Principals,

Thank you for your continued partnership and diligence in completing the required e-Collect forms for eligible 3rd- and 4th-grade students. Your timely completion of this process is essential to ensuring that student promotional decisions are accurately documented, and that district and Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) records accurately reflect each student's promotional outcome.

As you continue reviewing your students, please be aware that there are several scenarios that may cause a student's e-Collect Completed status to display "No" in the reporting system, even though you have already submitted an e-Collect form. In many cases, this does not mean the form was never completed. Rather, it may be related to how the form was completed or which form was selected.

Some common examples include:

• Completing the Charter School (CS) version of the e-Collect form for an MSCS traditional school student.
• Selecting a response that prevents the system from recognizing the e-Collect as complete (for example, indicating that the required principal, ELA teacher, and parent conference did not occur).
• Other data-entry scenarios that prevent the system from validating the completed form.

If you notice that a student you know you have completed is still displaying "e-Collect Completed-No," please do not assume the system is incorrect. Instead, review the student's e-Collect form carefully to verify that:

• The correct e-Collect form was completed.
• All required fields have been completed accurately.
• The appropriate responses have been selected.

Completing these forms accurately is critical, as they serve as the official documentation of student promotional decisions and ensure compliance with the TDOE Literacy Commitment requirements. Accurate e-Collect data also enables the district to monitor completion, provide appropriate support to schools, and maintain reliable student records. Please know that Ms. Porsha Dixon is here to support you throughout this important process. Whether you have questions, or need assistance troubleshooting a student's record, or would like someone to walk through the process with you, she is available to help. You can reach her via email, phone, Microsoft Teams, or she is happy to schedule an in-person visit to support you and your team.  Ms. Dixon will be out visiting schools next week to support principals and leads with completion of the process to ensure accuracy of student placement and documentation.

Thank you for your continued partnership, dedication, and commitment to ensuring that every student's promotional decision is documented accurately. We sincerely appreciate your efforts and look forward to supporting you in bringing this important work to completion.

TEAM Student Growth scores have been released in the TeachAll platform. Portfolio educators may check TN Portfolio for scores. 

Educators with questions regarding their portfolio score should contact their Content Advisor for score-specific feedback and guidance related to scoring results and content-area requirements.

Grievances may be submitted only for the following reasons:

• Data Accuracy Issues – Evaluation data assigned to the wrong educator. Disagreement with a score is not grounds for a grievance.
• Procedural Errors – Significant evaluation process errors, such as missing required observations or conferences.

Please refer to the Guidance for Grievance for complete procedures and eligibility requirements.

A portfolio will be assigned an Incomplete (I) and the teacher’s LOE (Level of Overall Effectiveness) score will NOT generate for the 2025-26 school year if any of the four collections were not 100% complete by the deadline. These educators will also be assigned to the Novice track in PLZ for SY26-27 and will receive four observations.

Please contact the District Portfolio Lead, Floresha Smith via email (smithf2@scsk12.org) for any questions or to report any issues.

In accordance with Tennessee State Board of Education Policy 5.201, all educators must be evaluated annually by a certified evaluator. To support administrators in meeting this requirement, Memphis-Shelby County Schools offers multiple pathways for obtaining or maintaining TEM Certification for the 2026-27 school year.

Returning Observers

An email was sent out in early June for recertification. Administrators who were previously certified as evaluators must:

• Complete the Self-Paced TEM Training in Canvas
• Complete the required Calibration Exercise in PLZ
• Complete all certification requirements by September 8, 2026

Important: If you are still in an eligible role for certification and did not receive the email, please contact EPS at eps@scsk12.org. All Returning Observers must successfully complete coursework and calibration by September 8, 2026, to remain certified for the 2026–27 school year.

New Observers

Administrators pursuing TEM certification for the first time can register for the course below:

Self-Paced Canvas Course

• PLZ Course #50074

2-Day Virtual 

• PLZ Course #50075

Completion of the selected training pathway and all required calibration activities is necessary to obtain TEM certification. All New Observers must successfully complete coursework and calibration by March 30, 2027.

SY2026-2027 NIE Evaluator Certification

For RETURNING NIE Evaluators that were previously NIE Certified during SY2025-2026, NIE Recertification is NOT REQUIRED for SY2026-2027. Eligible Returning NIE Evaluators will be automatically identified and added as NIE Evaluators in PLZ for SY2026-27.

- NEW NIE Evaluators  

For SY2026-2027, there are two (2) options offered in attaining NIE Evaluator Certification:  

• Self-Paced (Canvas)
• Live/Virtual Session

Course numbers and date information can be found HERE.  

Questions/Concerns? Send an email to eps@scsk12.org.  

The deadline to certify as an NIE Evaluator for SY2026-2027 is April 9.

According to state board rule 0520-02-01 and state board policy 5.201, all educators must be evaluated annually by a certified evaluator.

All evaluator certification training for 2026-27 is virtual.

• The window for RECERTIFICATION is from June 1, 2026 to September 9, 2026, 5 p.m. CT.
  • Those not completing recertification by September 9, 2026, 5 p.m. CT, will be required to complete initial certification.
  • Invitation: If you were a certified TEAM evaluator in 2025-26 and did not receive an invitation and process details, please be sure to check spam/junk folders. As invitations were sent in bulk, a firewall may have blocked receipt.
    • Registration is not required. Invitations to access the learning module and to take the recertification test will be sent directly to currently certified evaluators.
    • Contact TEAM.Questions@tn.gov if you are unable to find your recertification invitation.
• The window for INITIAL CERTIFICATION is from June 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, 5 p.m. CT.

All certification courses will be accessed in the TeachALL platform. You will need to access the courses with your Single Sign On or a self-created TeachALL account. 

Please Note: The department no longer issues a certificate at the end of evaluator courses. Evaluators can save their TASL email as proof of completion.

​**All TEAM Evaluator completion notifications should be forwarded to the Employee Performance & Support Department via email: EPS@scsk12.org.

For more information about TEAM training and certification, please visit the TEAM website  .

Contact the State at  TEAM.Questions@tn.gov should you have any questions or concerns regarding TEAM certification for 2026-2027.