Synopsis of the April 9th TN State Board of Education Meeting
The Tennessee State Board of Education met on 4/09/20 to discuss emergency and permanent rules in light of the COVID-19 public health emergency. All items discussed on their agenda were approved. They will now be sent to the Attorney General for approval and filed with the Secretary of State’s office. The rules will go into effect immediately upon filing and remain in effect for 180 days.
Highlights from today’s conference call meeting are as follows:
Students:
-The required credits for Seniors to graduate will be changed from 22 to 20.
-A Senior’s spring semester grade can be no lower than the grade they had earned as of March 20th. Opportunities to improve grades and Credit Recovery can be offered remotely.
-Seniors receiving the occupational diploma may receive that diploma if they can demonstrate work experience of at least 1 year.
-Juniors will not be required to take the ACT or SAT.
-TCAP tests are not required. This includes TNReady assessments, EL assessments, alternate TCAP assessments, portfolios, and EOC exams. (note: Local districts are allowed to give TCAP tests, if they choose. Dr. Battle has applied for a waiver and MNPS will not be administering these tests.)
-Dual enrollment credits will be determined by the post-secondary institution.
-The State Department of Education is working on guidance for CTE programs.
-The requirement to sit for a culminating exam to receive a 1.5 weighted grade for Advanced Academics, IB, Cambridge, Dual Enrollment, etc. classes has been waived. This is only for students enrolled in these classes in spring of 2020.
Educators:
- PD that couldn’t be completed prior to the shutdown is waived.
-An LOE will not be calculate for teachers for the 2019-2020 school year.
-Any observation that has not been completed as part of the TEAM evaluation will not be done.
-There will be no adverse actions for teachers, students or schools based on student achievement data, including portfolios.
-Scores from observations already entered into TN Compass can be used by districts to inform staffing decisions.
-The number of observations for SY2020-2021 will be based on the LOE from SY 2018-2019.
Exceptional Education:
-The timeline for initial IEPs can be extended to equal the number of days to equal the stay at home recommendation/order and local districts can apply for an additional 30 days after the order is lifted.
-If an IEP states the student will take a TCAP assessment during the 2019-2020 school year, that is waived.
Licensure:
-Teachers obtaining initial licensure will be granted a provisional license and allowed 1 year to complete the Praxis. After passing the Praxis, they will be issued a practitioner license.
-Any educator license set to expire August 31, 2020 will be extended to August 31, 2021.
-The process for transferring an out-of-state license is being streamlined. This will be a permanent change going forward and not be for only the 180-day emergency time period.
-Aspiring Educators completing their education prep program this spring can still be recommended for licensure by that program.
-Districts can request a waiver for tenure and licensure advancement and base it on the prior 2-years of data (more information to come from TN DOE).
EL:
-The state is working on guidance for exiting and transitioning EL students. This should be available to districts by May 1st.
Ending comments by SBOE members:
-Thanks to teachers and staff for taking care of our students.
-Thanks to teachers who have transitioned to online learning.
-Teachers have cared for students and checked on kids while educating students.
-Teachers have demonstrated a great amount of creativity.
-We can’t thank educators who are in the field enough.
-The general public will have more of an appreciation of teachers and what they do after this.
-We were moved by superintendents who are dedicated to feeding students.
-Teachers are heroes.
#WeIsGreaterThanMe #UnionStrong #MNEA #NashvilleRed4Ed #NashvilleTeachers #StayHome #StaySafe