Resources

Our infographics, policy briefs, reports, and other resources increase understanding of critical topics in public education and provide support for research-based solutions.

Unpacking Tennessee's Education Savings Account/Voucher Program

In 2019, the Tennessee Legislature approved a pilot program in Memphis and Nashville to launch the Education Savings Account Program, also known as vouchers, which provide tuition vouchers to families to withdraw from public school and attend private school. Our infographic explains the potential impact of proposed legislation to expand the program statewide.
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What We Know about the Impact of School Vouchers

In 2019, Tennessee passed its first law implementing school vouchers - a dedicated amount of funding that families can access and use for private school tuition. Research on vouchers has yielded mixed outcomes on student achievement at the same time that sustainability and accountability have posed challenges. Our infographic explores the research on voucher programs across the country.
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Unpacking MNPS's A-F Accountability Ratings

Tennessee recently implemented an A-F school accountability system, assigning a letter grade to eligible public schools statewide. Our new infographic helps break down the distribution of letter grades across MNPS, explains the indicators used to assign these grades, and highlights bright spots and challenges posed by the new accountability system.
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2023 Year in Review

Our annual Year in Review highlights our impact in the 2023 and our work towards ensuring all students thrive in public schools. This year's report highlights our resources, convenings, programs, strategic partnerships, and investments to identify challenges that get in the way of student success and advance evidence-based solutions.
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What is the New A-F School Accountability System?

To help demystify the state's new plan for school accountability, we created an infographic to break down the details, share what we know about A-F systems in other states, and take a deeper look at lessons learned from Florida, the state with the oldest A-F system in the country.
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What You Need to Know About Federal Funding for Education

The Tennessee General Assembly recently appointed a legislative panel to look into the impact of rejecting federal funds for public education. In order to help inform community conversations on this important topic, we’ve created this resource on how federal funding works in public education, including the use of federal funds in MNPS, the use of one-time federal COVID relief funds, and what is required of states that accept federal dollars for education.
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What You Need to Know About School Accountability

As the TN Department of Education prepares to implement the new school letter grading accountability system this fall, we have released a new resource to help understand what school accountability looks like in Tennessee ahead of the new policy.
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How Do Charter Schools Work in Nashville?

Our latest infographic explains how charter schools operate and serve public school students in Nashville, including key facts and data on enrollment, how these schools are authorized, and the requirements and accountability systems in place.
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What You Need to Know about Early Postsecondary Opportunities

Our latest resource explains what Early Postsecondary Opportunities (EPSOs) are and why they are so important for student success.
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Toward Equity in Education: Prioritizing Nashville’s children and youth to reach student success

Our latest policy brief takes a look at the impact of Nashville's 2010 Child and Youth Master Plan, 14 For Our Future, and provides a baseline assessment of the progress on child and youth outcomes since 2010.
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Timeline: Towards a City that Prioritizes Children and Youth

For every student to thrive in school, we need a city that prioritizes children and youth in all aspects of their lives. Our timeline takes a look back at 20 years of city actions to support children and youth.
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Understanding MNPS School Options

Our infographic breaks down the many different types of schools in Metro Nashville Public Schools, from traditional zoned schools to magnet schools to charters and nontraditional options. Learn more about the multiple ways MNPS schools operate for Nashville’s students.
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What is the 3rd Grade Retention Law?

Our infographic provides important information on the new Tennessee law on retaining 3rd graders not meeting expectations on the English/Language Arts state test. View this resource to learn more about this law, what it means for MNPS, and the results other states have seen from similar laws.
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Download Spanish Version

2022 Year in Review

Our Year in Review shows our work in 2022 towards every child thriving in our public schools each day. Read the report to learn more about how we celebrate success and innovation, support Metro Schools, convene stakeholders, and advocate for change.
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Infographic: Who are Nashville's Children and Youth?

