Tennessee State Board of Education
Dr. Gary L. Nixon, Executive Director
The State Board of Education Master Plan
The State Board of Education's vision is to prepare all Tennessee children for successful post-secondary work, education and citizenship. The Board's Master Plan 
(PDF document, 1.8MB) includes policy goals to ensure equal access to the education constitutionally guaranteed to all Tennessee children and necessary for the success of individual children, their communities, the State and the nation. The goals embodied by the vision and the student outcomes used to measure progress toward those goals are built upon four foundational principles.
Foundational Principles
Focus on the following principles will make the Board’s vision a reality for Tennessee children:
- Effective school leaders
- Effective teachers
- Rigorous, relevant curriculum
- Resources sufficient to achieve the vision
Goals
To achieve its vision, the Board has set the following goals:
- Successful transitions
- Rigorous, relevant high school
- Relevant middle grade experiences
- Dynamic elementary grade education
- High-quality Pre-K availability
Student Outcomes
To measure progress toward achieving these goals, the State Board will rely on the following indicators:
- Remedial & developmental studies rate at Tennessee post-secondary institutions for recent high school graduates
- College-going rate
- Graduation rate
- ACT readiness subject-area benchmarks for college & workforce training:
ACT (11th or 12th grade)
ACT’s PLAN (10th grade)
ACT’s EXPLORE (8th grade) - 8th Grade NAEP
- 4th Grade NAEP
