Office Of ReseaRch and educatiOn accOuntability
Review Of liteRacy success act: fiRst yeaR implementatiOn
JasOn e. mumpOweR
Comptroller of the Treasury
nOvembeR 2022
linda wessOn
Assistant Director
eRin bROwn
Legislative Research Analyst
Kim pOtts
Principal Legislative Research Analyst
Introduction
Tennessee students have struggled to meet basic literacy standards
Universal reading screeners identify students’ needs
TDOE provides a free universal reading screener to districts
Schools administer screeners and report results to TDOE
Districts and charter schools notify parents and provide interventions when students have reading deciencies
Teacher training focuses on foundational literacy
TDOE provides professional development for current teachers in literacy instruction
Literacy skills instruction training required for teachers to renew or advance their licenses
Literacy skills instruction training developed for high school students pursuing teacher-pathway courses
Districts update Foundational Literacy Skills Plans
Educator preparation programs revise instruction
Revised EPP standards for teaching reading instruction are adopted
EPP reading instruction to focus primarily on foundational literacy skills outlined in standards
New Tennessee reading instruction test is required to be developed by TDOE and provided at no cost
TDOE reports analyze the state’s literacy practices, instructional training, and
affordability of teacher education programs
Key points from preK through grade 5 foundational literacy skills study
Key points from EPP literacy instruction programs and practices in literacy instruction study
Key points from EPP aordability study
TDOE solicited contracts through a competitive process for several requirements of
the LSA
Existing statutory requirements incorporated into the LSA
Conclusions and Policy Options
Appendix A: History of Literacy Initiatives in Tennessee
Appendix B: Tennessee Universal Reading Screener overview
Appendix C: Early Literacy Network School Districts
Endnotes
Contents
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Introduction
During its 2021 Special Session on Education, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Tennessee Literacy
Success Act (LSA), which seeks to ensure that students in early grades are on track to become procient
readers by the end of grade 3.
1
e LSA requires school districts and public charter schools to use foundational literacy skills instruction
with a phonics-based approach for early reading instruction. To ensure that districts provide eective
foundational literacy instruction, the law requires the use of a reading screener to identify when a student
needs help with reading before completing grade 3, requires specic literacy instruction training for teachers,
and sets a deadline for English language arts textbooks and instructional materials in use to be aligned with
Tennessee standards. e LSA requires districts and charter schools to develop foundational literacy skills
plans – describing the time devoted to aspects of core literacy instruction, additional student interventions and
supports, and their use of screeners, instructional materials, and training for teachers – and submit their plans
for state approval every three years.
A
e LSA legislation also requires educator preparation programs to emphasize a phonics-based approach,
aligned with state foundational literacy standards. Finally, the law requires several new reports on the current
status of Tennessee’s early grades literacy instruction and achievement, teacher training on methods to teach
reading, and aordability of teacher training providers.
In 2022, the General Assembly passed a law requiring that the Comptroller’s Oce annually review
the implementation of the LSA and report its ndings to the chairs of the Senate and House education
committees and the State Board of Education (SBE) by November 1
st
of each year.
2
e Oce of Research
and Education Accountability (OREA) has been designated by
the Comptroller to complete this annual review. is report is the
rst such review. A separate annual Comptroller review of district
and charter school foundational literacy skills plans is required by
the LSA. e rst literacy plan review was completed in 2021, and
this report includes the review of plans that districts and schools
updated in 2022.
OREA’s overall review of the rst year’s implementation of the
Literacy Success Act included multiple interviews with Tennessee
Department of Education (TDOE) sta, a review of state
documents, reports, plans, and guides, and a review of relevant
state laws and SBE rules. OREA also contacted educators at a small
sample of school districts and charter schools across the state to
gather their feedback on implementation.
Tennessee students have struggled to
meet basic literacy standards
Low reading scores for Tennessee’s public school students in early
grades has been a long-time concern for the General Assembly. Over
at least the past two decades, legislators have passed laws, often
working with governors and TDOE, in an eort to improve English
language arts (ELA) prociency rates for young readers. Grade 3
A
Although many charter schools are part of traditional districts, they can make independent instructional choices (such as the selection of a universal reading
screener) based on their charter status.
Multiple reviews of the LSA
• The Tennessee Literacy Success Act
requires TDOE, SBE, and Tennessee
Higher Education Commission (THEC),
to study the implementation of the act
and report to the General Assembly by
July 1, 2024.
• A separate public chapter (Public
Chapter 717, 2022) requires OREA to
study and report on the implementation
of the Literacy Success Act yearly,
beginning with this report, due in
November 2022.
• The newly created Tennessee Reading
Research Center, housed in the UT
College of Education, Health, and
Human Sciences, is tasked with
evaluating the impact of the state’s
Reading 360 initiative and analyzing the
implementation of the Literacy Success
Act, as reported in the press release
announcing its launch.
Sources: Public Chapter 3, 2021, 1st Extraordinary
Session; Public Chapter 717, 2022; TDOE March 7,
2022 news release.
4
is considered a pivotal year for students – who need a strong foundational background in reading to progress
in all subjects – but for several years, only about one-third of the state’s 3rd graders have tested procient in
reading. (See Appendix A for a history of Tennessee’s reading initiatives.)
Exhibit 1: The majority of 3rd graders have not shown procient TCAP
reading scores (meets or exceeds expectations) over the last six years
Note: TCAP is Tennessee’s annual standardized student test, the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. Scores on English language arts are grouped into
four categories: below, approaching, meets, and exceeds grade-level expectations. See more about Tennessee’s literacy initiatives at Appendix A.
Sources: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, A Landscape Analysis of Foundational Literacy Skills in Tennessee, PreK to Grade 5, April 14, 2022; Tennessee Department
of Education, 2022 TCAP Release, June 2022.
Passage of the LSA marks the most targeted attempt by the General Assembly to improve the teaching
of reading in early grades. is review considers the state’s rst year eorts in implementing the LSA’s
requirements, which are designed to ensure that:
• current teachers and teacher candidates are trained to develop students’ foundational literacy skills and
provide appropriate interventions when students need help; and
• educators know how each student in the early grades is progressing toward learning to read.
Foundational literacy skills are the basic building blocks needed to learn to read, including phonemic
awareness (identifying and working with individual sounds in spoken words), phonics (linking sounds of
spoken words with letters), uency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Because research on how students learn
to read has found that a phonics-based approach is most eective, reading instruction based on foundational
literacy skills has been referred to as the “science of reading.”
34.7
36.8
36.9
No TCAP due to COVID
32.0
35.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Percent of 3rd graders scoring proficient
Read to be Ready
initiative launched
in Feb. 2016.
Reading 360 initiative
launched in Jan. 2021;
Literacy Success Act
passed in special
session the next month.
5
Universal reading screeners identify
students’ needs
e LSA requires the use of universal reading screeners to ensure that K-3 students are learning the
foundational literacy skills needed for reading and to identify struggling students who need help. All districts
and charter schools are to administer a state-approved universal reading screener to their K-3 students three
times per year beginning in school year 2021-22 and report results to TDOE. Schools are required to notify
parents if the results from the reading screeners indicate a
student has a signicant reading deciency. TDOE made
a free universal reading screener available to districts
and schools beginning in the 2021-22 school year. All
districts and schools have reported their screener results
to TDOE in the rst year of LSA implementation.
TDOE provides a free universal
reading screener to districts
e LSA requires TDOE to provide a free Tennessee
universal reading screener to districts and schools as an
option among other reading screener options approved by
the State Board of Education (SBE).
Districts and schools were rst required to administer
universal screeners in reading, writing, and math to students
in grades K-8 grade in 2014-15 as part of the state’s
adoption of the Response to Instruction and Intervention
(RTI
2
) framework.
3
Universal screeners are short
assessments of foundational skills to help teachers identify
earlier where students may be struggling and provide extra support or interventions for students quickly.
B
Under RTI
2
, districts and schools had some latitude in their choice of screeners, the dates of their
administration, and screener scores that would trigger reading interventions, although TDOE provided
guidance on screeners that met state criteria. e 2021 Literacy Success Act standardized reading screener
implementation for all students in grades K-3 by requiring districts and schools to use one of the state-
approved screeners, requiring screener administration during time periods set by TDOE, and having TDOE
set the screener scores for reading prociency levels, among other changes. Within the choice of approved
screeners, TDOE has specied which subtests (also called “probes”) must be included in each screener
administration and has specied that students’ primary ELA or reading teachers cannot administer the
screeners in order to ensure more objective results.
Screener options
TDOE contracted with NCS Pearson, Inc. to use its aimswebPlus reading screener as the Tennessee universal
reading screener. e Tennessee universal reading screener (TURS) can also be used by districts and schools to
meet RTI
2
and dyslexia screening requirements.
B
In Tennessee, school districts are required to use RTI
2
to identify students with a “specic learning disability.” Specic learning disability is one of 13 federally-
dened disabilities set under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and covers conditions like dyslexia, dyscalculia, and written expression disorder
that aect a child’s ability to read, write, listen, speak, reason, or do math.
What is a universal reading screener?
A universal reading screener is a short, standardized
assessment to check that students are on track in
developing their early reading skills. “Universal”
refers to their administration to all students in a
grade level. Screeners are nationally normed, with
results based on comparisons to other students in
the same grade and school year season. A single
screener is a combination of very short subtests,
each focused on a key skill. Dierent combinations
of subtests are given to students based on their
grade and season. (See Appendix B for more details
on screeners.)
Tennessee contracted with NCS Pearson, Inc. to
make the aimswebPlus reading screener available at
no charge to local districts and charter schools. Each
year of the contract was budgeted at $2.5 million,
using federal funds, and includes several other K-3
screeners, as well as an online reporting platform,
training for district educators, and technical support.
Sources: TDOE interviews, presentations, and guidelines; July 2021
contract with NCS Pearson, Inc.
6
In 2021-22, almost half of districts (48 percent)
used the TURS (aimswebPlus); the other districts
used one or more of the other State Board-approved
screeners.
C
(See Exhibit 2.) Some districts used
two screeners, for example, one for grades K-1
and another for grades 2-3. Charter schools were
most likely to use the MAP screener (36 percent),
followed by Easy CBM (21 percent) and Dibels (18
percent). (See Exhibit 3.)
Districts and schools that decide to change
their screeners must update their state-required
foundational literacy skills plans. Focusing just on
the K-3 universal reading screeners required under
the LSA, 24 districts and six charter schools have
indicated they are changing their screeners for the
2022-23 school year. More districts are planning to
use the TURS or iReady screeners in 2022-23 than
the previous year, and a few charters are shifting to
the TURS as well. (See Exhibits 2 and 3.) (See p. 16 for more on district and charter school updates to their
foundational literacy skills plans.)
