How Tennessee Is Better Addressing Workforce Needs

Tennessee is one of the fastest growing states, with some of the country’s most successful businesses and largest corporations. Yet employers often tell me and other members of the Tennessee State Board of Education that too many graduates from local schools and higher education institutions do not possess durable skills like critical thinking, decision making, and teamwork as well as the in-demand technical skills needed to acquire and retain viable, lucrative jobs.

It is critical that K-12 and higher education rise to meet employer needs by providing more skills-based, workforce-relevant learning opportunities to students throughout our state. And it will take close collaboration with the community and industry for the state board to accomplish its mission of preparing every student for postsecondary success.

Meeting with state agencies of education, higher education, economic and community development, and labor and workforce development, our board discovers key areas of need. We also learn of the steps Tennessee employers are taking, in partnership with K-12 and higher education, to develop some of the country’s most innovative, industry-led models so that Tennessee students can fill Tennessee jobs that are in high demand.

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education, or SCORE, recently hosted a series of forums culminating in the Future Forward Summit in 2023, the first of its kind. The summit convened more than 150 Tennessee business leaders, education leaders, and policymakers to highlight challenges and tangible solutions to ensure Tennessee’s education policies evolve in tandem with workforce needs of our ever-changing economy and workforce.[1] Several state board members and staff helped ensure that K-12 featured in the discussion. National leaders who have innovated to solve the talent gap and build workforce pipelines also presented to the group.

Business Partnerships

There are many opportunities to explore the intersection of business priorities with state board work and other state-level initiatives. For example, our board, like most others, sets state core academic standards on a rolling, subject-by-subject basis every eight years.[2] During the process, industry leaders and employers, as well as the general public, weigh in on current standards and proposed revisions. Last year, we received over 100,000 comments on revised social studies standards, and this year, we have already received over 24,000 comments on new English language arts standards in the first feedback cycle alone.

The Tennessee Department of Education has, in particular, worked closely with the board and industry partners on the academic standards for career and technical education (CTE) programs, and districts have updated high school CTE courses to align more closely with industry and postsecondary needs.

An active part of Governor Bill Lee’s legislative agenda, the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) program addresses workforce skills gaps by supporting the development of career pathways that connect secondary education, postsecondary institutions, and local employers. In 2024, the third round of GIVE grants will allocate $41 million to foster regional partnerships among Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCATs), community colleges, and local industries.

At a local level, high school students in an Oak Ridge Schools automotive repair program who complete the two-year course can earn credits the TCAT will recognize.[3] Students can also obtain some Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certifications while still in high school. And Hamilton County Schools’ Construction Career Center, in partnership with Chattanooga State Community College, brings high school students into one facility with training staff and industry employers.[4] Students who complete the dual enrollment program receive five or more certifications through the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

At Roane State Community College, as well as other community colleges across the state, middle-college programs allow high school students to earn two-year associate degrees two weeks before they receive their high school diplomas.[5] Last year, over 150 students did so through Roane State alone. This model program is spreading across the state. Working with the state legislators, Tennessee expanded the number of technical credentials and dual enrollment courses through its Dual Enrollment Grant program, which lets students earn an initial technical credential or complete a semester of college credit free of tuition and fees while they pursue a high school diploma. Between the 2015–16 and 2022–23 academic years, the number of dual enrollment grant participants jumped from just under 25,000 to nearly 42,000.[6] Even as participation rises, course rigor remains unchanged. The state continues to ensure that institutions whose faculty members teach dual enrollment courses have the same academic credentials and/or professional experience as other faculty members. Students who previously could not have afforded dual enrollment classes are now being prepared either to enter the workforce right out of high school with a two-year associate degree, gain a TCAT credential, or enter a four-year institution.

The state board relies on statewide organizations and partnerships to identify areas where assistance is needed to build prosperous programs and policies. Two state board members, Darrell Cobbins and Jordan Mollenhour, sit as active members of the Tennessee Business Roundtable (TBR) to offer insight into how large corporations and Tennessee’s small-business owners can support educators’ classroom-to-career pipeline. TBR also helps raise the visibility of businesses that are ready to partner in innovative ways with local school districts in each geographical region of the state. TBR’s executive director now regularly attends quarterly state board meetings and offers his perspective on board actions.

Work at the State Board

According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), 56.7 percent of the state’s high school graduates in 2023 immediately enrolled in postsecondary education.[7] The state board is committed to improving this percentage, as evidenced by the goals in our 2022–25 Master Plan.[8]

Workforce preparation begins long before a candidate submits a job application, and K-12 education thrives when every student has a plan and is prepared for a rewarding career. During the February 2023 quarterly meeting, the Tennessee Department of Education and the state board jointly presented policies requiring High School and Beyond Plans. Every Tennessee student, in collaboration with parents and guardians, school counselors, and educators, develops a plan that details goals beyond high school and the pathway by which the student will progress toward these goals, beginning in grade 8. Plans include career interests and aptitude assessments, selection of an elective focus, opportunities for the development of job-based skills, key deadlines for postsecondary and workforce applications, and submission of applications for financial aid.

