Tennessee

Overview

During the 2021-2022 school year, Tennessee preschool enrolled 16,634 children, an increase of 1,033 from the prior year, as the program began to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. State spending totaled $83,571,392, down $5,615,595 (6%), adjusted for inflation since last year. State spending per child equaled $5,024 in 2021-2022, down $693 from 2020-2021, adjusted for inflation. Tennessee met 9 of 10 quality standards benchmarks.

What's New

The current contracts with state-approved pre-K curriculum vendors will end in April 2023. During the 2022-2023 school year, Tennessee Department of Education is completing the process to select new state-approved curricula for pre-K that will be implemented in the 2023-2024 school year. 

The Tennessee Department of Education received a $4 million Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) planning grant in December of 2022 to develop and implement a comprehensive, statewide, birth through five needs assessment. This assessment will be followed by the development of a related strategic plan that also addresses activities that lead to more meaningful parent engagement, the sharing of resources and best practices among the different early childhood program providers, and improvements in overall quality. The plan also aims to improve the coordination of existing early childhood service delivery models and funding streams — for the purpose of serving more children birth through age five.

Background

Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K (VPK) was launched in 2005, building on the 1998 Early Childhood Education Pilot Project. VPK classrooms are now found in 137 of the state’s 142 school districts. Children from families meeting the income eligibility requirements are prioritized for enrollment in VPK, as are children with disabilities and dependent children of a parent who died as a result of war. 

The Tennessee State Department of Education and Early Learning Division have administrative authority over VPK. Only local education agencies may apply for VPK grants, but districts may contract with private childcare agencies, Head Start agencies, institutions of higher education, public housing authorities, and any community-based or private agency with a rating of at least three stars on the state’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) operating within the jurisdiction of the school district. 

With commencement during the 2018-2019 school year, in-service professional development for directors, teachers, and assistant teachers in Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K increased from 24 to 30 clock hours per year, six of which were allocated to address developmentally appropriate literacy practices. Tennessee’s Early Learning and Development Standards were instituted in 2018. The state also continues to implement the Pre-k Quality Act of 2016, a platform for revising the Tennessee Early Learning Development Standards. This created a shared definition of “quality” to guide quality improvements, established a vision for early learning at statewide trainings, supports curriculum implementation, provides guidance for district leaders, reduced the number of approved curricula, shifted to a competitive grant application based on program quality, piloted CLASS observations, trained CLASS observers, and enforced pre-K Student Growth Portfolios statewide. Each yearly cohort of Tennessee Pre-K classrooms observed by our statelevel CLASS observers have seen statistically significant improvements in the Instructional Support domain from fall to spring (2020- 2021: increase in instructional support from 3.0 to 3.4). VPK relies on numerous funding sources, including general education revenue. Federal Head Start, IDEA, Title I, and other funds are used to provide the required 25% local match.

Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K (VPK)

Access

Some Head Start children may also be counted in state pre-K. Estimates children in special education not also enrolled in state pre-K or Head Start.
Total state pre-K enrollment	16,634
School districts that offer state program	96%
Income requirement	185% FPL
Minimum hours of operation	5.5 hours/day; 5 days/week
Operating schedule	School or academic year
Special education enrollment, ages 3 and 4	7,164
Federally funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	14,273
State-funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	0

Resources

Pre-K programs may receive additional funds from federal or local sources that are not included in this figure. K–12 expenditures include capital spending as well as current operating expenditures. Head Start per-child spending includes funding only for 3- and 4-year-olds.