Exhibit 2: Number and percent of districts using approved LSA reading
screeners for K-3 students | 2021-22 and 2022-23
Note: Eleven districts reported using two screeners each in Year 1, and seven districts reported using two screeners each in Year 2 (typically split between grade levels)
for meeting the Literacy Success Act requirements. e dierence from Year 1 to Year 2 in total screeners used explains the results for the Easy CBM screener, in
which fewer districts using it in Year 2 still comprised 18 percent of all screeners used. Districts may use additional screeners for progress monitoring, diagnosing
characteristics of dyslexia, or other purposes.
Source: OREA review of districts’ foundational literacy skills plans.
C
e state special schools were not included in this analysis but those with students in K-3 did administer universal reading screeners.
State Board approved reading screeners
SBE has approved eight universal reading screeners, one
of which has been designated as the Tennessee Universal
Reading Screener, available to districts and schools at no
charge.
• aimswebPlus (designated as the Tennessee Universal
Reading Screener provided by TDOE)
• Dibels 8th edition
• Easy CBM
• Formative Assessment for Teachers (FAST)*
• STAR Early Literacy
• Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)
• Fastbridge Suite*
• iReady Diagnostic for Reading and iReady Early
Reading Tasks
*Since the SBE approval, FAST has been incorporated into
Fastbridge Suite.
Source: State Board of Education Policy 3.302.
3%
3%
6%
11%
11%
18%
48%
2%
2%
5%
7%
14%
18%
53%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Dibels
FastBridge/FAST
MAP
STAR
iReady
Easy CBM
aimswebPlus (TURS)
Number of districts using
Reading screener
Year 2: 2022-23 Year 1: 2021-22
7
Exhibit 3: Number and percent of charter schools using approved LSA reading
screeners for K-3 students | 2021-22 and 2022-23
Note: Four charter schools reported using two screeners each in Year 1, and three charter schools reported using two screeners each in Year 2 (typically split between
grade levels) for meeting the Literacy Success Act requirements, Districts may use additional screeners for progress monitoring, diagnosing characteristics of dyslexia,
or other purposes.
Source: OREA review of schools’ foundational literacy skills plans.
Schools administer screeners and report results to TDOE
e LSA requires all districts and charter schools to
report their screener results to TDOE. Typically, the
districts and schools rely on the vendors supplying the
approved screeners for their reporting. e vendors
provide access to digital platforms for schools to record
screener results, and the vendors then submit the screener
results to TDOE.
TDOE reported that all districts and charter schools have
administered the screeners and submitted required data in
compliance with state statute. Screeners are required to be
administered to students during three state-determined
windows. In 2021-22, those windows were:
Fall Aug. 2 – Oct. 1, 2021
Winter Jan. 1 – Feb. 4, 2022
Spring Apr. 11 – May 20, 2022
For 2022-23, some districts noted that earlier communication from TDOE about the scheduled windows
for screener administration and earlier nal conrmation that the windows meet all requirements would be
helpful. Trying to schedule the administration of reading screeners in conjunction with the vendors’ windows,
school vacation breaks, and other assessments is time consuming.
Why all districts do not use the free
reading screener
Because TDOE provides the state’s universal
reading screener for K-3 students to districts at no
charge, some may wonder why all districts do not
use the state’s screener. In interviews with a sample
of districts, OREA heard a variety of reasons. Some
have used other screeners for several years and
teachers are more familiar with them, some districts
want all their grades to use the same screener and
they are already using another screener for grades
outside K-3. Some have multi-year contracts with
other screener vendors or nd other screeners
are better aligned with their curriculum or produce
more useful results. One district tried the state
screener but is switching to another one because
their teachers found the state’s screener too time
consuming and overwhelming.
Source: Interviews with selected school districts and charter schools.
0%
2%
11%
13%
18%
21%
36%
0%
7%
11%
15%
18%
15%
35%
0 5 10 15 20 25
STAR
aimswebPlus (TURS)
FastBridge/FAST
iReady
Dibels
Easy CBM
MAP
Number of charter schools using
Reading screener
Year 2: 2022-23 Year 1: 2021-22
MAP
Easy CBM
Dibels
iReady
FastBridge/FAST
aimswebPlus (TURS)
STAR
8
Screener results
Initial results from the 2021-22 screeners are reported by percentile ranking, based on national norms for
each grade and screener administration period (fall, winter, spring). us, Tennessee’s 1st graders’ scores on
the spring screener, for example, are ranked with other 1st graders’ scores across the country who also took the
same screener test in spring. TDOE sta note that the national norms for the state-approved reading screeners
were all set before COVID; it would therefore be somewhat expected for students who had lost instruction
time during COVID to score lower than students in pre-COVID years.
Exhibit 4: Tennessee students’ rise in average percentile rank from 2021-22
universal reading screener composite scores indicate skill gains based on
national norms
Source: Tennessee Department of Education.
e screener results in Exhibit 4 show that, overall, Tennessee
K-3 students gained the same, or more, foundational reading
skills during the 2021-22 school year as students nationwide. e
national norms for the approved screeners have an average range
from the 40th to 59th percentile (think of the largest portion of
a bell curve, like the shaded area in Exhibit 5), with the national
average at the 50th percentile. Tennessee’s average percentile on the
spring foundational literacy skills composite for all grades, K-3, was
43 on the nationally normed scale, roughly indicated by the red line
in Exhibit 5.
4
As required by the LSA, TDOE determined the “reading prociency
level scores” for all the state-approved universal reading screeners.
e SBE adopted rules that K-3 students who score in the 15th
percentile ranking or below on any of the approved, nationally-
normed screeners is determined to have a “signicant reading deciency.”
5
Students with a score between the
16th and 40th percentiles are at risk for a signicant reading deciency.
6
As of September 2022, TDOE did
not have nal data yet available from the seven screener platforms to report how many Tennessee students fell
into the signicant and at risk reading deciency categories.
38
36
41
43
41
38
44
45
41
40
44
46
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Kdgtn 1st 2nd 3rd
Percentile
Fall Winter Spring
Percentile rankings
Percentile rankings for screener
results are based on comparisons to
national results from other students
who completed the same screener. A
change in percentile ranking means
that a student’s score increased or
decreased more than other students’
scores. A percentile ranking that stays
the same does not mean a student
hasn’t progressed; it means the student
progressed at the same rate as others.
In other words, their place in the
ranking line remains unchanged.
Source: various denitions of percentile rankings.
Kindergarten
9
Specic sets of skills measures
show Tennessee students below the
national average percentile rankings
on the year-end spring results,
despite some improvements in each
grade levels’ ranking during the year.
Exhibit 6 shows specic literacy
skills and grade combinations for
Tennessee students by percentile
rankings against national norms.
Exhibit 6: Selected foundational literacy skills and Tennessee students’
percentile rankings based on national norms for year-end composite screener
results | 2021-22
Source: OREA graph of Tennessee Department of Education data.
TDOE is using the screener data submitted by districts and schools to analyze how Tennessee students’
reading skills are developing over time and how Tennessee students compare with other students nationally.
In partnership with the newly established Reading Research Center, TDOE plans to analyze how districts’
performance on reading screeners connects to districts’ participation in Reading 360 initiatives as well as how
it connects to 3rd grade TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) scores.
D
PreK screeners
One condition of the TURS that the department provides free to districts and schools is that it be appropriate
for students in pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade, even though the law only requires districts and schools to
administer a screener for K-3 – the preK screener is optional. A problem with the screener designated as the
TURS (aimswebPlus) arose because the preK screener did not have national norms against which to measure
D
Reading 360 is a comprehensive statewide literacy initiative, funded through $100 million in federal grants and COVID-19 relief funding to provide optional
reading resources to help more students develop strong phonics-based reading skills.
43rd
48th
39th
43rd
National average:
50th percentile
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
K-1: reading readiness 2-3: comprehension K-3: fluency K-3: overall composite
Percentile
Exhibit 5: National average percentile compared
to Tennessee average percentile for K-3 spring
composite screener results | 2021-22
50
th
percentile
43
rd
percentile
Source: OREA graph of TDOE data.
10
student progress. State Board of Education rules require
that state-approved universal reading screeners have
national norms, which the TURS does for grades K-3.
7
State Board rules do not require the universal reading
screeners it approves to have preK versions; that is only
required for the TURS in the LSA.
TDOE’s early guidance to districts and schools in July
2021 stated that it was working with Pearson (the
contracted vendor for aimswebPlus) to “apply existing
kindergarten screeners for preK use.”
8
e department
has indicated that nationally normed preK reading
screeners were limited in availability from vendors
generally.
In 2021-22, only one district reported using the preK
screener, and it had to use the national kindergarten
norms to measure the progress of its preK students.
E
For
the 2022-23 school year, two state-approved reading screeners will have national norms for preK: STAR Early
Literacy and Fastbridge, according to TDOE.
National norms on screeners are used to identify students with “signicant reading deciencies,” a designation
that, by law, triggers parent notications and potential reading interventions for K-3 students, but not for
preK students. (See more about steps taken for students with reading deciencies in the next section on parent
notication.) Because the LSA only requires districts and charter schools to administer a universal reading
screener to K-3 students, those are the only student scores required to be reported to TDOE. It is unclear if
the lack of preK national norms, or the use of adapted kindergarten norms, for preK screener results has an
impact on the usage of TURS as a tool for preK teachers to monitor their students’ progress in gaining literacy
skill or to identify where students need additional instruction.
e lack of national preK norms becomes a thornier issue if the district or school chooses to use students’
TURS screener results for preK teachers’ alternative growth measures in their teacher evaluations, an option
allowed, but not required, under provisions of the LSA legislation. Although other, better-aligned options for
preK teacher alternative growth measures exist, using the TURS preK screener for teacher evaluation purposes
may limit its equity as a growth measure, according to TDOE. (Alternative growth measures are non-TCAP
options for teachers to generate a growth measure based only on their classrooms, rather than using one of the
TVAAS composite measures based on a larger group of students.
F
) Since the one district that used the preK
TURS also opted to use the screener results to generate an alternative growth measure for its preK teachers,
TDOE applied a conversion table to translate kindergarten national norms into appropriate student growth
calculations.
G
TDOE guidance on using screener results to generate alternative growth measures for teachers
stated that because 2021-22 would be the rst year for the process, teachers’ level of overall eectiveness
(LOE) scores would also be calculated with a TVAAS composite growth score. en, only the higher of the
LOE scores (using screener results or using a TVAAS composite) would be used for a nal evaluation score.
