More than half of its school districts signed on last year when Tennessee created a network of literacy coaches to help classroom teachers improve their students’ reading.
Now entering the program’s second year, another 16 districts are joining up. That means two-thirds of Tennessee districts will have instructional supports in place aimed at addressing the state’s lackluster reading levels.
Tennessee has a reading problem. Less than half of its students in grades 3-8 were considered proficient in 2015, the last year for which test scores are available. In Memphis, the numbers are even more stunning. Less than a third of Shelby County Schools’ third-graders are reading on grade level.
The state wants to get 75 percent of third-graders proficient by 2025. (New scores coming out this fall will help track progress.)
The coaching network is a major component of Tennessee’s Read to be Ready drive, launched in 2016 by Gov. Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Candice McQueen. The focus is helping teachers improve literacy instruction for the state’s youngest students.
So far, some 200 coaches have worked directly with more than 3,000 teachers in 83 districts, including all four urban districts. This fall, 99 out of the state’s 146 school systems will participate.
About 92 percent of classroom teachers report that coaching is improving their teaching, even as many coaches say they are stretched too thin, according to a state report released Wednesday. Inadequate planning time for teachers is another barrier to success, the report notes.
To join the coaching network, districts must commit to funding a reading coach who will support about 15 teachers. New districts signing up this year are:
- Scott County Schools
- Smith County School System
- Pickett County Schools
- Jackson County Schools
- Macon County Schools
- Clay County Schools
- Sumner County Schools
- Dyer County Schools
- Wayne County Schools
- Bedford County Schools
- Benton County Schools
- Alamo City School
- Polk County Schools
- Kingsport City Schools
- Oak Ridge Schools
- Dayton City School
A complete list of participating districts can be found here.