Our infographic provides data and context for the children and youth of Nashville and the students of Metro Nashville Public Schools. We believe understanding who our children and youth are will help ensure we are meeting their needs and will help Nashville be the number one place to raise a family. 
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Designing the Future: How Measuring and Mapping Student Opportunities in Nashville Can Improve Outcomes for Kids

Our newest policy brief explores how measuring and mapping data about student experiences in and out of school is critical to informing policies and practices that help ensure all Nashville’s children and youth thrive. In the brief, we call for a Nashville Children and Youth Opportunity Index and recommend the school district build on its Equity Roadmap by regularly reporting on equity metrics.
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By Design: How Nashville Created and Sustains Inequities in our Schools

Our policy brief further unpacks how city structures and systems prevent low-income students and students of color from thriving. The brief outlines specific policies and decisions in our city's history - such as housing and zoning decisions - that have established, exacerbated, and continue to perpetuate inequities for students and families.
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The Limitations of Desegregation in Nashville's Public Schools

Our new, condensed version of the full documentary focuses specifically on the failings on desegregation-era policies in Nashville. This resource offers a 22-minute option for screenings where a shorter or more specific showing is desired.
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The Limitations of Desegregation in Nashville's Public Schools: Watch Guide

Our new Watch Guide accompanies the 22-minute condensed documentary by Design: The Limitations of Desegregation in Nashville's Public Schools. This resource facilitates solutions-driven conversations about the film and our collective role in designing a future that ensures all students thrive.
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2022 Bridge to Completion report

This is the fifth in a series of reports completed in partnership between the Nashville Public Education Foundation and the Tennessee College Access and Success Network. The report analyzes MNPS graduate data to identify trends in college enrollment, persistence, and attainment, as well as makes recommendations for how the city and state can improve and align supports for graduates to improve postsecondary attainment. The report also includes profiles detailing graduates' college-going for each MNPS high school.
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Infographic: Why TISA Should Adjust for Districts' High Labor Costs

Nashville is an expensive place to live and work. The state's school funding formula should account for that. Our infographic breaks down how a Cost Differential Factor (CDF) could help appropriately account for Nashville's high labor costs and ensure the state's new funding formula could better meet our students' needs. 
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Infographic: How TISA Affects MNPS

The state's new funding formula makes some much needed improvements to the way our schools are funded, but also presents challenges for Nashville's schools. Our infographic breaks down how TISA affects funding in MNPS. 
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Webinar: Continuing the Conversation - Inequities of the Nashville Youth Experience

Watch our webinar from December 8, 2021 featuring Dr. Maury Nation, Johari Matthews, Kasar Abdulla, and Vanessa Lazón. This conversation focuses on how our community can come together to shape how we prioritize children and youth across our diverse city, and explores how our city's systems, structures, and resources affect children and youth in the classroom and beyond.
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2021 Annual Report

Our annual report shows our work in 2021 towards our mission of every student thriving in school each day. Read the report to learn more about how and why we advocate for change, promote excellence and innovation, support MNPS, and convene stakeholders to drive community solutions.
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By Design: Action Guide

We created this Action Guide to accompany our documentary By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools. Use this resource to discover how you can take action to ensure every child has what they need to thrive in school each day.
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By Design: Watch Guide

We created this Watch Guide to accompany our documentary By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools. Use this resource as a starting point to lead a discussion with a group of family, friends, coworkers, or others in your community after watching the film.
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Advocacy Agenda

Our advocacy agenda focuses on two areas: school conditions and city and state systems. We believe collective action in both of these focus areas is crucial to eliminating inequities and barriers to educational experiences so that all students thrive.
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By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools

By Design: The Shaping of Nashville's Public Schools has been produced by NPEF in collaboration with education experts, leading historians, community and state leaders, and students from defining moments in Nashville’s public-school history dating back to the 1800s.
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Bridge to Completion 2021

The 2021 Bridge to Completion report analyzes MNPS graduate data to identify trends in college enrollment, persistence, and attainment. The report makes several recommendations to improve the supports and opportunities for students to succeed in college and career, with an added lens of the effects on college-going of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Infographic: Attending school in a fully funded district

Imagine with us: What would it look like to attend school in a fully funded district? Our infographic explores the possibilities of what full funding would provide our students and families and how it would ensure all students thrive in school. What does a fully funded district look like to you?
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Ideas In Action: Spotlight on Possip

Ideas in Action is a series spotlighting innovative practices and strategies to take beyond the COVID era. This edition highlights Possip, a Nashville-based company MNPS expanded use of in order to get regular feedback from families and include them as partners during COVID-19 and beyond.
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Ideas In Action: Spotlight on Navigator