E
According to TDOE sta, the district was made aware of the limits of the Tennessee Universal Reading Screener (aimswebPlus) and its lack of national preK norms
prior to the district’s nal decision to use it.
F
All teacher evaluations must include some type of growth score, indicating how much a teacher helped students increase learning. For teachers whose students take
TCAP tests, the TVAAS growth score calculated for a classroom serves as that teacher’s growth score. For teachers whose students are not tested under TCAP, either
due to grade level or subject taught, a variety of TVAAS composite group scores are used as proxy growth measures for the teachers. Alternative growth measures are
options such as the portfolio model or, recently, universal screener results, that provide teachers with growth scores individual to their classrooms that are not based
on TCAP.
G
Each state-approved universal reading screener provides one of three types of growth calculations, typically based on the students’ initial composite score, that can
be used to generate an individualized growth score for a teacher.
Reading Research Center
Partnering with TDOE in some of its analysis of
universal reading screener results is the new
Reading Research Center, opened at the University
of Tennessee Knoxville campus in 2022. The center
is to evaluate and analyze the state’s Reading 360
initiative and its $100 million investment in literacy
supports and grants. The Reading Research Center
was created by TDOE via an interagency agreement
with the University of Tennessee and funded by federal
COVID-19 relief funding for education. Although not
the direct impetus for TDOE’s creation of the center,
a 2000 state law, which included a number of literacy
education provisions, directed the State Board of
Education and the Tennessee Higher Education
Commission, with others to “consider development” of
a university-based reading research center.
Sources: TDOE interviews and March 7, 2022, news release; Public
Chapter 911, 2000.
11
Districts and charter schools notify parents and provide
interventions when students have reading deciencies
Parent notication
Parent notication through district and school home literacy reports began with RTI
2
, similar to the use of
universal reading screeners. e Literacy Success Act required that some standardized components be included
in communications to parents about students’ reading skills development.
e LSA requires home literacy reports to be sent to parents of each student “immediately upon determining
that a student in kindergarten through grade 3 has a signicant reading deciency, based on the results of the
[most recent] universal reading screener.”
9
TDOE guidance also recommends that home literacy reports be
sent to parents of students identied as “at risk” of a signicant reading deciency. e original LSA legislation
required that these literacy reports to parents include not only that their student had a signicant reading
deciency but also must include:
• information about the importance of a student being able to read prociently by the end of 3rd grade,
• reading activities the parents may use at home to help improve their students’ reading prociency, and
• information about the reading interventions and supports that the district/charter school recommend
for their students.
A sample of districts and charter schools contacted by OREA reported that they have continued to send
parents the home literacy reports as they had been under RTI
2
, although typically some adjustments to the
wording of the reports had been made to comply with the law.
Inclusion of 3rd grade retention information
A 2021 amendment to the LSA requires districts to begin
adding information to the home literacy reports in school
year 2022-23 about the state’s revised 3rd grade retention
law.
10
TDOE has provided districts and charter schools with
guidance, including sample letters, on including retention
information in the home literacy report to parents of those
3rd graders whose reading screener scores trigger report
requirements.
e amendment to the LSA, however, is located in a section of
law describing the required elements of home literacy reports
for parents of all students identied with signicant reading
deciencies, including K-2 students as well as third grade
students. It is not clear if the original intent of the law was to require information about retention for more
than 3rd graders' parents.
Parent notication plans through home literacy reports are a required part of the foundational literacy skills
plans that districts and charter schools submit to TDOE every three years. Districts and schools must submit
plan updates if they make changes to key pieces of their literacy programs, but were not required to revise
their plans for the state’s change to home literacy report requirements.
H
H
See more about foundational literacy skills plans and updates by districts and charter schools on page 16.
3rd grade retention law
Another bill, passed in the same 2021 special
session as the LSA, was the Tennessee
Learning Loss Remediation and Student
Acceleration Act, which established mini
camps, summer camps, learning loss bridge
camps, and a state tutor network. Within that
bill were also revisions to state criteria for
retaining 3rd grade students based on their
TCAP scores of the ELA portion of the test,
including options to avoid retention, such as
summer camps and intensive tutoring.
Source: Public Chapter 1, 2021, 1st Extraordinary Session.
12
Interviews with a sample of local districts and schools found that some were still deciding how to provide
information about 3rd grade retention to parents (so they may or may not include the information in all their
home literacy reports); others were planning to provide that information to parents through such avenues as:
• parent nights or parent meetings,
• district-created pamphlets or other materials explaining the law,
• notices that parents must sign and return,
• a strategy of “early and often” communication with parents of 3rd graders, focusing on how parents can
support their students’ progress,
• ensuring that parents know about all available school interventions such as before and after school
tutoring and ALL Corps tutoring,
• family portals where parents can check on their student’s progress, and
• training for principals, who in turn train 2nd and 3rd grade teachers to help prevent the need for retention.
Student interventions and supports
e LSA requires districts and charter schools to provide additional help to students identied as having a
signicant reading deciency. Additional methods of helping with reading – often called interventions and
supports – are detailed in districts’ and schools’ foundational literacy skills plans (FLSPs) and are intended
to get students struggling with literacy skills to get back on track quickly and not fall too far behind. e
LSA states that districts and schools can meet this requirement using the interventions and supports already
outlined in the state’s RTI
2
framework manual.
11
While interventions and supports vary by student needs and by school schedules, policies, and personnel, the
RTI
2
manual outlines the basic steps for intervention:
• universal screeners can identify individual students’ strengths and needs, which in turn can point to
specic skills that may need additional work;
• results from universal screeners can be combined with teachers’ observation of students in class, results
from classroom assignments and tests, and more specialized screenings if needed, to help pinpoint
students’ learning issues;
• depending on the level of intervention, students receive extra instructional time – either in small groups
or individually – that is focused on specic skills, in addition to the core instruction provided to all
students; and
• student performance is regularly monitored to ensure that the intervention is helping the student
progress, with adjustments made if students are not progressing.
TDOE’s Tennessee Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement – a collection of open-sourced, evidence-
based resources (teacher guides, student workbooks, training, etc.) to help teachers provide foundational
literacy instruction for early grades students – includes specic sample lesson plans, exercises, worksheets, and
other materials for teachers needing to provide supplemental instruction for struggling early readers.
Other interventions that may help students improve literacy skills include after-school programs, summer camps,
and tutoring established as part of the state’s learning loss remediation and student acceleration program.
Information about specic reading interventions and supports that a school recommends for a student and
intervention activities that parents can use at home are required to be provided in the home literacy reports
given to parents of students whose screener results indicate a reading deciency.
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Teacher training focuses on
foundational literacy
Another way the Literacy Success Act helps ensure that schools focus on foundational literacy skills is through
the requirements for teacher training. e law requires TDOE to develop training courses on literacy skills
instruction for both K-5 teachers and high school students in a teaching-as-a-profession career pathway.
e act also requires all K-5 teachers to complete one literacy skills instruction course approved by TDOE
by August 2023. Finally, although not technically part of the Literacy Success Act, but included in the same
public chapter as the act, is a requirement for K-3 teachers and instructional leaders to complete a literacy
skills instruction course prior to advancing or renewing their existing licenses.
I
TDOE has developed both the training course for teachers and the course for high school students
interested in the teaching profession as required by the act, and indications are that K-5 teachers are
making good progress in meeting the requirement to complete one literacy skills instruction course by
the 2023 deadline.
TDOE provides professional development for current teachers in
literacy instruction
e LSA requires TDOE to develop at least one professional development course that provides training on
how to teach foundational literacy skills to elementary students and to make that course available to K-5
teachers at no cost. Prior to the passage of the act in February 2021, TDOE had already taken steps as part
of its Reading 360 initiative to develop and promote teacher training on foundational literacy skills: issuing
a request for proposal for a vendor to develop two early reading training courses and announcing plans for
classroom materials kits and stipends for teachers who successfully complete the free training. e initiative
used federal funds to oer a wide range of optional resources to school districts, teachers, and families to
support student literacy skills. TDOE has characterized the LSA as the policy framework around which
districts can build their early literacy eorts and the Reading 360 initiative as a comprehensive set of strategies
and supports that districts can use in their eorts.
TDOE awarded TNTP (a nonprot formerly known as e New Teacher Project) an initial $8.06 million,
one-year contract in March 2021, to develop and provide two early grades reading courses with accompanying
instructional materials.
12
e contract, funded through federal pandemic relief dollars, was later expanded
from one year to three, with an additional $8 million added to the maximum approved amount.
13
After a
separate request for proposal was issued in 2022, a contract for secondary literacy skills training was awarded
to TNTP for $9.7 million over two and a half years.
14
e LSA requires all K-5 teachers to complete at least one state-approved course in foundational literacy
skills instruction by August 1, 2023. As of summer 2022, TDOE had approved both the Early Reading
Training Course I and the Secondary Literacy Training Course I to meet the law’s requirement. (See box on
foundational literacy skills instruction training.)
TDOE reported that a total of 25,749 licensed educators completed the Early Reading Training Course I as
of August 22, 2022. Based on the passage rates of the educators who completed the course during the 2021
testing period, almost all educators (99.6 percent) passed the end-of-course assessment.
I
e license renewal requirement applies to all teachers seeking renewal or advancement of licenses with endorsements that authorize them to teach students in grades
K-3, regardless of whether they are actively teaching in those grades. e requirement applies to both practitioner (initial) teacher licenses and professional teacher
licenses. Practitioner licenses must be renewed every four years and professional licenses every seven years.
14
Because the training is open to teachers, reading
interventionists, instructional leaders, and other licensed
personnel across standard, special education, and English
learner classrooms, it is dicult to determine the percentage
of active K-5 teachers who have met the law’s training
requirement.
J
Teachers with elementary endorsements but
who are not currently teaching in a K-5 classroom may
also have completed the training. ere are an estimated
28,000 teachers in standard K-5 classrooms. Administrators
from a sample of school districts and charter schools
contacted by OREA during July and August 2022 reported
that their teachers were largely on track to meet the LSA
training requirement by the deadline of August 2023. Some
were also working to have paraprofessionals and certain
administrators trained.
TDOE has indicated that the newly created Reading
Research Center at the University of Tennessee will compile
all the teacher training data and match it to active K-5
classroom teachers in order to conrm that the statutory
requirement is met by the deadline. Although its evaluation
priorities had not been nalized as of August 1, 2022, the
center is anticipating a project in which it will examine the
relationship between teacher participation in professional
development and student performance. While the proposed
evaluation projects for the center are focused on how
Reading 360 components impact student literacy, the
overlap between the LSA requirements and the Reading 360
initiative could provide the necessary information for the center to draw conclusions about whether all active
K-5 teachers had completed at least one required foundational literacy skills training.
