Tennessee’s future depends on the steps we take today to foster the education and well-being of our next generation. Children need a strong early foundation, provided by quality learning experiences in their earliest years of life, to succeed in K-12 education. When students succeed in school they are more likely to lead productive lives that contribute to the vitality and prosperity of their communities. That is why Tennesseans for Quality Early Education’s advocacy and mission is focused on improving education outcomes by ensuring a strong early foundation for every Tennessean.

Tennessee has pioneered bold education reform efforts in the last decade, including raising the rigor in academic standards, implementing multi-measure teacher evaluations to improve instruction, and increasing pathways to post-secondary opportunities.1 These and other reform efforts have resulted in impressive gains for Tennessee students. Since 2011, Tennessee has been the fastest improving state in the nation for fourth and eighth grade reading and math based on the Nation’s Report Card.2 In 2015, Tennessee became the fastest improving state in the nation for science as well.3 Since then, Tennessee has seen high school graduation rates rise to a record high of 89.1% in 2016-17,4 and ACT composite scores rise to 20.1 during the same year.5

Building Blocks for a Thriving Tennessee:A blueprint to strengthen the quality of children’s early learning experiences from birth through third grade

UPDATE 1-6-18

The evidence shows Tennessee is capable of achieving great outcomes. Despite these accomplishments, however, Tennessee faces persistent education challenges, including multiple years of stagnant to declining literacy outcomes in third grade. Between 2013 and 2015, reading scores declined from 48.8% to 43% proficient, falling far short of Tennessee’s goal to ensure at least 75% of third grade students are proficient in reading.6 More recent statewide 2016-17 TNReady results for grades 3-5, which more accurately reflect new academic standards, reveal that only 34% of students in grades 3-5 meet the level of on track (proficient) or at mastery (advanced) in English Language Arts (ELA). In math, the results are only slightly better, with only 40% of students in grades 3-5 scoring on track or at mastery.7 Put another way, two-thirds of Tennessee students in grades 3-5 are not reading on grade level, and the majority of students in grades 3-5 are not meeting grade-level expectations for math.

This is especially troubling because third grade is a critical benchmark for long-term success in school. If children can’t read proficiently by third grade, they struggle to catch up academically and are four times more likely to drop out of high school.8

Low third grade proficiency scores are an indication that the quality of children’s learning experiences leading up to 3rd grade require significant improvements. To date, education reform efforts have predominantly focused on grades 3-12. If we seek to significantly increase outcomes in third grade and beyond, we must reorient our approach and focus on improving children’s early learning experiences from birth through third grade, as these years create the foundation for future success in school, and in life. A strong early foundation includes healthy growth and development beginning at birth, and high-quality teaching beginning at the entry point of childcare, preschool and/or kindergarten and continuing through elementary school. Every year matters, and the first years matter most. A strong early foundation creates a path for success. A weak early foundation results in struggle that is difficult and expensive to fix.

Tennesseans for Quality Early Education embraces the state’s goal to ensure that by 2025, at least 75% of Tennessee’s third graders will score ‘on track’ or ‘at mastery’ in reading on the new TNReady assessment.9 Further, we believe a similarly ambitious goal is necessary for math outcomes in third grade. To achieve these academic goals, Tennessee must set a bold course for improving the birth to third grade learning continuum as the next stage of Tennessee’s educational transformation.

Guiding Principles for Quality Early EducationTennessee’s policymakers must make sound decisions about how to invest public resources, focusing on our state’s current and future prosperity. This executive summary and corresponding paper were created as a blueprint to guide policymakers’ decisions regarding how to best ensure Tennessee’s children have the strong early foundation necessary for academic achievement in K-12, resulting in a successful future for our children, and our state.

