approach to high school reform was shown to have produced results, particularly because the business community is a committed partner. The report highlighted Nashville’s 117 business-academy partnerships, as well as six industry-based partnership councils composed of 22 to 25 high-level business leaders. The result: the city’s graduation rate rose from 69 percent in 2006 to 83 percent in 2010, while the suspension rate declined more than 25 percent. The percentage of high schools in “good standing” under No Child Left Behind rose from 41 percent in the 2007–2008 school year to 53 percent in 2009–2010.

Teach For America (TFA) is a national nonprofit organization that recruits college graduates from the most selective universities in the country to teach in high-need, high-poverty K-12 public schools for at least two years. While these TFA corps members often major in areas other than education, the hope is that many of them will choose to remain in the field—continuing as classroom teachers, becoming school leaders, or pursuing careers in education policy or research. The expectation is that all corps members develop a lifelong appreciation, if not advocacy, for high standards and measurable results for all children.

Recruited by Mayor Karl Dean and supported financially by Nashville’s business and philanthropic community, TFA is in its second year in Metro, with 108 corps members teaching in Nashville’s public schools. While these teachers’ salary is paid by Metro Schools, the private dollars support an extensive recruitment and selection process, as well as a summer training session and support throughout the school year. TFA is currently recruiting the next class of 50-60 teachers that will begin work in Nashville in summer 2011.

Already, the program is showing impressive results: Nashville’s corps boasts a 100% retention rate across the two years, and is among the top five TFA sites across the country in corps member job satisfaction. The academic results are even more impressive: According to a recent report of teacher preparation programs in our state, more than 35 percent of TFA algebra I teachers, 40 percent of TFA reading/language arts teachers, 50 percent of TFA biology teachers and 60 percent of TFA science and social studies teachers are above the 80th percentile of all teachers in the state.

Steven Farr, chief knowledge officer of Teach For America, was the featured speaker at the Chamber and Mayor Dean’s Education 2020 Speaker series at the downtown library as part of a national tour to promote his new book, Teaching As Leadership. As he describes it, his job is to study the top-performing TFA corps members in the country and share that work with the rest of the organization. These high-performing teachers, who typically help their students achieve two to three years of academic growth in a single year, tend to have six practices in common: they set ambitious goals at the beginning of the school year; they motivate students and their families; they plan backwards from the ambitious goals; they execute effectively by constantly making adjustments; continuously improve by trying new things; and work relentlessly.


L-R: Steven Farr with TFA Nashville corps members Laura O'Donnell, Jones Paideia Magnet School; Declan Tansey, Cameron Middle School; Natalie Klotz, Cane Ridge High School; Anthony Fowler, New Vision Charter Middle School.

The event concluded with an outstanding panel discussion featuring four Nashville TFA corps members. These impressive young teachers talked about the challenges of differentiating instruction in a classroom with a wide range of abilities and skill levels, but they also talked about the reward of seeing their students make progress. Given that TFA corps members commit to teach for only two years and that about 40% move on to other professions after that time, I asked the panel what it would take to continue teaching in Nashville after their second year. Two of the panel members were in their first semester of teaching and had understandably not given this much thought. But a second-year teacher answered that she was planning to stay for a third or even fourth year and immediately referenced the opportunity to be a team leader at her school, providing further evidence that leadership opportunities should be a key strategy in retaining our best teachers.


Shani Jackson Dowell, executive director, Teach For America Nashville.

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