Although the second Early Reading course is not required by the LSA, TDOE has provided incentives to
encourage early grades teachers to complete it in addition to the rst course that is required by the act. As part
of the Reading 360 initiative, K-5 teachers earned a $1,000 stipend for completing both Early Reading courses
(I and II) and K-2 teachers received the stipend and classroom kits of curriculum materials. e training
stipends were funded with federal pandemic relief funds for education. During the 2021 training period,
8,935 educators completed both trainings, and the passing rate for Course II was 99.7 percent, indicating that
approximately 8,908 educators earned the stipends for their approximately 60 hours of training. As of August
2022, another 4,404 educators had completed Course II, for a total of 13,339 who have completed both
courses.
K
TDOE's training satisfaction surveys found more than 97 percent of participants in both training years agreed
or strongly agreed that the training prepared them to better support students in phonics-based instruction.
Several districts contacted by OREA reported that sta have been positive about the training overall, that the
training had resulted in improved instruction, and/or that stipends have been an eective incentive. Some
districts noted that state monitoring of which teachers had completed Course I and allowing districts to pull a
report of completers from the state’s school personnel system (COMPASS) would make compliance easier.
J
TDOE also approved Secondary Literacy Training Course I to meet the law’s training requirements. However, since this training in geared to teachers in grades
5-12 and teacher completion data by grade was not available, and since the law only requires a training course for K-5 teachers, data on completion of the Secondary
Literacy Training Course I was not requested for this report.
K
Educators completing Secondary Literacy Course I and II can also earn the $1,000 stipend.
Foundational literacy skills
instruction training
Early Reading Training Course I – Online,
asynchronous (participants learn on their own
time) training for K-5 educators focused on
research on foundational literacy skills, how
those skills are built into Tennessee standards,
the systematic development of those skills, and
the research behind high-quality instructional
materials. Teachers must pass a multiple choice
assessment. (Approximately 25 hours.)
Early Reading Training Course II – Week-long,
in-person training for K-5 educators typically
oered during summer and focused on how to
implement a foundational literacy curriculum and
instructional materials in planning, preparing, and
providing instruction. Participants must pass the
assessment for Course I before taking Course II.
(Approximately 30 hours.)
Secondary Literacy Training Course I and II –
Similar to the Early Reading Training courses, the
secondary literacy training for teachers in grades
5-12 consists of a one-week online course and a
one-week in-person course. These courses focus
on how reading skills develop and how reading
comprehension is supported by vocabulary
growth with the use of high-quality instructional
materials and alignment with state standards.
Sources: TDOE, Reading 360: Tennessee Early Reading
Training, weeks 1 and 2 overview; TDOE, Request for Proposals
for Secondary Literacy Training, April 15, 2021.
15
Another incentive created by the Reading 360 initiative to encourage teacher training beyond the LSA
requirements is aimed at school districts through the Reading 360 Early Literacy Network. e network is a
TDOE-coordinated eort to provide literacy support grants for districts that achieve certain training goals.
e 95 school districts participating in the network had to ensure that 25 percent of their K-2 teachers
competed both Early Reading Course I and Course II during the 2021-22 training period, and that 60
percent of their K-2 teachers will have completed Course I by June 2023. In return, the participating districts
receive two-year, federally funded grants between $80,000 and $100,000, depending on enrollment, to hire
state-approved vendors that provide direct support, such as coaching or professional development, to preK–2
teachers as they implement the new early literacy instruction. e network also oers additional teacher
professional development, both virtually and in-person, which is also open to non-network districts. (See
Appendix C for a list of Early Literacy Network districts.)
A sample of districts contacted by OREA included several that were members of the Early Literacy Network.
ey reported their participation in the network had been worthwhile, particularly for:
• the classroom walk-throughs, high-quality feedback for teachers, and other work with the grant-funded
vendors, and
• the foundational skills resources, including training and lesson plans.
ose districts contacted that had opted not to participate in the network indicated they found too many
conditions attached to the grant funds or that they believed their teachers had sucient training with existing
resources; they thought more might be overwhelming.
Literacy skills instruction training required for teachers to renew
or advance their licenses
In addition to the professional development requirements of the LSA, the 2021 law also included some new
license renewal requirements for teachers and instructional leaders.
L
Beginning in August 2023, some teachers
and instructional leaders must document that they have completed a state-approved course in foundational
literacy skills instruction.
M
e types of licensing actions subject to this requirement include:
• seeking or renewing an initial license authorizing teaching of K-3 students,
• renewing a professional license authorizing teaching of K-3 students,
• renewing or advancing an instructional leader license,
• holding an active professional teaching license in a reciprocal-agreement state and seeking renewal or
advancement of an initial Tennessee license, and
• holding an active professional instructional leader license in a reciprocal-agreement state and seeking
renewal or advancement of a Tennessee initial instructional leader license.
Similar requirements for those enrolled in educator preparation programs and seeking a new license are
outlined in the next section on literacy instruction changes for educator preparation programs. Teachers
subject to these license requirements are those who have endorsements relating to preK-3 education.
L
Although generally all of Public Chapter 3 of the 1st Extraordinary Session of 2021 is referred to as the Tennessee Literacy Success Act, that name technically refers
only to the provisions in the rst three sections of the public chapter that are codied in Part 9 (TCA 49-1-901 through 49-1-909). Additional provisions impacting
educator preparation providers and educator licenses and alternative growth models for teacher evaluations were included in other sections of the public chapter.
M
e law provides the option for teachers to pass a Tennessee reading instruction test or to complete the literacy skills instruction course. Since the law also requires
all K-5 teachers to complete the course by Aug. 1, 2023, it is assumed that most licensed educators will use documentation of the required course to meet this license
requirement. State Board of Education Policy 5.502 indicates initial practitioner teacher licenses must be renewed within four years and professional teacher licenses
must be renewed within seven years.
16
e law requires that local school districts and charter schools approve professional development points for
at least one literacy skills instruction training completed by teachers. (Professional development points are
required to renew or advance educator licenses.) Early Reading Course I and Secondary Literacy Course I are
approved to meet license renewal requirements.
Literacy skills instruction training developed for high school
students pursuing teacher-pathway courses
High school students who are interested in teaching as a profession may have access to career and technical
education (CTE) courses in either the Teaching as a Profession (TAP) or the Early Childhood Education
pathways. e standards for the CTE courses in these pathways are set by the State Board of Education, as
are standards for any other CTE courses. To meet LSA’s requirement for a new foundational literacy skills
instruction course, TDOE presented its proposal for a new level 4 course – Foundational Literacy Practicum –
for SBE’s rst consideration at its May 20, 2022, meeting. In its work to develop the new course, TDOE also
sought to increase the literacy emphasis of existing TAP courses. SBE voted nal approval of the new course
and the related revisions to existing courses at its July 22, 2022, meeting.
Districts update Foundational Literacy
Skills Plans
Part of the Literacy Success Act includes a requirement that all districts and public charter schools submit
foundational literacy skills plans (FLSPs) and regular updates to TDOE for approval.
15
Although 2022 was
not a required submission year, 65 districts and public charters have submitted a revised FLSP since their
initial submissions in 2021.
N
An FLSP details how a district or charter school plans to
provide foundational literacy skills instruction, reading
intervention, and supports to students identied as having
a signicant reading deciency. e plans are intended to
“demonstrate the eective implementation of foundational
literacy skills instruction” which is to be provided as the
primary form of English language arts (ELA) instruction. e
plans are also required to be posted on TDOE’s website as well
as the district or charter school website.
Each district and charter school plan must cover grades K-5 and include the following six sections:
• the amount of daily time devoted to foundational literacy skills instruction and how that time is utilized,
• ELA textbooks and instructional materials adopted,
• the universal reading screener selected by the district or charter school,
• a description of reading interventions and supports available to students with a signicant reading deciency,
• how the district or charter school intends to notify and engage parents in the student literacy process, and
• how the district or charter school will provide professional development in foundational literacy skills to
K-5 teachers.
N
Counts of FLSP changes here may dier from the earlier report section on universal reading screeners because some districts and schools report their screener
changes for grades K-5 in their FLSPs, but the earlier section focused only on screener changes reported for grades K-3, which are grades for which the LSA requires
districts and schools to administer screeners and report results to TDOE.
LSA requires Comptroller review
The LSA requires districts and charter schools
to submit FLSPs every three years but requires
the Comptroller’s Oce to review the plans
and TDOE’s approval of the plans every year.
This section of the report constitutes the
Comptroller’s second annual review of FLSPs.
Source: TCA 49-1-905 (g)(1) and (6).
17
Districts were required to submit their rst foundational literacy skills plans to TDOE by June 1, 2021.
OREA analyzed how these plans aligned with the guidelines created by the SBE and TDOE in a report that
can be found at Review of Foundational Literacy Skills Plans. Districts are required to submit a revised FLSP
every three years unless the district is making a policy change regarding one of the six required topics on an
FLSP, in which case a revision must be submitted to TDOE when the policy change occurs. Districts may be
exempt from a triennial submission if certain student academic growth criteria are met through the Tennessee
Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), a statistical method that measures the inuence of a district,
school, or teacher on the year-to-year growth of students or groups of students.
Forty-four districts and charter schools submitted updated plans to reect policy changes for the 2022-23
school year to TDOE for approval. Twenty-one districts and charters had submitted revisions to their FLSP in
2021, after their initial submissions and before the start of the 2021-22 school year. e most common reason
for a revision was a change in universal screener, accounting for 68 percent of changes in updated FLSPs.
Changes in professional development accounted for the second largest share of changes, with 10 districts, or
16 percent, updating this portion of the plan. Districts made these changes to update timelines of teachers’
participation in the Early Literacy Training courses provided by TDOE or to specify what other training
programs teachers will attend. Five districts made changes regarding instructional materials, either adding or
removing instructional programs. Four districts made changes regarding interventions. TDOE approved all
FLSP updates submitted by districts and schools since their initial plan approvals in 2021.
Exhibit 7: Changes to FLSP by type | 2021 and 2022
Note: Districts and schools that submitted updated plans without notable changes in one of the required elements are not included in the graph.
Source: OREA analysis of FLSP updates provided by TDOE.
