COE Graduates Rank Top-3 in Latest Tennessee Survey
News Release
FOR RELEASE
December 19, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. 鈥� The Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) has reported that University of Memphis graduates rank in the top 3 in the latest Tennessee Educator Survey (TES).
Graduates from the Department of Instruction & Curriculum Leadership (ICL) ranked in the top 3 with 80% of K-2 English and Language Arts (ELA) teachers who strongly agreed/agreed that the program鈥檚 coursework and content prepared them for their current role.
鈥淚t is wonderful to know that our graduates who are K-2 English and Language Arts teachers believe that we prepared them to effectively teach their students,鈥� said Dr. Sandra Cooley Nichols, chair of the Department of Instruction & Curriculum Leadership. 鈥淧reparing high quality teachers is our goal.鈥�
TERA also noted that 95% of UofM鈥檚 early career K-2 teachers said their clinical experience and coaching/mentorship prepared them for their current roles. This wasn鈥檛 a top 3 ranking due to three other programs scoring 100%, yet TERA acknowledged this is still a 鈥渧ery high percentage.鈥� Dr. Nichelle Robinson is the Director of the Office of Teacher Education & Clinical Practice (TEP), which is over the clinical experience aspect.
She said, 鈥�(TEP) is pleased that 95% of our graduates feel that their clinical experience prepared them for the classroom. We work hard to ensure that they have a positive and impactful student teaching experience with the best mentor teachers in our partner districts.鈥�
According to the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), TES is 鈥渢he most important annual survey used to understand the experience of educators across Tennessee.鈥� A total of 37,056 Tennessee teachers responded to this year鈥檚 TES, roughly half of the total teacher population, and around a quarter of those teachers (9,830) are in ELA.
The Department of Instruction & Curriculum Leadership is under the College of Education at the UofM. More information on this year鈥檚 TES can be found .