This blueprint begins with a set of guiding principles for quality early education. Policymakers, early education professionals, and parents will be most effective at developing and ensuring a strong early foundation for children when they understand and employ the following principles for optimal early learning:

1. Children’s skills and capabilities—social, emotional, cognitive, and physical—develop in tandem and support each other in dynamic, interrelated ways. Quality early education facilitates the healthy growth and development of these threads simultaneously, like weaving a rope that is strong and flexible. When one thread is weak, the entire rope is weak. This is especially true for the earliest years of life when children’s brains are in a rapid phase of construction.10

2. Children’s brains grow and develop in sequential stages, similar to a phased construction project: the early stages provide the foundation for later learning. A weak foundation compromises later stages, and repairs are more difficult and costly than getting it right from the beginning.11 During critical periods of early development, learning experiences must be appropriately designed to fit children’s particular age and stage of brain development.12

3. Children learn through interactions. The quality of children’s interactions with peers and adults shapes their self-confidence, motivation to learn, capacity to develop and sustain friendships, and ability to control impulses, resolve conflicts, and realize their academic potential.13 Of utmost importance are “serve and return” interactions between children and adults.14 Similar to a game of tennis, serve and return interactions occur when the child attempts to communicate with the adult through sounds, gestures, movement, and words (the serve), and the adult responds with appropriate communication responding to the child (the return) in a way that builds an emotional bond and stimulates the child’s curiosity and engagement.15 This is why multiple turn-taking conversations with adults and peers are an essential component of young children’s brain development and learning.

4. Children learn through intentionally designed play-based experiences that build the knowledge and skills needed for increasingly complex academic content.16 Play is the primary work of the young child because it is the method by which children learn to problem solve, acquire knowledge, work collaboratively with peers, and stimulate their intellectual development.17 Play-based experiences, focused on inquiry and problem-solving and intentionally designed by expert practitioners, build the knowledge, skills, and competencies children require for later academic learning and achievement.18

5. Children’s relationships with their parents and families is of paramount importance to their healthy growth and development, as well as their ability to thrive in school. Positive, nurturing relationships protect and expand children’s brain development, while frequent and reoccurring negative stress diminishes their brain development. This is especially true of prolonged periods of stress caused by adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. If children experience extreme, frequent, or prolonged adversity, such as domestic violence, abuse, neglect, mental illness, exposure to violence, or caregiver substance abuse, they are at a much higher risk of disruption to developing brain architecture.19 These impairments often lead to long-term problems such as lowered rates of achievement in school, chronic illness, depression, and addictive behaviors.20

Policy PrioritiesThe early stages of development in a child’s life provide a critical foundation for later learning and academic success. A weak foundation leads to expensive remediation in later years. A strong foundation creates a path for success, resulting in stronger and better outcomes for students, families, and communities. When children succeed, Tennessee thrives. To that end, Tennesseans for Quality Early Education offers the following four areas of policy priority.

I. Empower Parents

Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. To be most effective at helping children grow and learn parents should actively engage with their children, and with the programs and schools their children attend. Beginning at birth, parent engagement to support early learning and literacy at home is accomplished by parents having frequent conversations with children, asking and answering children’s questions, reading to children, singing songs, and participating in shared experiences. Parent engagement that supports early learning and literacy once children are in school requires a partnership between parents and teachers focused on accelerating children’s learning. Teacher-parent partnerships are most effective when parent participation is encouraged by teachers and school leaders; when parents and teachers are provided with multiple forms of data demonstrating children’s progress, growth, and challenges; and when specific tools and resources are provided to parents, with actionable items parents can do at home to deepen children’s learning.21

Unfortunately, many families with young children in Tennessee face significant barriers to positive engagement that promotes learning whether due to poverty, toxic stress created by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), or due to their child’s special health and learning needs. These conditions can create disadvantages for children that result in early achievement gaps, with disadvantaged children falling behind their more advantaged peers in vocabulary, skills, and knowledge during the peak years of brain development.22 Multiple factors contribute to early achievement gaps including families having fewer resources for nutritious food, lack of access to health care and/or early intervention professionals, and substandard housing. As well, parents living in poverty, experiencing toxic stress, or facing acute health and disability issues with their children may not have the knowledge, tools, resources, or professional supports needed to create positive learning experiences necessary for optimal brain growth.23 Research has repeatedly shown that children from economically disadvantaged families are exposed to fewer words, and the words they are exposed to tend to be more discouraging and negative than the ones heard by their more advantaged peers. 24 Recent studies suggest that less than half of poor children are ready for school by age 5, compared to 75% of children from families with moderate to high income, resulting in a 27% percentage point school readiness gap.23 This is an especially urgent issue In Tennessee, where almost 1/3 of children ages 0-5 live at or below the federal poverty level.25

The good news is, quality early childhood education combined with meaningful parent engagement can redirect a disadvantaged child’s trajectory toward success. Furthermore, high quality early childhood interventions that empower and support parents are significantly more cost effective than later interventions, with proven returns of some programs being as high as $9 for every $1 invested.26

Toward this end, we recommend Tennessee:

� Develop and replicate programs and practices that strengthen the quality of parents’ engagement in their child’s learning at home, and at school.