Parent notication
Professional development
Universal reading screener
Instructional materials
Intervention methods
5 (8.2%)
4 (6.56%)
1 (1.64%)
10 (16.39%)
41 (67.21%)
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Educator preparation programs
revise instruction
e 2021 law that created the Tennessee Literacy Success Act also included some new requirements for
educator preparation programs (EPPs). EPPs are primarily college programs to prepare students to become
teachers, but also include several alternative programs outside of institutions of higher education, such as
Teach for America and the Memphis Teacher Residency. e law includes three EPP-related requirements:
• TDOE to have developed new foundational literacy skills standards for EPP instruction of candidates
seeking licenses to teach K-3 students and to become instructional leaders by July 31, 2021,
• EPPs to provide reading instruction training primarily focused on foundational literacy skills standards
developed by TDOE beginning August 1, 2022, and
• candidates enrolled in EPPs to pass a state-approved Tennessee reading instruction test or document the
completion of a foundational literacy skills instruction course beginning August 1, 2023.
TDOE has developed, and the State Board of Education has approved, new EPP standards for
instruction of K-3 teacher candidates and instructional leader candidates. EPPs are to begin implementing
the new state literacy instruction standards this school year (2022-23). EPPs must submit plans to TDOE
stating that, beginning with the fall 2022 semester, their reading instruction will have a primary focus on
foundational literacy skills and that courses and clinical experiences will be aligned with foundational literacy
standards. Implementation of the third EPP-related requirement is still in progress. As of July 2022, TDOE
was in the development process for a new Tennessee reading instruction test that certain EPP candidates must
pass as part of their program.
Revised EPP standards for teaching reading instruction are adopted
e law required that by July 31, 2021, TDOE was to develop and submit to the State Board of Education
new foundational literacy skills standards that EPPs would be expected to use in their instruction of
candidates seeking licenses to teach grades K-3 and in specialty program instruction of candidates seeking
instructional leader licenses. e law outlined specic elements to be included in the new literacy skills
standards, including:
• eective teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, uency, vocabulary, and comprehension;
• dierentiated instruction for students with a range of reading skills;
• identication of and eective teaching for students with dyslexia;
• reading instruction using high-quality instructional materials;
• behavior management, trauma-informed principles and practices, and other supports to ensure students
can access reading instruction; and
• administration of universal reading screeners and use of screener data to improve instruction.
In July 2021, the State Board revised Policy 5.505 addressing literacy and specialty area standards for
educator preparation. e revised policy added new standards for instructional leader preparation programs
and specied that early education foundational literacy skills standards are required in educator preparation
programs that lead to endorsements in:
• early development and learning preK–K,
• early childhood education preK–3,
• integrated early childhood education, birth through K,
• integrated early childhood education preK–3,
19
• elementary education K–5,
• special education early childhood preK–3,
•
• special education comprehensive K–12,
• special education interventionists K–8, and
• special education interventionists 6–12.
Under the law, the standards require training on the components of foundational literacy skills, identication
of students progressing successfully and those who are not, how to respond with appropriate instructional
dierentiation (including instruction for students with dyslexia), identication and use of high-quality
instructional materials, use of universal reading screeners to identify students with reading deciencies, and
trauma-informed instruction and discipline. e revised policy also addresses the new literacy standards for
instructional leader preparation programs, including training on foundational literacy skills, dierentiating
instruction for students at dierent reading levels and those with characteristics of dyslexia, and trauma-
informed practices.
EPP reading instruction to focus primarily on foundational literacy
skills outlined in standards
Beginning in the fall semester of 2022, educator preparation programs approved by SBE are required to base
their reading instruction on the new foundational literacy skills standards adopted by SBE.
O
State Board
Policy 5.504 states that EPPs shall implement all applicable literacy and specialty area standards as set in Policy
5.505.
In addition, after a rulemaking hearing on July 6, 2022, the State Board approved a revision to its rule 0520-
02-04-.07, which outlines requirements for EPPs. e revision adds a new procedure for TDOE to review EPP
alignment to foundational literacy skills standards (per SBE Policy 5.505) and to potentially require corrective
action and, ultimately, denial of approval for any specialty area program that fails to align to and incorporate
the foundational literacy standards. e rule change does not take eect until after review by the Attorney
General and ling with the Secretary of State, and is subject to Government Operations Committee action.
EPP faculty had options to attend Early Reading Training Courses I and II in both 2021 and 2022 when they
were oered to K-5 teachers. A report that reviewed faculty participation in 2021 showed that a majority of
EPP early grades programs had faculty who attended both courses in that year.
16
Finally, EPPs must submit signed assurances to TDOE on how they plan to meet the state requirements to
focus primarily on phonics-based literacy instruction for endorsement areas related to early grades literacy.
Each EPP must explain its plans for how foundational literacy skills standards will be integrated into
applicable programs and demonstrate alignment between literacy standards and the courses and clinical
experiences provided by the EPP. TDOE reviews these assurances in a similar way to its review of districts’
foundational literacy skills plans that outline how they will meet the Literacy Success Act requirements. In its
guidance to EPPs, TDOE has provided several resources and states that
. . .over the course of the next few years, the department will engage substantively with EPPs in
eorts to ensure all EPP faculty and sta who engage in preparing educators in these areas are
adequately prepared and supported.
17
Supports may include program audits with feedback, EPP networking opportunities, and K-12 teacher
training opportunities that will also be open to EPP faculty.
O
EPPs approved by the State Board of Education include both public and private institutions.
20
New Tennessee reading instruction test is required to be
developed by TDOE and provided at no cost
e LSA requires TDOE to develop a new test or identify an existing test that assesses foundational skills
instructional knowledge of candidates for designated teacher or educational leader licenses. e department is
to provide such a test at no cost to the candidate or to the EPP.
TDOE was, as of July 2022, involved in the development process, which may include procurement of
components, for a new Tennessee reading instruction test. Once TDOE develops or identies an appropriate
test, it is to be approved by the State Board. TDOE must also recommend for State Board approval the
passing score that candidates must achieve.
As an alternative to passing the new state-approved foundational literacy instruction test, designated
candidates may document their knowledge of reading instruction by completing the foundational literacy
skills instruction course already developed by TDOE. (See more about the literacy skills instruction course at
p. 14.) e LSA requires that beginning August 1, 2023, candidates who
• seek an initial teaching license or endorsement to teach K-3 students,
• who seek an initial instructional leader license, or
• who have an initial teaching license and are enrolled in a graduate EPP program,
must either pass a state-approved reading instruction test or pass the foundational literacy instruction
course (which includes an end-of-course test). (e law requires this not only of candidates enrolled in EPP
programs, but also of teachers and instructional leaders who already hold a license and are seeking to renew or
advance their existing licenses. See more about training for active teachers at p. 13.)
Typically, candidates enrolled in an EPP and seeking either an Elementary Education K-5 or an Early
Childhood Education preK-3 endorsement would take a Praxis assessment on their content knowledge of
reading instruction (among other content areas), such as “Teaching Reading: Elementary,” as prescribed
in State Board Policy 5.105. e new Tennessee reading instruction test would replace the Praxis reading
instruction test. TDOE states that the Tennessee test will be aligned with Tennessee literacy standards,
unlike the Praxis. e new Tennessee test is expected to be available by the end of the 2022-23 school year.
Alternatively, EPP candidates may document their reading instruction knowledge by completing the free
foundational literacy skills instruction course, which has been available since spring of 2021.
TDOE reports analyze the state’s literacy
practices, instructional training, and
affordability of teacher education programs
e Literacy Success Act of 2021 required TDOE to provide to the State Board of Education and the House
and Senate education committee chairs by March 1, 2022, results of:
• a landscape analysis of literacy in Tennessee, including current practices, student achievement,
instructional programming for students, and remediation services;
• a landscape analysis of literacy instruction, including instructional programming and pedagogical
practices used by educator preparation providers (EPPs); and
• a joint analysis with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) about the aordability
of EPPs, including tuition aordability for future educators and costs relative to those in other states;
21
student loan and debt burdens of EPP graduates; nancial barriers that may inhibit people from
pursuing teaching as a profession; and the ability to reduce the costs of obtaining educator preparation
and credentials.
On behalf of TDOE, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Education, Health, and Human
Services published two reports on April 14, 2022: A Landscape Analysis of Foundational Literacy Skills in
Tennessee PreK to Grade 5 and A Landscape Analysis of Tennessee Educator Preparation Providers’ Instructional
Programming & Pedagogical Practices in Foundational Literacy Skills.
In March 2022, TDOE published Educator Preparation Provider Aordability Report: Initial Analysis of
Financial Motivators and Barriers to Becoming a Teacher in Tennessee.
All three required reports have been published. Summaries of the results reported from the three studies follow.
Key points from preK through grade 5 foundational literacy
skills study
e study reviewed English Language Arts (ELA) student achievement data from grades 3 through 5 on the
state assessment (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program or TCAP) from 2017 through 2021. e
achievement data is the baseline for assessing improvements in early literacy prociency that result from
Reading 360, the state reading initiative launched in January 2021.
Generally, grade 3-5 students’ ELA performance increased from 2017 to 2018 and increased or remained
stable from 2018 to 2019 (with a decrease for 4th grade), followed by a decrease between 2019 and 2021, due
to the education disruptions from COVID. Similar trends were found for two subgroups of students: those
that are economically disadvantaged and those who are Black, Hispanic, or Native American.
Exhibit 8: Grades 3-5 students scoring procient in English language arts
dropped in 2021 after COVID disruptions
Note: Data not available for 2020 due to COVID-19-related school closures and state and federal action that authorized a waiver of statewide assessments.
Source: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, A Landscape Analysis of Foundational Literacy Skills in Tennessee, PreK to Grade 5, April 14, 2022, pp. 8-9
e chart below shows ELA performance in 2021 disaggregated by performance level, showing relatively few
students at the top performance level.
Percentage of students whose performance meets or exceeds grade-level expectations
Grade 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Grade 3
34.7% 36.8% 36.9% n/a 32.0%
Grade 4
36.5% 37.9% 34.3% n/a 33.2%
Grade 5
30.8% 32.4% 35.2% n/a 29.0%
Grades 3-5
34.0% 35.7% 35.5% n/a 31.4%
22
Exhibit 9: TCAP ELA performance of grade 3-5 students | 2021
Note: is study was performed before 2022 TCAP results were available.
