§ 49-6-3703 — Creation and development of four-year school turnaround pilot program for priority schools - Selection of priority schools - Operation and administration of program - Report

(a) The department shall create and develop a four-year school turnaround pilot program for priority schools pursuant to § 49-6-3704 . (b) The department shall select five (5) priority schools that are diverse in grade levels to participate in the pilot program. The department shall select at least one (1) priority school from each grand division of this state to ensure that the priority schools selected to participate in the pilot program are geographically diverse. (c) The department shall operate and administer the pilot program for four (4) school years beginning with the 2021-2022 school year. In the 2021-2022 school year, schools in need of intervention must develop a school turnaround plan. (d) (1) In the three (3) school years from the 2022-2023 school year through the 2024-2025 school year, each school in need of intervention must implement the school's respective school turnaround plan. The department shall not require a school in need of intervention that exits the pilot program pursuant to § 49-6-3705(b)(2) to continue implementing the school turnaround plan developed by the school. (2) The department shall evaluate the progress of each school in need of intervention to determine whether the school meets the priority school exit criteria established by the state's federally approved Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan established pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) ( 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.) at the end of each school year of the pilot program. The department shall begin the department's evaluations of schools in need of intervention pursuant to this subdivision (d)(2) following the 2022-2023 school year and shall conclude its evaluations at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. (e) By October 1, following the end of each school year in which the school turnaround pilot program is in effect, and at the end of the pilot program, the department shall file with the education committees of the senate and the house of representatives a report evaluating the progress of the pilot program. The report must address the implementation and effectiveness of comprehensive support and improvement plans implemented by non-pilot schools and school turnaround plans implemented by schools in need of intervention in addressing the prioritized needs of the respective school that resulted in the school's designation as a priority school. The final report must: (1) Compare the student performance outcomes for the schools in need of intervention and for the non-pilot schools; (2) Compare the outcomes for each of the schools in need of intervention, identifying: (A) How the school turnaround plans developed by the schools in need of intervention that met the priority school exit criteria during the pilot program differ from the schools in need of intervention that did not meet the priority school exit criteria during the pilot program; and (B) How the schools in need of intervention that did not meet the priority school exit criteria during the pilot program improved, if at all, during the pilot program; and (3) Make recommendations as to whether the school turnaround plans developed as part of the pilot program should be replicated in non-pilot schools.

Legislative History

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 863,s 1, eff. 5/1/2024. Added by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 77, s 2, eff. 1/1/2022.