Marta W. Aldrich, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Tennessee’s third-grade reading proficiency rate jumped by more than 4 percentage points to 40 percent on this year’s state tests. But that means up to 60 percent of its third graders could be at risk of being held back under the state’s tough new retention...

Amid worries about teacher shortages, Tennessee is considering reducing requirements for some nontraditional candidates to earn their teacher licenses, despite concerns that the change could hurt teacher quality. In the first of two votes on a controversial proposal, the State Board of Education approved Friday...

Gov. Bill Lee and his Democratic challenger, Dr. Jason Martin, agree that Tennessee students need timely and relevant vocational training opportunities, but the two candidates for governor don’t concur on much else when it comes to K-12 education. In fact, the two men hold widely...

The latest U.S. school massacre has advocates of stronger gun restrictions criticizing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee anew for signing a bill last year that allows most adults to carry a handgun without a permit. Hours after a gunman wearing body armor and carrying an assault...

For months, Tennessee Republican lawmakers were hearing from dozens of parents concerned about how educators were trying to make their lessons more inclusive in response to the nation’s racial reckoning. One mom even reported that her 7-year-old daughter, who is white, was having suicidal thoughts...

Tennessee plans to invest $100 million of one-time federal funds in phonics-based reading programs in a sweeping attack on low student literacy rates that have bedeviled the state for decades. Calling it an “exciting moment,” Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn on Monday unveiled Reading 360, an array of...

As the first coronavirus vaccines were given this week in Tennessee, a legislative push is under way to weaken a state law requiring them for school, even though convincing skeptics to get the shots might be the quickest way to return education to some...

Tennessee’s new online report card on schools and districts contains more blank spaces than information, sparking criticism that the pages deliver little useful information for parents and policymakers alike. Since its Sept. 21 release, the redesigned report card has been devoid of data related to...

Tennessee legislative leaders filed a proposal Tuesday to drop state testing and waive the required 180 days of classroom instruction this year as schools shutter statewide without certainty of when they’ll reopen amid a public health emergency. The proposal aims to lift the burden of testing and...

Tennessee officials are far from reaching a consensus about the best way to improve students’ reading scores, but they agree on one point. “We do not have an option to do nothing,” said Rep. Mark White, a Memphis lawmaker who chairs a key legislative committee...