Source: Based on University of Tennessee, Knoxville, A Landscape Analysis of Foundational Literacy Skills in Tennessee, PreK to Grade 5, April 14, 2022, p. 9.
e analysis found that students’ ELA academic performance in districts and charter schools across the state in
all years reviewed varied considerably. e percentage performing at procient levels ranged from 10.6 percent
to 76.2 percent in 2017 and from 4.5 percent to 72.5 percent in 2021.
e study also analyzed instructional practices in districts and charter schools, based on the foundational
literacy skills plan that each district and charter school is required to submit to TDOE for approval. e
analysis focused on:
• the allocation of time devoted to teaching foundational literacy skills in grades K-2 and grades 3-5;
• types of remediation practices; and
• types of programs and materials used.
e review of district and charter school plans found that:
• All districts and charter schools meet the minimum standards for instructional time – at least 45
minutes in foundational skills instruction in grades K-2 and at least 30 minutes in grades 3-5. e
majority reported spending more than the minimum time in grades K-2, from 45 minutes to 120 or
more minutes, and many reported spending more than the minimum time in grades 3-5, from 30 to
120 minutes.
• Districts and charter schools use a variety of primary instructional materials. Two are used by nearly half
of the districts and charter schools across grades K-5: Amplify – K-5 Core Knowledge Language Arts and
Benchmark – K-5 Advance. e most common supplementary material used is the Tennessee Foundational
Skills Curriculum Supplement.
• All districts and charter schools have a documented process of increasing academic interventions to
students whose academic performance falls below a certain level. e state requires districts to use RTI
2
,
a process of increasingly intensive academic interventions for students whose academic performance falls
under a certain level. Overall, more than 70 dierent RTI
2
interventions were listed in the foundational
literacy skills plans submitted by districts and charter schools for grades K-5.
32.0%
17.6%
30.4%
36.0%
49.2%
40.6%
21.9%
31.0%
26.8%
10.1%
2.2%
2.2%
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Below Approaching Met Exceeded
23
Key points from EPP literacy instruction programs and practices
in literacy instruction study
e study is based on a survey of state-approved educator preparation providers (EPPs) that collected
information on each program’s practices, pedagogy (teaching methods), and programming related to
foundational literacy skills instruction.
EPPs provided survey responses about training programs in one or more of three areas:
• early childhood (preK-K and/or preK-3),
• elementary education (grades K-5), and
• special education.
Survey questions focused on:
• the number of courses and credit hours that EPP programs devoted to foundational skills and the
number that incorporate clinical experiences prior to student teaching or teaching internship; and
• how much time EPPs devote to classroom instruction and practical/clinical experience on individual
components of literacy development, as well as broader questions on reading instruction theory and
methods.
e survey found that the science of reading is a strong instructional principle within EPPs’ elementary
education instruction, although some faculty continued to support practices of whole language and balanced
literacy instruction.
e survey also included questions on whether and which faculty (by position) in each EPP program
participated in the TN Early Reading Training Courses 1 and 2 (spring and summer 2021). e survey found
that most EPPs required the training, but some did not. Most EPPs that participated rated the content as
highly eective or very eective. EPPs said the training either strengthened or validated their approaches to
preparing teachers to teach foundational skills.
Key points from EPP affordability study
e context for the study stems from the facts that:
• Tennessee is seeing an overall decline in enrollment in its EPPs, which may relate to aordability.
• Tennessee is in the bottom 10 states in terms of the ratio of public-school teacher wages to wages of
other college graduates.
Two surveys were conducted for the study: one of current, former, and prospective teachers and one of leaders of
Tennessee EPP programs. e study also conducted focus groups and interviews with current and former teachers.
Results from surveys, interviews, and focus groups with current, former, and prospective
teachers
More than two-thirds of the teacher survey respondents have student debt related to their EPP, according
to the teacher survey results. e average debt across all respondents is $36,728, with the second lowest
household income group ($40,000-60,000) incurring the second highest average debt ($40,266).
EPP program costs vary substantially. Some alternative teacher preparation programs oer no-cost options.
24
e most expensive institution charges more than $50,000 per year to attend its program. e average tuition
for a traditional bachelor’s program is $20,890, and the average cost for a master’s degree program is $12,830.
Based on both the teacher survey results and the EPP survey results, “the majority of teacher candidates
struggle to aord the cost of tuition, in addition to living expenses.”
18
e study found that the cost of attending an institution of higher education in Tennessee that oers an
education program is higher than in surrounding states. e average cost of tuition and fees in Tennessee is
$17,714 with other states’ costs ranging from $8,564 (Mississippi) to $17,253 (Virginia).
According to surveys, interviews, and focus groups conducted for the analysis, both current and prospective
teachers in Tennessee identify average annual teacher salary and benets as the primary disincentive to
becoming a teacher, followed by a program’s net tuition cost, lack of access to student loans and nancial aid,
and lack of student scholarships.
e study identied some nancial motivators that teachers said can help address some of the barriers,
including loan forgiveness programs, access to scholarships and grants, alternative licensure pathways with
free or minimal tuition, or job-embedded programs. e Grow Your Own model, where aspiring teachers
receive free job-embedded training, is one such example. Currently, there are 65 Grow Your Own programs in
Tennessee.
Results from EPP survey about program operating costs
EPPs reported that total costs to run their teacher preparation programs averaged $1,426,901 across the state,
serving a total of 8,890 students, with the greatest cost related to stang. Public programs are larger in sta
size and have bigger budgets than private or alternative programs. e average cost per teacher candidate
across the state is $5,278, with costs ranging by regions from $1,519 (the South Central region) to $11,182
(the First Tennessee region). However, some major public and private programs were not included in the cost
analysis due to insucient data reported.
e cost for Tennessee’s Grow Your Own programs, where aspiring teachers receive job-embedded training,
is signicantly lower, but further study is needed, the report indicates, to understand the true costs of such
programs.
TDOE solicited contracts through a competitive
process for several requirements of the LSA
e Literacy Success Act required TDOE to procure any goods or services needed to implement the act
through a competitive process, in compliance with state laws and rules, and to submit all contracts to the
General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee. TDOE used various procurement processes to implement the
portions of the act related to universal screeners, professional development for teachers, and three studies.
Although not technically part of the LSA, a provision in the same public chapter for a new reading instruction
exam was in the development process as of July 2022, and may involve some procurement. All contracts listed
reported solely federal funds to meet the contracted amounts.
25
Exhibit 10: TDOE contracts to implement the Literacy Success Act
* Note that TDOE developed through a second contract with TNTP another professional development course in literacy skills instruction targeted to teachers in
grades 5 -12.
Source: Comptroller of the Treasury.
e contracts with NCS Pearson and TNTP, Inc. were procured with the appropriate review and approvals
by the Department of General Services’ Central Procurement Oce (CPO) and by the Comptroller of the
Treasury. e interagency agreements with the University of Tennessee are agreements between state agencies
and not subject to CPO or Comptroller review. e contracts with Education First Consulting are considered
informal purchases, permitted by state law and rules. As such they are not reviewed by CPO prior to purchase
and do not meet statutory requirements that trigger a Comptroller review, but CPO does review the resulting
contracts. e General Assembly’s joint Fiscal Review Committee conrmed that all the completed contracts
listed in Exhibit 10 had been submitted to the committee as required by law.
LSA requirements
Contract details
(contracted party, begin and
end dates of contract, total
contracted amount)
Contract process
49-1-905(c)(3) – TDOE shall provide the
Tennessee universal reading screener at
no cost to districts or charter schools.
NCS Pearson, Inc.
7.21.21 – 6.30.24
$7,500,000
(@ $2,500,000 per year)
Sole source contract after
request for information to
four vendors (based on
their use by local districts)
resulted in only one vendor
conrming ability to meet all
state criteria.
49-1-906 – TDOE shall develop at
least one professional development
course on foundational literacy skills
instruction that is available at no cost to
teachers in grades K-5.*
TNTP, Inc.
3.12.21 – 3.11.24
$16,064,000
(original contract for two years @
$4,032,000 per year; amendment
added two more years @ $4 million
per year.)
Competitive contract
through a request for
proposal.
49-1-908(b)(1)(A) and (B) – TDOE must
conduct a landscape analysis of literacy
(K-12 students) and literacy instruction by
EPPs.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
1.20.22 – 8.31.22
$100,000
(separate contracts for K-12 and EPP
analyses @$50,000 each)
Interagency agreement
through a request for
application.
49-1-908(b)(1)(C) – TDOE, with the
Tennessee Higher Education Commission,
must conduct a joint analysis on the
aordability of EPPs.
Education First Consulting
11.17.21 – 3.31.22
$100,000
(separate contracts for quantitative and
qualitative portions @ $50,000 each)
Competitive contract
through a request for
application.
26
Existing statutory requirements incorporated
into the LSA
When Public Chapter 3 was signed into law after the 2021 1st Extraordinary Session, it designated Title 49,
Chapter 1, Part 9 of the Tennessee Code as the Tennessee Literacy Success Act. While most of Part 9 was
new or revised with the 2021 public chapter, two existing provisions in law remained unchanged and were
incorporated into the LSA.
Low reading scores to be addressed in school improvement plans
e rst, TCA 49-1-904, requires TDOE to identify schools with consistently low reading scores in
kindergarten through grade 12 and assure that steps to improve these scores are addressed in the schools’
improvement plans. TDOE continues to identify schools and districts with low reading scores through the
Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) data published on its website. e requirement for
districts and charter schools to submit their universal reading screener data to TDOE provides the department
with an additional measure of K-3 students’ literacy before students take a TCAP assessment.
P
Districts are required to submit district improvement plans for TDOE approval each year. Individual school
improvement plans are approved by district teams, although TDOE approves school plans for priority schools.
e annual district and school improvement plans are meant to drive instructional priorities and funding
decisions for all students. State guidelines for district and school plans state that, in addition to several priority
needs, all plans should address student learning improvements for all student groups as well as discipline, safe
and healthy school environments, technology in the classroom, family engagement, professional development
for teachers, and more.
School and district improvement plans are broad, covering academic achievement and growth, educator
placement and training, school environment, and other issues, to meet both federal and state requirements. It
is likely that the LSA provision requiring districts and schools to submit specic plans focused on K-5 literacy
instruction will be a more eective method for TDOE to monitor reading improvement methods undertaken
by schools with low reading scores than the comprehensive improvement plans.
e law’s requirement for districts and schools to submit literacy plans provides exibility based on
improvements in students’ reading scores. When districts and schools meet certain criteria reecting strong
improvement, they are exempt from submitting a literacy plan. Conversely, those with below expected student
improvement on certain criteria may be required by TDOE to submit literacy plans more often.
Early grades literacy reports
A requirement for annual reports to one or more of the General Assembly’s education committees was rst
added to the Tennessee Literacy Initiative Act in 2000.
19
e information to be included in such reports was
amended in 2001 and again in 2019, when it was revised to become the “early grades reading report.”
20
e
statutory requirement for the early grades reading reports remained part of the law when the 2021 Literacy
Success Act revamped much of the Tennessee law that deals with early grades literacy (TCA 49-1-901 et seq.).
