Nashville, TN—Today, the Tennessee Department of Education announced the 48 districts selected to participate in the optional, Pre-K–12 Literacy Implementation Networks, part of the state’s Reading 360 initiative to help boost strong reading skills amongst Tennessee students.
Among the districts in our area are: Paris Special Schools, Dyer County Schools and Trenton Special Schools.
As part of Reading 360, eight regional implementation networks will consist of 48 districts with the overarching goal of supporting the implementation of high-quality English Language Arts (ELA) instructional materials for Pre-K–12 students through competitive grants over the next five years.
“Over the next five years, the regional Pre-K–12 Literacy Implementation Networks will foster opportunity for districts to learn from each other and to form unique partnerships to support high-quality literacy instruction to build strong readers, which ultimately promotes success for our students and our state,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn.
Each regional implementation network will consist of one mentor district, 4-6 participating districts, and a regionally selected vendor partner, with the option of selecting an elementary, middle or high school focus. The districts selected to make up the eight regional Pre- K–12 implementation networks are:
| Mentor Districts | Participating Districts |
| Haywood County Schools | -Shelby County Schools -Tipton County Schools
-Achievement School District -Crockett County Schools |
| Lauderdale County Schools | -Paris Special School District -Henry County Schools
-Trenton Special School District -Stewart County Schools -Dyer County Schools |
| Sumner County Schools | -Robertson County Schools -Wilson County Schools
-Lebanon Special School District -Dickson County Schools -Maury County Schools -Hickman County Schools |
| Trousdale County Schools | -Smith County Schools -Cannon County Schools
-Clay County Schools -Jackson County Schools -Van Buren County Schools |
| Putnam County Schools | -Bledsoe County Schools -Pickett County Schools
-Overton County Schools -Fentress County Schools -Cumberland County Schools |
| Lenoir City Schools | -Knox County Schools -Hamilton County Schools
-McMinn County Schools -Athens City Schools -Sweetwater City Schools |
| Marshall County Schools | -Marion County Schools -Dayton City Schools
-Lincoln County Schools -Franklin County Schools -Lawrence County Schools |
| Unicoi County Schools | -Cocke County Schools -Sullivan County Schools
-Washington County Schools -Union County Schools -Sevier County Schools |
Mentor districts have multiple years of high-quality instructional materials implementation experience and will help build capacity of participant districts who have adopted and purchased new ELA materials in the past year. Additionally, mentor districts will support participant districts’ system-level implementation strategy.
Reading 360 is a comprehensive statewide literacy initiative to provide optional grants and resources to help more Tennessee students develop strong phonics-based reading skills by supporting districts, teachers, and families.
To launch Reading 360 and invest in optional reading resources and supports at no cost to the state or districts, the state is leveraging approximately $60 million of one-time federal COVID-19 relief funding and $40 million in federal grant funding.