� Expand evidenced-based prevention and early intervention programs for disadvantaged children and their families that successfully address barriers to later success in school and life.

II. Improve Teaching and Learning in the Early Grades

In 2015, Tennessee received results from a Vanderbilt University Peabody Research Institute study of the state’s Voluntary Pre-K Program (VPK). The study revealed that students who participated in Tennessee’s VPK program demonstrated significant gains in kindergarten readiness versus their non-participating peers. The study also revealed inconsistency in the quality of environments, instruction, and outcomes across VPK classrooms, indicating a need to define and improve VPK program quality.27 A sub-study of VPK classrooms representative of the state revealed that across classrooms, too much time was spent in activities with little to no student learning, such as transitions, and too little time was spent in student-centered, high-quality learning activities such as play-based experiences in learning centers, where students actively engage with materials and converse about their learning with teachers and peers. The measures where VPK students demonstrated the greatest gains were predominantly skill-based, such as the ability to match letters with corresponding sounds. Measures that reflect deeper knowledge-based competencies, such as oral language development, were not as pronounced, indicating a need to accelerate and deepen children’s knowledge-based competencies through more developmentally-appropriate and rigorous learning activities.28

The study followed both groups of children through school and found that early academic gains experienced by students who attended the VPK program were not sustained beyond kindergarten. Student engagement in school also declined as VPK students progressed beyond kindergarten. Both results indicate an urgent need to improve instructional quality from kindergarten through third grade. 27

The Tennessee Department of Education has since collected data to examine teaching practices in elementary classrooms in Tennessee, with a particular focus on early literacy. These studies have identified specific instructional practices in need of improvement including: 1) building students’ knowledge-based competencies, such as vocabulary expansion and reading comprehension; 2) creating authentic reading and writing opportunities for students, as well as opportunities to practice newly acquired reading foundational skills; and 3) increasing and enhancing the complexity and rigor in classroom texts, lessons, activities, and assignments with a focus on building vocabulary and knowledge.29, 30

This evidence, combined with the fact that two-thirds of Tennessee students in grades 3-5 are not reading on grade level, and sixty percent of Tennessee’s students are not performing on grade level for math, points to the need for stronger instruction pre-k through third grade, in every year and in every classroom. Further, student performance data consistently reveal that historically underserved subgroups perform at substantially lower rates than their peers in reading and math in third through fifth grade, with proficiency in the low teens to low twenties.7 Students who fall behind in the early years rarely catch up in later grades.29 Taken together, the evidence highlights an urgent need for more rigorous and developmentally-appropriate curriculum, teaching, and learning in every year leading to third grade. The evidence also reinforces the need for higher quality pre-k programs targeted to children at risk for starting school behind their peers.

To these ends, we recommend that Tennessee:

� Expand the use of high quality early childhood curriculum in pre-k through third grade, aligned to Tennessee’s newly revised academic standards;

� Strengthen teacher training and professional development to ensure Pre-K through 3rd grade teachers have content knowledge, coupled with the knowledge and skills to effectively teach young children;

� Build leader knowledge of high quality early childhood instructional standards, and support leaders in their ability to translate that knowledge to assess and support effective early grades teaching practices;

� Build on the momentum created by the 2016 Pre-K Quality Act and double down on pre-k quality improvement efforts.

III Improve Childcare Quality and Accessibility

High-quality childcare can play a significant role in children’s learning and skills development, building a strong foundation for a lifetime of positive outcomes. Regrettably, Tennessee’s public investment in child care does not support the program quality needed to maximize young children’s potential to learn and grow. Childcare quality is most typically measured by Tennessee’s Child Care Report Card Program, which includes a rating system for licensing childcare programs, and the Star-Quality Child Care Program, a voluntary program that gives programs a star rating, and a tiered reimbursement system, based primarily on basic standards for care.31 While the current rating systems do evaluate childcare teachers’ job qualifications and requirements for professional development, neither system includes ambitious standards and resources for the continuous improvement of teaching and care for young children.32 The quality and availability of professional development resources for child care staff vary widely, without consistent standards for quality targeted to learning goals for children.

