FOR CHATTANOOGA 2.0, THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

The public may not have heard much from the Chattanooga 2.0 movement in the last several months, but that doesn’t mean its action and core teams haven’t been busy attempting to implement the 15-month-old community movement’s strategies in the areas of early childhood education, K-12 schools, post-secondary education and workforce development across the city.

2.0’s goals remain tied to a truism expressed in the fall of 2015 when new Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce President Bill Kilbride learned Chattanooga and Hamilton County did not have enough trained labor to fill current family-wage job openings and would not have the workforce to fill an increasing number of those jobs in the future.

The goals are to double “the number of post-secondary degrees or credentials with real market value completed by Hamilton County graduates from 650 to 1,300 each year” and to increase “the overall percentage of adults in Hamilton County with a college degree or technical training certificate from 38 percent today to 75 percent by 2025,” according to a new document created by community members.

And although it’s only been a year-plus from movement inception to implementing strategies, Kilbride said at a recent steering committee meeting that 15 percent of the 2018 high school graduating class will be involved in some type of workforce development program suggested by Chattanooga 2.0 strategies.

The meeting highlighted work on the strategies associated with key areas in K-12 schools and early childhood education and touched on post-secondary education as it relates to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s teacher preparation program.

If it’s true it’s better to be lucky than good, the 2.0 movement lucked out when Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith stepped down last March after the district was involved in controversy involving the pool cue rape of an Ooltewah High School basketball student. The district was known to be relatively slow and reticent in implementing change — not that it didn’t desire change — but the impetus surrounding Chattanooga 2.0 and the process of selecting a new superintendent may have hastened the introduction of new programs and strategies for the 2016-2017 school year.

Increasing the focus on literacy for all students, for instance, is just one 2.0 strategy that also is a key goal for county schools this year.

To wit, as explained to the steering committee by Hamilton County Schools interim Superintendent Dr. Kirk Kelly and Chief Academic Officer Jill Levine, guided reading specialists have been added to 15 county schools and have assisted as K-8 schools hosted 600 literacy labs. Monthly professional development has been added for all reading interventionists. A web-based reading program has been implemented at all middle schools and high schools, and the district is collaborating with the city’s youth and family development centers so students can have access to the program there.

Further, a new literacy curriculum has been launched at Brainerd, the city’s lowest performing high school. A summer induction academy has been planned for two schools so new teachers are fully prepared to teach reading. And schools with strong literacy models are hosting network meetings to provide support for other school leaders.

The district also has put a number of pilot programs in place, hired specialty teachers to help enrich students, created networks and collaboratives to assist students, teachers, principals and families, and is working to put more pipelines in place in which students can either have dual enrollment with a higher education center or can be a part of a program that trains them for a post-high school occupation.

In early childhood education, toward the Chattanooga 2.0 goal of ensuring access to high-quality programs for children throughout the community, 35 organizations across the county have collaborated to launch Chattanooga Basics, a website that gives five parenting and care-giving principles that can benefit all children. In addition, the city has increased its early childhood scholarships, and a texting program has been launched to give families three texts a week to support early literacy.

The aforementioned only highlights a few of the strategies that have been implemented in two of 2.0’s four key areas. Many more in each of the areas are underway, planned, seeking further collaboration, awaiting approval or pending other action.

Chattanooga 2.0’s goals may have a long-range achievement year tied to them (2025 in one case), but progress must continue so that the goals are reached. 2.0 was not created to be a one-year planning process that left implementation up to the four winds. It is a journey, and that journey must continue to involve the community, cannot be allowed to stagnate and must constantly look for change, innovation and improvement. Without all of it, Chattanooga becomes a poorer community, literally and spiritually.