Ideas in Action is a series spotlighting innovative practices and strategies to take beyond the COVID era. This edition highlights Navigator a district initiative to help maintain relationships with students and families during and virtual learning while connecting them to vital resources.
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Funding Our Schools: How Tennessee's Funding Formula Fails to Meet the Needs of Nashville's Students

Read our informational Policy Brief detailing what the BEP is, the challenges the current funding formula presents, and its significant consequences for our district, schools, and students. 
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Ideas In Action: Spotlight on Nearpod

Ideas In Action is a series spotlighting innovative practices and strategies to take beyond the COVID era. This edition highlights Nearpod, an online tool to help make lessons engaging and interactive which has been a game-changer for several Overton High School teachers.
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Infographic: Teaching in a fully funded district

Imagine with us: What would it look like to teach in a fully funded district? Our infographic explores the possibilities of what full funding would provide our district's educators and the impact for students and families. What does a fully funded district look like to you?
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Infographic: Education Funding Glossary

View our infographic to learn the definitions of key terms related to the funding of our city's public schools, such as BEP, fiscal capacity, and Student-Based Budgeting.
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Infographic: How Are Our Schools Funded?

View our infographic to learn about what BEP (Basic Education Plan) is and how it affects education funding in our state and city.
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Webinar: Exceptional Education in MNPS

Watch our webinar from January 27, 2021 titled "Exceptional Education in MNPS: How do we support our special education students to thriving?" with a panel featuring educator, family, and student voice.
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2020 Progress Report

Read our 2020 Progress Report to learn about our work as conveners, collaborators, and investors towards our goals: supporting teachers and leaders, celebrating success, and advocating for change.
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Thriving Schools Advocacy Guide

This resource provides guidance on how we can collectively work together to create schools where all kids thrive. The guide includes a checklist for each of NPEF's Thriving Schools Framework conditions as well as a list of things you can do today to create a thriving school.
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SAMPLE: Op-Ed

Use this sample op-ed to write your own piece advocating for increasing teacher pay or another important public education issue and send it to your local newspaper or other news source to be published.
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SAMPLE: Letter to a Metro Council Member

Use this sample letter to write your own letter to a member of the Metro Council advocating for increasing teacher pay or another important public education issue.
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Infographic: Who Makes Decisions About Our Schools?

This infographic provides information on the roles played by local and state government and other stakeholders related to public education in Nashville.
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Webinar: Inequities of the Nashville Youth Experience

Watch our webinar from June 30, 2020 titled A City Where All Youth Thrive: A Conversation about Dismantling the Inequities of the Nashville Youth Experience led by Dr. Maury Nation from Vanderbilt University.
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Webinar: Navigating COVID-19 as an English Learner in MNPS

Watch our webinar from September 23, 2020 titled Navigating COVID-19 as an English Learner in MNPS: Community Perspectives on Supporting Students and Families with a panel of those working closest with Nashville's EL students and families.
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Bridge to Completion 2020

This is the third in a series of reports that analyze college-going data of MNPS graduates and use that data to understand the barriers affecting college completion in our city and make recommendations on how to eliminate them.
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Bridge to Completion 2019

This report goes beyond 2018 report data by digging into the student pipeline across race and ethnicity and across district schools to better highlight opportunities to increase college completion.
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Bridge to Completion 2018

This report takes a look into the challenges and barriers that high school and college students face, and suggests a community effort to bring up Nashville’s college-going and college-completion rates to the national average.
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A Framework for Thriving Schools

Our Thriving Schools Framework explores the conditions necessary to create thriving schools and explains how the presence of these conditions leads to increased student performance and agency.
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NPEF Inequities Brief

This brief includes our recommendations for identifying and dismantling the inequities baked into our schools and communities that prevent too many of our students from thriving.
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Strategic Plan Overview

This framework is centered around the vision of what it would be like if every child in Nashville were thriving in our schools every day. We aim to support teachers and leaders to build schools where all kids thrive.
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Blueprint for Early Childhood Success

The Blueprint combines the thought leadership of community groups, volunteer partners, parents, students and educators to create a framework that will prevent any child or family from slipping through the cracks.
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