Strong Results for Students Start with Strong Teaching: How MNPS Is Leading Through Professional Learning

The results are clear. 

Students across Metro Nashville Public Schools are achieving at higher levels than ever before. In 2025, MNPS recorded the highest TCAP proficiency rates in district history under current standards, with gains across English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science. High school students posted their strongest End-of-Course results on record, and 19 of 21 grade-level subject areas improved over the previous year. 

Just as importantly, student growth continues to accelerate. For the fourth consecutive year, MNPS earned a Level 5 rating in the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, the highest possible designation for academic growth. That four-year streak is a first in district history. 

These outcomes are not happening by chance. They are the result of a deliberate, sustained focus on improving teaching and learning in every classroom. 

A recent national study from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University helps explain why this approach matters. The report identifies professional learning as one of the most important levers districts can pull to improve student outcomes, particularly when it is ongoing, job-embedded, and centered on coaching and collaboration rather than one-time workshops. 

That distinction is critical. 

Research consistently shows that traditional, one-time professional development has limited impact on classroom instruction. In contrast, sustained support, including instructional coaching and collaborative planning, leads to meaningful improvements in teaching practice and, ultimately, student learning. 

This is where MNPS stands apart. 

Sustained Investment in Continuous Learning

Our strategy is not built around isolated training sessions. It is built around people and practice. Across the district, educators are supported by instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and content experts who work alongside them every day, helping translate standards into high-quality instruction and ensuring students experience rigorous, engaging learning in every classroom. 

The national report highlights that most districts have not significantly changed how they approach professional learning over the past two decades, often maintaining relatively low levels of investment and limited access to high-quality coaching. As a result, many systems are unable to provide consistent, sustained support to all teachers. 

MNPS has taken a different path. 

We have prioritized building a system where professional learning is continuous, embedded in daily practice, and aligned to what students need most. That includes a strong emphasis on instructional coaching, collaborative teacher teams, and content-specific support, all of which research identifies as the most effective drivers of instructional improvement. 

To support this work, MNPS has made a deliberate and sustained investment in professional learning that goes well beyond national norms. MNPS invests approximately 10% of its overall budget in this work. More importantly, the vast majority of that investment is focused on people, instructional coaches, teacher leaders, curriculum specialists, and content experts who provide direct, ongoing support to educators. 

That alignment matters. The most effective forms of professional learning are also the most intensive and people-centered, requiring consistent engagement over time rather than one-time experiences. 

The connection between this approach and student outcomes is not theoretical. 

When teachers receive consistent, high-quality support, instruction improves. When instruction improves, students learn more. The gains we are seeing across subjects and grade levels reflect that progression in action. 

“At MNPS, we believe the most powerful investment we can make for our students is in the growth and development of our educators,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Superintendent. “When teachers are supported with meaningful coaching and collaboration, the impact reaches every classroom, every day.” 

The Annenberg report also notes an important reality: providing universal access to high-quality coaching and professional learning is resource-intensive, and most districts do not yet operate at that level. But it is precisely this type of sustained, people-centered approach that holds the greatest promise for improving outcomes at scale. 

MNPS is demonstrating what that looks like in practice. 

Our focus is not simply on spending more. It is on building a system where professional learning is purposeful, aligned, and directly connected to student success. The progress our students are making reflects that commitment. 

And we will continue to build on it, because when we strengthen teaching, we strengthen outcomes for every student we serve.