To better focus on future workforce needs, the state board is also looking at academic standards and graduation requirements. For example, after legislation on computer science passed this past year, we changed rules, policies, and standards to integrate computer science into elementary courses and to require students to take a computer science course in both middle and high school. In addition, we revised state math graduation requirements, allowing the four-credit math requirement to be met without requiring math every year in high school. This step creates flexibility for students who had already earned the four credits to take other courses during their senior year in high school to better prepare them for postsecondary aspirations. We will continue to evaluate actions like this in many subject areas.

Work-based learning can also proactively bridge the gap between high school and high-demand, high-skill careers, providing students with skills that are difficult to learn solely through classroom-based instruction. The state board updated its policies to provide students with additional time to earn high school credit through work-based learning. State board rules on graduation requirements also include a three-credit progression in an area of elective focus. Students can use their chosen focus, their high school plan of study, and/or career goals as the basis for work-based learning placements.[9]

The state board recently revised its high school and middle grades policies to create a framework for industry professional partnerships. It provides details regarding how districts and industry partners can work together to support industry-relevant curricula, instruction, and work-based learning opportunities.

Barriers to Positive Outcomes

While Tennessee is making significant progress, challenges remain. Tennessee is divided into three regions, or grand divisions, depicted by three stars on the state flag. The regions’ workforce needs often differ. The needs of the rural northeast workforce differ from those of Nashville or Memphis. Ford’s Blue Oval City development in southwest Tennessee will expand the automotive technology industry. The state’s commitment to making Tennessee a leader in nuclear energy, with a focus on east Tennessee, will likely provide significant job opportunities there. This diversity highlights the need to work within the regions to develop educational experiences that prepare students for the career opportunities that await.

The ever-present need to find quality educators adds to this challenge. While Tennessee has seen significant improvement in vacancy rates—a 1.5 percent vacancy rate overall, compared with the 4 percent national average[10]—some areas rely heavily on emergency credentials and struggle to fill hard-to-staff positions. In 2024, the state board, in collaboration with the education department, created an Educator Licensure Review Committee to ensure multiple clear, flexible pathways to licensure without compromising on the quality of teaching. The committee comprises local education agencies, representatives of educator preparation programs, advocacy groups, legislators, and the business community, represented by Patrick Sheehy, Tennessee Business Roundtable president.

While the state board has seen many examples of collaboration, education and industry have too often remained siloed. Where the state board has focused primarily on preK-12 policy, THEC has focused on postsecondary education and the labor department on workforce development. Often, business and industry partners have little input into what these institutions offer when they should be intimately involved in how students and teachers are prepared to enter the workforce.

Tennessee’s robust longitudinal data system, P20 Connect TN, houses education data from pre-K through K-12, postsecondary, and into the workforce. Researchers and state officials are using this critical information to explore long-term student outcomes and understand what students need to achieve their education and workforce goals. One of the challenges is ensuring that all stakeholders have access to this important database. But with concentrated time and effort, the state board and education department can work with postsecondary institutions, businesses, and industries to identify where to focus standards and policies to meet state employment needs. By making this a focus now and with support across the state government, the state board is confident significant progress will be made.

Looking Ahead

Ensuring positive outcomes for students requires multiple stakeholders to provide multiple layers of support, and it requires constant, active collaboration to reduce the common barriers many students face as they plan for education and training beyond high school. These partnerships span secondary and postsecondary education, community organizations, workforce development agencies, businesses, families, and students.

The state board will continue to seek ideas and solutions for innovative partnerships to ensure that all Tennessee students receive credentials of value in high school and higher education so they can be better prepared for Tennessee’s rapidly expanding job market.

As other states increase their education-workforce collaboration, they should work closely with state organizations like SCORE. Working together, all states can better address business and industry needs while growing the workforce and their economies.

Notes

[1] Tennessee SCORE, Future Forward Summit, September 6, 2023, web page.

[2] Tennessee State Board of Education, “Standards Review,” web page.

[3] Oak Ridge Schools, “College, Career, and Technical Education,” web page.

[4] Construction Career Center, “Building Careers for Life,” web page.

[5] Roane State Community College, “Middle College,” web page.

[6] Victoria Harpool and Sarah Ligas, presentation to the state board, Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 2024.

[7] Tennessee Higher Education Commission, “Tennessee College Going and the Class of 2023,” report (2024).

[8] Tennessee State Board of Education, “2022–2025 Master Plan” (2022).

[9] Tennessee State Board Rule 0520-01-03-.06(2).

[10] Brooke Amos, “2022–23 Vacancy Data Collection,” presentation to the state board, Tennessee Department of Education, 2023.