Tess Stovall

Tess Stovall

2015 NACSA Leader

Tess Stovall serves as the Director of Charter School Accountability and Policy for the Tennessee State Board of Education. In this role, she manages the charter school application process and authorization duties of the State Board. Prior to joining the staff of the board, she served as the Transformation Facilitator at Cameron Middle School, the first district-led conversion of a traditional public school to a charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Tess has also worked for Congressman Jim Cooper (TN-05) and a centrist think tank, Third Way, on economic and education policy in Washington, DC. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The George Washington University where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and Sociology and a graduate of the London School of Economics where she earned  a Master of Science Degree in Political Sociology.


Most Recent Posts
NACSA Transition Updates
Karega Rausch, NACSA’s President & CEO, has accepted an exciting new role as the Executive Director of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation (IPEC). We are grateful for Karega’s contributions and strong leadership.  We are also...
NACSACon 2026: Learning in Community
Good authorizing doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s built through shared knowledge and, honest conversations. It’s buoyed by a professional field that holds itself to high standards. NACSACon brings that community...
Beyond the Mold: Equipping Authorizers to Evaluate Innovative Schools
By David Greenberg and Jason Zwara Raising the Bar on Accountability Last year, we made several important updates to our state policy recommendations. These changes were critical to accountability in...