The Tennessee Department of Education on Wednesday released the third set of five reopening toolkits in a series of more than 20 resources focused on key topics to help district leaders as they make locally-driven decisions around the upcoming school year this fall.
Wednesday’s release makes five more toolkits available for district and school leaders as they make the best local decisions around reopening. The series of reopening toolkits and resources will help districts dive deeper into considerations, recommendations, and best practices.
"The department has been in constant communication with Tennessee’s school district leaders to identify questions and areas that need further consideration as we look toward the coming school year,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “We are excited to be hearing from our districts and educators as they dig into the toolkits and resources and we look forward to continuing these conversations to help provide guidance for our districts and schools as they make local decisions regarding the fall.”
These five toolkits are now available for district use:
Academics: This toolkit highlights important considerations to help keep strong instructional practice at the center of every student’s learning experience and help ensure a welcoming, supportive learning environment for all students.
Charter Schools: This toolkit highlights key practices that charter schools can employ in advance of charter schools’ safe and efficient re-opening of campuses to students, staff, and families.
Nonpublic Schools: This toolkit provides key practices and considerations nonpublic schools can consider and implement in advance of safely reopening campuses to students, staff, and families.
Access & Opportunity: This toolkit highlights ways educators must plan to provide access for all student groups, opportunities for daily instruction for all student learners, and intervention and remediation supports for all learners to establish successful learning pathways in the coming school year.
Postsecondary Transitions: This toolkit will assist districts and schools in planning, executing, and monitoring key actions and metrics to ensure students stay on track for postsecondary success during this extraordinary time. The toolkit focuses on three cohorts: recent 2020 graduates, rising seniors, and rising juniors.
The department will update the toolkits as needed after release to reflect district best practices and findings. The first ten toolkits were released earlier this week and the additional toolkits will be released following this schedule:
Monday, June 15
School Nutrition
Transportation
Special Populations
Finance
Implementation Guide Templates:
· Tennessee Department of Education Pathway Selection Tool
· 2020-21 School Calendar Template
Tuesday, June 16
Technology
Wellbeing & Mental Health
Counseling
Early Childhood
Consolidated Funding
Thursday, June 18
Staffing
Professional Development
Assessing Student Learning
Governance
Friday, June 19
Health & Public Health
School Improvement
Safety & Operations
Procedures and videos
Monday, June 22
Continued Learning Plans, Template, and Example
Expanded Planning Tool
The department released an Overview Guide for LEAs last week, which provides broad considerations and questions for districts as each seeks to make the best local decisions for the upcoming school year.
The reopening toolkits, along with other guidance documents and resources, are available to schools and districts on the Tennessee Department of Education’s reopening guidance webpage: https://www.tn.gov/education/health-and-safety/update-on-coronavirus/reopening-guidance.html.