Since 2019, the law has required the annual reports to include:
• statewide 3rd grade reading scores,
• testing procedures used to evaluate reading prociency,
• number of students retained in grades K-3,
P
TCAP is required for students beginning in 3rd grade. A majority of districts administer an optional 2nd grade TCAP.
27
• number of reading specialists in each LEA,
• types of reading intervention or enrichment programs oered in each LEA, and
• information on statewide reading initiatives.
It does not appear that TDOE has produced these annual early grades literacy reports. Some of the required
information is provided by TDOE in other locations and formats, such as 3rd grade reading TCAP scores, but
other information has not been reported annually, such as the number of students retained in K-3 or the types
of reading intervention or enrichment programs oered in each district. Some other state requirements have
been adopted that impact literacy and the types of information required in the early grades literacy reports
including:
• the 2021 passage of the Literacy Success Act and its requirements for districts to submit literacy skills
plans detailing their literacy curriculum and intervention eorts and its requirement for the state to
produce landscape analyses on the status of several elements of literacy instruction across the state,
• the 2014 implementation of the RTI
2
framework for students who are struggling in reading or math, and
• the revisions to the 3rd grade retention law requiring consideration of TCAP reading scores becoming
eective in 2022-23.
Conclusions and Policy Options
1. In summary, TDOE and local districts and charter schools are implementing the major directives
of the Literacy Success Act. A few items remain in progress. A small sample of districts and charter
schools contacted by OREA suggested some improvements, but they were generally positive about
implementation of the LSA’s requirements.
Implementation through August 2022
• TDOE has provided a free universal reading screener to districts and schools, and student results on
those screeners have been reported to TDOE.
• TDOE has developed training courses for teachers, and indications are that K-5 teachers are making
good progress in meeting the requirement to complete one literacy skills instruction course by the
2023 deadline.
• Although this was not a required submission year, 65 districts and public charters have submitted a
revised FLSP since their initial submissions in 2021.
• TDOE has developed, and the State Board of Education has approved, new EPP standards for
instruction of K-3 teacher candidates and instructional leader candidates.
• All three required reports have been published: analysis of preK-5 foundational literacy skills
achievement and instruction, analysis of EPP literacy instructional practices with teacher candidates, and
analysis of EPP aordability.
• All contracts and interagency agreements used to procure goods and services under the LSA were
submitted as required to the General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee. e contract for a state
universal reading screener was a sole source contract after a request for information from four vendors
resulted in only one that could meet state criteria. e contract for a foundational literacy instructional
training course was completed through a competitive process. Both contracts were procured with
appropriate CPO and Comptroller approvals.
28
Implementation steps continuing or remaining
• All active K-5 teachers must complete at least one foundational literacy skills course by August 2023.
TDOE does not currently have the data in a format to report the number or percent of active K-5
classroom teachers who have completed at least one course. ey expect the new Reading Research
Center will be able to provide this data after data cleaning, matching, and analysis.
• As of July 2022, TDOE was in the development process for a Tennessee reading instruction test that will
be provided at no cost to teacher and administrator candidates and EPPs.
• As of the fall 2022 semester, reading instruction at EPPs is required to have a primary focus on
foundational literacy skills, and courses and clinical experiences should be aligned with the state’s
foundational literacy standards.
• e LSA requirement for all districts and charter schools to use state-approved textbooks and
instructional materials will be assessed in a separate Comptroller review to be completed by May 2023.
Districts’ and charter schools’ reactions
OREA contacted a small sample of school districts and charter schools to collect local feedback on the rst
year of LSA implementation. Because it was not a representative sample of all districts and charters schools
in the state, the feedback collected should not be considered a comprehensive measure of local responses
to LSA, but does provide some local perspective on the law’s implementation.
• Districts reported that sta have been positive about the foundational literacy training, that training had
resulted in improved instruction, and/or that stipends have been an eective incentive for teachers to
complete the training. A majority of districts are members of the Reading 360 Early Literacy Network,
which, although not an element of the LSA, is closely related in its focus on teacher training for early
literacy instruction. Participating districts had positive feedback about the training supports and
resources provided by the network.
• When asked about improvements they would like to see, a few districts suggested earlier determinations
of required screener administration windows and earlier communication of those windows to districts.
Others suggested that it would be helpful if they could pull lists of teachers that had completed the
required foundational literacy training from the state’s COMPASS system so that they could more easily
ensure compliance with the law’s training requirement.
e remaining conclusions and related policy options address clarity about the use of universal reading
screeners for preK students, appropriate communications with parents about Tennessee’s new mandatory 3rd
grade retention law, and the lack of early grades reading reports compiled by TDOE.
2. Although the LSA primarily focuses district and charter school eorts on grades K-3, it does
require the Tennessee Universal Reading Screener (TURS) provided by TDOE to be appropriate
for students in preK as well as K-3. While the TDOE-provided screener (aimswebPlus) did have
a preK screener, it did not have national norms for the preK level, as required by State Board rules
for all state-approved screeners.
State Board rules do not require universal reading screeners to have preK versions; that is only required
by the LSA for the TURS. Only one district opted to use the TURS preK screener in 2021-22 and did
so with the knowledge of its limitations. PreK screener results are not required to be reported to the
department for purposes of student progress monitoring. It is not clear if the lack of preK national
norms, or the use of adapted kindergarten norms, for preK screener results impacts preK teachers’ usage
of the TURS. e lack of national norms does seem to raise more obstacles if a district or school chooses
29
to use the screener results to generate alternative growth measures for preK teacher evaluations. TDOE
has stated that two state-approved reading screeners – although not the TURS – do have national preK
norms for the preK level screeners for 2022-23.
e department should continue to work with its TURS vendor to advocate for development of
national norms for the preK version of its screener. e department, and others charged with review of
the implementation of the LSA (such as the Comptroller’s Oce), should monitor districts’ and charter
schools’ optional adoption of universal reading screeners at the preK level to determine levels of use for
student progress monitoring and for teacher evaluation alternative growth measures.
3. It does not appear that information about the revised 3rd grade retention law will be provided
automatically to parents of all K-3 students who are identied as having signicant reading
deciencies, as a 2021 state law requires. However, TDOE has issued guidance to districts and
charter schools on providing retention information to parents of 3rd grade students with reading
deciencies through home literacy reports, and additional parent information about retention is
being planned or is already underway at both state and local levels through multiple other avenues.
A 2021 amendment to the LSA added a requirement for the mandated home literacy reports to include
information about the revised 3rd grade retention law. Home literacy reports are required to be sent to
parents of K-3 students who are identied through universal reading screenings as having a signicant
reading deciency.
A sampling of districts contacted by OREA reported that they are planning to provide parents with
information about the revised 3rd grade retention law through multiple avenues, but not necessarily as a
standard component of the home literacy reports.
Sending information about the revised 3rd grade retention law as part of parent notication for every low
score on reading screeners (for example to parents of kindergarten and 1st grade students) may not be the
desired intent. A general reference to the retention law could be included in the information about the
importance of a student being able to read prociently by the end of 3rd grade, which is already required
as a part of home literacy reports.
e General Assembly may wish to clarify the statutory requirements for information on 3rd grade
retention to be included in home literacy reports for all K-3 students. As the law stands now, TDOE will
need to update its guidance on required home literacy report components before the next literacy skills
plans are due in 2024.
4. It does not appear that early grades reading reports have been prepared annually by TDOE and
submitted to House and Senate education committees as required since 2019.
e statutory requirement for the early grades reading reports remained part of the law when the 2021
Literacy Success Act revamped much of the Tennessee law that deals with early grades literacy (TCA 49-1-
901 et seq.). Since 2019, the law has required the annual reports to include:
• statewide 3rd grade reading scores,
• testing procedures used to evaluate reading prociency,
• number of students retained in grades K-3,
• number of reading specialists in each LEA,
30
• types of reading intervention or enrichment programs oered in each LEA, and
• information on statewide reading initiatives.
Some of this information is provided by TDOE in other locations and formats, such as 3rd grade reading
TCAP scores, but other information has not been reported, such as the number of students retained in
kindergarten through 3rd grade or the types of reading intervention or enrichment programs oered
in each district. Given the newer requirements under the LSA, and the passage of other requirements
impacting literacy, the General Assembly may have sucient information on early grades literacy eorts
across the state and may no longer need the type of report envisioned in the 2019 amendment. Additional
literacy-related actions include:
• the 2021 passage of the Literacy Success Act and its requirements for districts to submit literacy skills
plans detailing their literacy curriculum and intervention eorts and its requirement for the state to
produce landscape analyses on the status of several elements of literacy instruction across the state,
• the 2014 implementation of the RTI
2
framework for students who are struggling in reading or math, and
• the 3rd grade retention policy based on TCAP reading scores becoming eective in 2022-23.
e General Assembly may wish to either eliminate the early grades literacy report required in TCA 49-1-907
or clarify when it would like its education committees to receive such a report.
31
Appendix A: History of Literacy Initiatives
in Tennessee
1999 – e General Assembly enacted the Tennessee Literacy Initiative Act, stating that it was the policy of
the state, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), and the local school districts to “move toward the
goal of every public school student being able to read at an appropriate level before being promoted beyond
the third grade.”
21
e act required the Comptroller’s Oce, with the assistance of the Tennessee Department
of Education and the State Board of Education, to report on several aspects of the state’s literacy eorts.
2000 – e Comptroller’s Oce of Education Accountability (now known as OREA) published the literacy
study required by the 1999 law.
2000 – e General Assembly passed Public Chapter 911, which recognized a number of OREA’s study
ndings, including:
• “most Tennessee students were not successful in reading,”
• prominent sources had rated Tennessee’s language arts standards as “very low,” and
• “many Tennessee teachers may lack the expertise needed to assess or assist children with reading
diculties” and lack “sucient professional development opportunities to bring them ‘up to speed’
regarding the latest reading methodology research.”
Public Chapter 911 also initiated requirements for:
• TDOE to identify schools with consistently low reading scores and to ensure that improving reading
scores was addressed in schools’ improvement plans,
• State Board of Education (SBE) and Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) to review
teacher training requirements and revise them as necessary,
• Annual reports by TDOE, SBE, and THEC on implementing the act to be made to a legislative
education committee, and
• OREA to conduct a follow-up study on the status of literacy initiatives.
e law also suggested that SBE, THEC, the University of Tennessee System, and the State Board of Regents
(later reorganized as the Tennessee Board of Regents) consider developing a university research center on
reading for preschool through 12th grade teachers.
