Maryville High students begin snack and beverage cart, partner with local businesses to learn money management skills
White County High School
Down Syndrome Awareness Day
TAS is focused on ensuring the rights of students with complex needs1, specifically:
The right to be heard
The right to be valued
The right to be taught, challenged, and engaged
Additionally, in accordance with the academic and educator priorities of the Best for All strategic plan, students with complex needs should be provided with meaningful, rigorous, grade-level, standards-aligned instruction in order to achieve their postsecondary goals.
Therefore, the two goals of the TAS initiative are:
Goal 1:
Increase inclusive opportunities for students with complex needs to reduce the achievement gap, resulting in more students participating in the general assessment, thus reducing the statewide alternate assessment participation rate to 1%.
Goal 2:
Increase the graduation rate and enrollment in postsecondary education for students with complex needs (e.g., inclusive higher education, technical colleges, and community colleges) and competitive integrated employment, thereby reducing the gap in employment of individuals with complex needs as compared to all other individuals by 5%.
Participation in TAS will provide middle and high schools the opportunity to engage in highly requested technical assistance, training, and coaching to support the vision and mission of the school to increase learning for all students with complex needs. In addition, mini-grants will be available to support implementation of the work within their school. Each school team will consist of a school administrator, general education teacher, special education teacher, and the district’s special education supervisor.
TAS Cohorts 1-4
Updated April 2026
For questions or assistance, please contact the TAS Support Team at tas@utk.edu.