In addition to child care quality concerns, accessibility is a pressing issue for Tennessee families. Economic stability and mobility depends on the ability to work, and many parents find themselves faced with limited options related to quality, affordable childcare, leaving them to make difficult decisions regarding substandard care or no care at all.33 For impoverished and middle-income families alike, quality options are severely limited, even with the assistance of state certificates (“vouchers”) or other forms of subsidized payment structures.34 Tennessee has made positive strides toward expanded accessibility with the 2016 launch of Smart Steps, which provides child care assistance to families not receiving or transitioning from the existing voucher program.35 While this change does expand eligibility for child care subsidies, it is unclear how many families will benefit since the eligibility requirements are restrictive and funding is limited.

Taken together, these issues point to a need to improve the quality of child care programs in Tennessee, while also increasing access for more families, particularly those in need, to quality programs.

Specifically, Tennessee should:

� Revise the current child care quality rating system to include emphasis on the continuous improvement of program and teaching quality, aligned to Tennessee’s Early Learning Developmental Standards, which outline what children should know and be able to demonstrate at each stage of development, from infancy through age 5;

� Expand training and quality professional development options for childcare providers to ensure teachers have the knowledge and skills needed to effectively teach young children;

� Examine current eligibility requirements and structure new options to expand Tennessee families’ access to high quality childcare, enabling more parents to work and more children to become kindergarten ready.

IV Strengthen Early Learning Accountability and Continuous Improvement Systems

Continuous improvement is the essential driver for success. Continuous improvement systems start with the collection of data directly aligned to program and outcome goals, and then use that data to guide improvement efforts and assess progress. While Tennessee has made progress establishing strong accountability and continuous improvement systems in grades 3 through 12, there is limited statewide data with which to understand the state of early childhood education and to guide program improvements prior to third grade.1

Most early intervention programs collect and assess program-specific and child outcome data based on predetermined requirements, typically mandated by federal and state agencies, but the data collected from multiple statewide programs is not aggregated to provide a complete picture of early intervention services for children and families in Tennessee.36 Policymakers with the responsibility for effectively and efficiently allocating state resources need to have relevant and current contextual information that informs them about the most important issues facing children and families, as well as aggregated program data tracking outcomes. Useful information would include a comprehensive mapping of early childhood programs across the state, including the scope of services offered, where gaps in coverage exist, and whether state-funded programs are meeting predetermined goals.

As children enter kindergarten, it is important to monitor their growth, development, and learning every year they are in school. Other than the Vanderbilt study, which assessed VPK classrooms in 2009-10, there is currently no statewide data regarding the efficacy of the state’s pre-k programs. Tennessee has made great strides to improve the quality of existing programs through the establishment of the Pre-K Quality Act of 2016,37 and subsequent statewide implementation in 2017-18. The next urgent step for Tennessee is to ensure state policymakers have access to data to assess what is working to improve child outcomes and what is not. This data would not only provide the means for continuous improvement in pre-k instruction and programming, but would also serve an important accountability function regarding program effectiveness. The state’s pre-k program is an essential component to achieving ambitious goals for third grade academic outcomes and as such, it requires continuous improvement investment to ensure the program’s success.

Other than third grade TNReady scores and a new second grade optional year-end assessment, there is currently no statewide data that informs stakeholders and policymakers about how children are progressing in kindergarten and first grades. The new student growth portfolio model is a significant step in the right direction to improve instruction in the early grades. The new model provides a growth measure for teachers’ evaluations aligned to their practice, as well as a means for teachers to continuously monitor students’ learning. The model does not, however, provide policymakers and stakeholders with outcome data that can be used to assess overall student progress aligned to grade-level standards.38

To achieve Tennessee’s ambitious goals for third grade outcomes, it is important for the state to build a system of checkpoints to monitor and improve early childhood development, instructional practices, and program quality, and tie those checkpoints to improvement efforts where public investments are being made in early education.

To that end, Tennessee should:

� Aggregate and analyze data from state-funded prevention and early intervention programs serving families of children birth to age 5 to effectively target early intervention resources;

� Collect and use program and child outcome data to evaluate the quality of state-funded pre-k programs and quality improvement strategies;

� Use instructional and program quality data, as well as student growth and achievement data, to assess and improve the quality of instruction every year, from kindergarten through third grade.

