Tennessee Teaching Quality Initiative (TQI)

The primary goal of the Tennessee Teaching Quality Initiative (TQI) is to increase student learning through improved teaching quality. The work began as a collaborative effort among key stakeholders in education.

"An Action Agenda for Change"

Teacher supply and teaching quality in Tennessee have reached a crisis point, particularly in science and mathematics. We just do not have enough highly-qualified teachers to educate our children. Tennessee’s best and brightest students typically choose careers other than education, and our best young teachers often leave the classroom within their first five years. Although our experienced teacher core has been a mainstay of Tennessee public education, accelerating retirements among this group likely will worsen our dilemma. We must deal with the Tennessee teacher issue soon.

This initiative recommends five areas of focus to address teaching quality issues in Tennessee. The five areas of focus identified in this initiative address both program-specific needs and imperative institutional commitments necessary to improve teaching quality throughout Tennessee institutions of higher education. For each key area, there is a performance goal that states what we believe to be the desired state when the focus area has been achieved. In addition, a brief rationale for selecting the areas of focus, research base, strategies for implementation and proposed action items to begin working toward the performance goals are provided.

The Vision:
Increased Student Learning Through Improved Teaching Quality