Strategies Clearinghouse

Strategies to support successful learning outcomes for Tennessee children birth through third grade

The first eight years of a child’s life are so defining that third grade reading and math outcomes predict future academic, career and life success. Decades of research show what children need to build strong brains and succeed in school: 1) high-quality birth-through-age-eight learning environments, 2) health and development on track from birth, and 3) supportive and supported families and communities. The wheel at the right depicts the Bright Start TN major goal of reading and math proficiency by 3rd grade and the three supporting goals that headline the Bright Start TN measures of success.

The Bright Start TN Clearinghouse is a curated collection of evidence-backed and promising strategies which align to the Bright Start TN goals and 15 measures of success. It aims to be a resource to Tennessee communities for solutions to support children’s learning and development outcomes in the first eight years of life, ultimately resulting in them being proficient in reading and math by third grade.

Many clearinghouses provide information on evidence-based or promising programs, but the Bright Start TN Clearinghouse is unique to Tennessee in that the strategies are directly or indirectly connected by evidence to the Bright Start TN measures of success and therefore a good bet for advancing progress toward the goals.  Furthermore, the Clearinghouse gives attention to and prefers strategies that:

• Impact at least two – ideally more — measures of success at once, and therefore optimize the level of effort and investment required to achieve the desired results.
• Have strong returns on investment, improve business models, and/or are otherwise cost-effective compared to strategies that can accomplish the same results at higher cost, and therefore helps assure investments are used to greatest effect.
• Are funded or otherwise resourced and/or promoted by the State of Tennessee, therefore affording greater viability and sustainability.

The Bright Start TN Measures of Success are adapted from the NC Early Childhood Shared Measures of Success Framework which can be found HERE.​