ConclusionOur state’s future social and economic prosperity depend on the investments we make now in our future workforce and citizenry. Tennessee must act with urgent, collective will and clear focus to ensure a strong early foundation for all its children. Too many of Tennessee’s children are born at risk for lower student achievement in school due to conditions related to poverty, toxic stress, special needs, language barriers, and other factors that may prevent them, their families, and their schools from building a strong foundation for academic learning. That is why Tennessee must double down on improving the quality of early childhood education programs, expanding families’ access to high quality early childhood programs, and improving the quality of teaching in child care settings and elementary schools. Establishing a strong early learning foundation for every child in Tennessee, from birth, will yield significantly improved third grade academic outcomes, which are essential for students’ future academic success and a thriving Tennessee.

End Notes

1 Tennessee Department of Education. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/education/article/commissioner: Presentations by Topic: Tennessee Succeeds: “co_Tennessee_Succeeds.ppt.”

2 The Nation’s Report Card: State Profiles: Tennessee. Retrieved from https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/TN and Tennessee Department of Education: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/education/topic/naep.

3 Office of the Governor. (2017). News: Tennessee Students the Fastest Improving in the Nation in Science. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/tennessee-students-the-fastest-improving-in-the-nation-in-science:

4 Tennessee Department of Education: Newsroom: Tennessee High School Graduation Rate Reaches Highest Rate on Record, Thursday, September 14, 2017 | 8:13am. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/education/news/53252.

5 Tennessee Department of Education: Newsroom: Tennessee Public School Students Set New Record with ACT Average Score of 20.1, Tuesday, October 10, 2017 I 9:00 am. Retrieved from http://www.tennessee.gov/education/news/53744.

6 Tennessee Department of Education. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/education/topic/data-downloads: State Assessments: Base and Aggregate Accountability Files Updated 12/13/16: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010.

7 Tennessee Department of Education: Assessment: TN Ready. Retrieved from http://www.tn.gov/education/topic/tnready and “data_state_results_3-8_2017.xlxs.”

8 Hernandez, D. J. (2012). Double Jeopardy: How Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation. The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

9 State of Tennessee: Read to be Ready. Retrieved from http://www.tn.gov/readtobeready.

10 Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2016). From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families. Retrieved from http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu.

11 Center on the Developing Child (2012). Brain Architecture (In Brief). Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/.

12 National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2007). The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape Brain Architecture: Working Paper #5. Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/the-timing-and-quality-of-early-experiences-combine-to-shape-brain-architecture/.

13 National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2015). Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strengthen the Foundations of Resilience: Working Paper 13. Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/supportive-relationships-and-active-skill-building-strengthen-the-foundations-of-resilience/.

14 Center on the Developing Child (2012). Serve and Return (Key Concepts). Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/.

15 Center on the Developing Child (2016). 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return. Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND). Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/5-steps-for-brain-building-serve-and-return/.

16 Roskos, K. A. and Christie, J. F. (2007). Play and Literacy in Early Childhood: Research from Multiple Perspectives, 2nd edition., Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

17 Park, S. & Lit, I. (2015). Learning to play, playing to learn: The Bank Street developmental-interaction approach in Liliana’s kindergarten classroom. Stanford, CA: Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. Case study from Teaching for a Changing World: The Graduates of Bank Street College of Education. Retrieved from https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/scope-report-learning-play-liliana-web.pdf.

18 National Association for the Education of Young Children: Research News You Can Use: Debunking the Play vs Learning Dichotomy. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/content/research-news-you-can-use-play-vs-learning.

19 Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2012). The Science of Neglect: The Persistent Absence of Responsive Care Disrupts the Developing Brain: Working Paper No. 12. Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/the-science-of-neglect-the-persistent-absence-of-responsive-care-disrupts-the-developing-brain/.

20 Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P. and Marks, J. S. (1998). “Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study,” in American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 14(4): 245-258. Retrieved from http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(98)00017-8/fulltext

21 Adams, Jane. (2016). EdSource publication: https://edsource.org/2016/to-reach-parents-schools-try-universal-language-of-data/562348.