2001 – Further legislation in 2001 added requirements for specic data on early grades (K-3) reading
programs and assessments to be included in annual reports to designated legislative committees.
22
2011 – e General Assembly passed legislation requiring that 3rd graders not be promoted to the next grade
unless their reading skills and comprehension were demonstrated through grades or test results. Students
could be promoted if they participated in district interventions.
July 2014 – Tennessee required districts to begin using the Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI
2
)
as the framework to deliver instruction and interventions to address individual student needs.
23
RTI
2
is the
method used to determine whether students have specic learning disabilities.
Q
Q
Specic learning disability is one of 13 federally-dened disabilities set under the IDEA and covers conditions like dyslexia, dyscalculia, and written expression
disorder that aect a child’s ability to read, write, listen, speak, reason, or do math.
32
Required elements of RTI
2
include the administration of universal screeners in reading, writing, and math
for K-8 students three times per year, a tiered system of interventions, progress monitoring and parent
communication. In 2018-19, Tennessee added funding for an RTI
2
component to the Basic Education
Program (BEP), the state’s school funding formula.
February 2016 – TDOE launched the Read to be Ready Initiative, which focused on reading development
in early grades through funding for literacy coaches, summer reading camps, new state guidance and literacy
instructional materials, and new standards and training for educator preparation programs. In 2016, the goal
was set to have 75 percent of 3rd graders meeting grade level reading by 2025.
24
is was an ambitious goal: in
2016-17, 34.7 percent of students in grade 3 were meeting grade-level reading expectations.
2016 – e Tennessee Early Literacy Network (TELN), another component of the Read to be Ready
initiative, was initiated, eventually comprising 22 districts. A joint eort between TDOE and the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and led by TDOE’s regional oces, the focus of TELN was
to improve early reading outcomes as well as build districts’ capacity to solve problems and continuously
improve.
2016 – e LIFT Network (Leading Innovation for Tennessee Education), a group of 12 to 14 district
superintendents committed to exploring innovative approaches to issues such as early literacy, began working
with TNTP (previously called e New Teacher Project) and SCORE, to help their districts select high-quality
instructional materials and provide teachers sustained support to strengthen early grade literacy instruction.
January 2021 – e state launched Reading 360, its $100 million initiative that emphasizes a comprehensive,
phonics-based approach to help students read on grade level by 3rd grade. Reading 360 provides free and
optional district supports such as teacher literacy training (including stipends and classroom materials for
teachers) and instructional resources and free reading resources for families to use at home.
2021 – e Reading 360 Early Literacy Network (distinct from the earlier TELN) was launched with about
75 districts. Participating districts received grants of $80,000 to $100,000 to reimburse costs of working one-
on-one with implementation support providers. Participating districts as of September 2022 totaled 95 and
include the state’s two largest districts (Memphis-Shelby County Schools and Metro Nashville Public Schools)
as well as some of the smaller (Athens City, Bradford Special, and Sweetwater City schools).
February 2021 – e Tennessee Literacy Success Act was passed by the General Assembly, along with several
other education bills, during the 1st Extraordinary Session of 2021. Key provisions in the act require districts
and charter schools to provide foundational, phonics-based literacy instruction in grades K-3, use state-
approved instructional materials, screen students regularly to identify needed interventions, and to submit
literacy instruction plans to TDOE. Teachers are required to complete training in foundational literacy skills
instruction and education preparation providers are required to align classroom and clinical training for
teacher candidates with foundational literacy standards.
2022 – e new Tennessee Reading Research Center was established jointly by TDOE and the University
of Tennessee and hired its rst director. e center, part of the Reading 360 initiative, will analyze data from
classrooms, colleges, and communities to determine how the state’s Reading 360 supports and grants are
improving student literacy rates. e center will also analyze the implementation of the Literacy Success Act.
33
Appendix B: Tennessee Universal Reading
Screener overview
Typically, universal reading screeners are combinations of various small subtests that focus on a particular skill
or set of skills. e combinations change with students’ grade levels and the school year season (fall, winter, or
spring).
e table below shows the dierent subtests used in the Tennessee Universal Reading Screener (aimswebPlus).
TDOE has set both a minimum set of subtests required (shown in red) and a comprehensive set of
subtests that include both the red and gray shaded elements. TDOE has prescribed similar combinations
of subtests, both minimum and comprehensive, for the other State Board-approved screeners. While both
the minimum and comprehensive screeners meet Tennessee requirements for basic dyslexia screening,
only the comprehensive screener meets requirements for additional dyslexia screening for at-risk students.
Districts using the minimum universal reading screener may use other tools for assessing additional dyslexia
characteristics in at-risk students.
Exhibit B-1: Tennessee Universal Reading Screener schedule of minimum and
comprehensive subtests, by grade level
Source: Tennessee Department of Education.
e minimum screener requirements include no more than three subtests per screener. e longest subtest
(reading comprehension) is not administered until students reach 2nd grade. e minimum screening time
for kindergarten students is about ve minutes, for 1st grade students is about six minutes, and for 2nd and
3rd grade students ranges from about 21-34 minutes. Some subtests, especially those for younger students, are
given to children one at a time. Others can be administered to small groups of four to ve students.
Kindergarten First Second Third
Subtest
Fall Winter Spring Fall Winter Spring Fall Winter Spring Fall Winter Spring
Initial sounds
(2-3 min)
Letter naming uency
(1 min)
Letter word sound
uency (1 min.)
Phoneme
segmentation
(2-3 min.)
Nonsense word
uency (1 min.)
Oral reading uency
(2 min.)
Reading
comprehension
(15-25 min.)
Vocabulary (4-7 min)
Comp. - spelling
Comp. - listening
comprehension
Minimum screener subtests Comprehensive screener additional subtests
34
Some examples of screener items from the TURS are shown below.
R
Kindergarten: letter word sounds uency
Kindergarten: auditory vocabulary
1st: word reading uency
2nd grade: oral reading uency
R
All examples are copyrighted by NCS Pearson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission of TDOE.
35
Appendix C: Early Literacy Network School Districts
As of September 15, 2022
Source: Tennessee Department of Education.
Achievement School District Hamilton County Murfreesboro City
Athens City Hancock County Overton County
Bedford County Hardeman County Schools Paris Special
Benton County Hawkins County Pickett County
Bledsoe County Haywood County Polk County
Bradford Special Henry County Putnam County
Bradley County Hickman County Roane County
Bristol City Houston County Robertson County
Campbell County Humboldt City Rogersville City
Cannon County Humphreys County Scott County
Cheatham County Jackson County Sevier County
Chester County Jeerson County Shelby County (MSCS)
Clay County Johnson County Smith County
Cocke County Lake County Stewart County
Coee County Lauderdale County Sullivan County
Collierville City Lawrence County Sumner County
Cumberland County Lebanon Special Sweetwater City
Davidson County (MNPS) Lenoir City Tennessee School for the Blind
Decatur County Lincoln County Tipton County
DeKalb County Loudon County Trenton Special
Dickson County Macon County Trousdale County
Dyer County Madison County (JMCS) Tullahoma City
Dyersburg City Manchester City Unicoi County
Elizabethton City Marion County Union City
Etowah City Marshall County Union County
Fayette County Maury County Van Buren County
Fayetteville City McMinn County Warren County
Franklin County McNairy County Washington County
Gibson County Special Milan Special Wayne County
Grainger County Millington Municipal White County
Grundy County Monroe County Wilson County
Hamblen County Montgomery County (CMCSS)
36
Endnotes
1
Public Chapter 3, 2021 1st Extraordinary Session. e law has been
incorporated into Tennessee Code Annotated at 49-1-901 through 49-1-909, and
at 49-5-5619 and 49-1-302(d)(2)(B).
2
Public Chapter 717, 2022.
3
Tennessee Department of Education, Response to Instruction and Intervention
Framework, revised November 2020, https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/
education/documents/rti2_manual_revisedNov2020%20(1).pdf.
4
Tennessee Department of Education, Universal Reading Screener, 2021-2022
EOY Data Report, July 6, 2022.
5
State Board of Education Rule 0520-01-03-.15.
6
Tennessee Department of Education, TN Universal Reading Screener
Administration Guidelines, Sept. 2021, p. 3, https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/
tn/education/2020-21-leg-session/TURS%20Admin%20Considerations%20
Final.pdf.
7
State Board of Education Rule 0520-01-03-.15(5).
8
Tennessee Department of Education, “TN Universal Reading Screener:
Frequently Asked Questions,” July 21, 2021, https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/
tn/education/2020-21-leg-session/TURS_FAQ.pdf.
9
Tennessee Code Annotated 49-1-905(d).
10
Public Chapter 367, 2021.
11
Tennessee Department of Education, Response to Instruction and Intervention
Framework, revised November 2020, https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/
education/documents/rti2_manual_revisedNov2020%20(1).pdf.
12
Tennessee Department of Education contract with TNTP, Inc., March 12,
2021.
13
Tennessee Department of Education contract amendment with TNTP, Inc.,
Jan. 10, 2022.
14
Tennessee Department of Education contract with TNTP, Inc., April 1, 2022.
15
Tennessee Code Annotated 49-1-905(f).
16
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, A Landscape Analysis of Tennessee Educator
Preparation Providers’ Instructional Programming and Pedagogical Practices in
Foundational Literacy Skills, April 14, 2022.
17
Tennessee Department of Education, “EPP Signed Assurance - Literacy
Standards: Guidance for EPPs,” [no date].
18
Tennessee Department of Education, Education Preparation Provider
Aordability Report, March 2022, p. 11.
19
Public Chapter 911, 2000.
20
Public Chapter 248, 2019.
21
Public Chapter 130, 1999.
22
Public Chapter 250, 2001.
23
State Board of Education Rule 0520-01-03-.03(7).
24
Tennessee Department of Education, First Steps: A Report on Elementary Grades
Reading in Tennessee, April 2018, https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/
reports/rpt_rst_steps_reading_report.pdf.
37
Oce of Research and Education Accountability Sta
Director
♦ Russell Moore
Assistant Director
♦ Linda Wesson
Principal Legislative Research Analysts
♦ Kim Potts
Lauren Spires
Associate Legislative Research Analysts
♦ Carley Bowers
♦ Erin Brown
Lance Iverson
♦ Robert Quittmeyer
♦ Dana Spoonmore
Cassie Stinson
♦ Jaymi ibault
Publication Specialist
♦ Paige Donaldson
Program Coordinator
Caitlin Kaufman
♦ Indicates sta who assisted with this project
Oce of Research and Education Accountability
Russell Moore | Director
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Nashville, Tennessee 37243
615.401.7866
www.comptroller.tn.gov/OREA/
