Gov. Bill Haslam unveils $3.5M plan to improve leadership skills for school principals
Tennessee wants to spend more than $3.5 million next year to improve the state’s principal pipeline.
Gov. Bill Haslam said the money, earmarked in his January budget proposal, will be used for three principal leadership initiatives — preparation, retention and development. The funds are boosted by $600,000 in donations from private groups.
Haslam said at a news conference that a leader is one of the most important factors in the success of a school.
The money will be spent on three initiatives:
- $1.25 million in recurring funds to help colleges create best practices in training school leaders, including through mentoring, residency programs and partnerships with school districts. The state also will partner on the initiative with philanthropy groups through $600,000 in one-time money.
- $1.92 million in one-time money to help struggling schools by providing incentives for effective principals to stay and lead Tennessee’s lowest-performing schools.
- $500,000 in one-time money to create a program that would support the development of rural school leaders, including scholarships to participate in networking and training. [Read more at The Tennessean]
Three of Tennessee’s largest teacher training programs improve on state report card
Three of Tennessee’s 10 largest teacher training programs increased their scores on a state report card that seeks to capture how well new teachers are being prepared for the classroom based on state goals.
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville became the first public university to achieve a top score under the State Board of Education’s new grading system, now in its second year. And Middle Tennessee State University and East Tennessee State University also improved their scores.
But most of Tennessee’s 39 programs scored the same in 2017 as in 2016. Those included the University of Memphis and Austin Peay State University. [Read more at Chalkbeat Tennessee]
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