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
Here’s What Innovation Looks Like in Schools
The prevailing narrative about the pandemic and innovation is incomplete. Did the pandemic force America’s hand and finally propel innovation in schools? Did schools suddenly embrace new technology and begin...
How to Get Ahead: Invest in Performance Evaluations and Define Paths to Advancement
SEVENTH IN A SERIES Employees who are clear about how they’re doing, what they need to improve, what opportunities lie ahead, and how to get there, are more likely to...
‘Gap Busters’: Lessons from Charter Authorizers in Helping All Kids Achieve More
Accountability is fundamental to quality authorizing. Without it, we run the risk of not seeing the full educational picture in front of us and threaten our ability as educators and...