22 Redd, Z., Karver, T. S., Murphey, D., Moore, K. A. and Knewstub, D. (2011), “Two Generations in Poverty: Status and Trends among Parents and Children in the United States, 2000-2010,” in Child Trends Research Brief Commissioned by: Ascend at the Aspen Institute and Communications Consortium Media Center, Washington, DC. Publication #2011-25: 1-17. Retrieved from https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/ascend/2011_Child_Trends_Final_Report.pdf, and AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity. (2015). Opportunity, Responsibility, and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Full-Report.pdf.

23 Isaacs, Julia B. (2012). “Starting School at a Disadvantage: The School Readiness of Poor Children.” Center on Children and Families at Brookings. March 2012, pgs. 1-22.

24 Hart, B. & Risley, T.R. “The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3” (2003, spring). American Educator, pp.4-9. Retrived from: http://www.aft.org//sites/default/files/periodicals/TheEarlyCatastrophe.pdf — Prepared by Ashlin Orr, Kinder Institute Intern, 2011-12.

25 Tennessee Commission on Children & Youth: KIDS COUNT: KIDS COUNT State of the Child 2016. Retrieved from http://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/tccy/attachments/kc-soc16.pdf.

26 García, Jorge Luis, James J. Heckman, Duncan Ermini Leaf, and María José Prados. (2016). “The Life-cycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program.” Retrieved from: https://heckmanequation.org/assets/2017/01/F_Heckman_CBAOnePager_120516.pdf.

27 Lipsey, M. W., Farran, D. C. and Hofer, K. G. (September 2015). A Randomized Control Trial of a Statewide Voluntary Prekindergarten Program on Children’s Skills and Behaviors through Third Grade. Peabody Research Institute. Vanderbilt University, Peabody College. Retrieved from https://my.vanderbilt.edu/tnprekevaluation/files/2013/10/VPKthrough3rd_final_withcover.pdf.

28 Farran, D. (September 2015). Presentation to the TN Young Child Wellness Council: Voluntary Pre-K in Tennessee: Evaluation through 3rd Grade, Peabody Research Institute. Vanderbilt University, Peabody College.

29 Tennessee Department of Education’s Office of Research and Strategy. Setting the Foundation: A Report on the State of Reading in Elementary Schools. (February 2016). Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/education/attachments/rpt_setting_the_foundation.pdf.

30 Tennessee Department of Education’s Office of Research and Strategy. Building the Framework: A Report on Elementary Grades Reading in Tennessee. (February 2017). Retrieved from: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/reports/rpt_bldg_the_framework.pdf.

31 Tennessee Department of Human Services: Child Care Services: Child Care Report Card and Star Quality Program. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/article/child-care-report-card-star-quality-program.

32 Tennessee State Board of Education. (January 2008). Rules of the State Board of Education, Office of the Commissioner, Chapter 0520-12-1 Standards for Child Care Centers and School-Age Child Care Programs. Retrieved from http://share.tn.gov/sos/rules/0520/0520-12/0520-12-01.pdf.

33 Nashville Public Radio. (October 26, 2016). Poll: Cost of Child Care Causes Financial Stress for Many Families. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/26/499166418/poll-cost-of-child-care-causes-financial-stress-for-many-families.

34 Tennessee Department of Human Services: Child Care Services: Child Care Certificate Program. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/article/child-care-certificate-program.

35 Tennessee Department of Human Services. Smart Steps Program. Retrieved from: https://www.kidcentraltn.com/article/smart-steps-child-care-assistance-program.

36 Tennessee Department of Education: Early Learning: Tennessee Early Intervention System. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/education/topic/tennessee-early-intervention-system-teis, and Tennessee Commission on Children & Youth: Programs: Home Visiting: Home Visiting Leadership Alliance. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/tccy/topic/tccy-hvla-home-visiting-leadership-alliance.

37 State of Tennessee, Public Chapter No. 703, Senate Bill No. 1899. Retrieved from http://team-tn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Pre-K-Quality-Act-SB1899.pdf

38 Tennessee Department of Education. TEAM: Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model. Retrieved from http://team-tn.org/non-tested-grades-subjects/prekkindergarten/

To learn more about TQEE contact:

Mike CarpenterExecutive Director

mike.carpenter@tqee.org901-331-0153

or Lisa Wiltshire

Policy Director lisa.wiltshire@tqee.org

615-517-0353