State ranks in top rated 10 for superior high quality Pre-K | Faculties

Tennessee now satisfies 9 of 10 requirements for superior-top quality pre-K systems, which demonstrates development about the previous several several years, according to the 2020 version of The Condition of Preschool Yearbook by Nationwide Institute for Early Instruction Research (NIEER) at Rutgers Graduate Faculty of Education and learning.

Tennessee is one particular of only 12 states with pre-K packages to have achieved 9 of 10 of NIEER’s good quality common benchmarks. Furthermore, Tennessee is 1 of 14 point out courses that satisfied the employees professional growth benchmark, which stays the most complicated benchmark for pre-K programs to satisfy.

This year’s rating is a consequence of important enhancements to Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K Application (TN-VPK) between 2016 and 2020 owing to unwavering commitment from state leaders and associates, even all through the ongoing pandemic where funding for the program has been taken care of.

“We are thrilled to see the really hard get the job done of increasing the good quality of pre-K schooling in Tennessee shell out off,” reported Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “We know giving learners with superior-high quality elements and instruction at every age is crucial for very long-expression good results. This ranking is a testomony to the tricky function and prioritization of early childhood education and literacy across the condition.”

Beginning with Tennessee’s Pre-K Good quality Act of 2016, enhancements to the TN-VPK system have continued as a result of Governor Bill Lee’s administration, which includes shifting to a aggressive VPK grant software system, facilitating an annual schooling on the pre-K Classroom Evaluation Scoring Process (Course), piloting of pre-K coaching, and shifting to exploration-dependent sounds to start with dietary supplement and significant-good quality instructional materials.

The report is based mostly on NIEER’s once-a-year survey in which section employees react to inquiries on the state’s pre-K procedures and is the only nationwide source of facts on point out-funded pre-K packages.