Deb, a presenter from the Tennessee Department of Education, told the State Board of Education that the department intends to unify academic and workforce pathways through a new Future Ready Tennessee portal designed to help students, families and counselors plan postsecondary and career steps. "The high school experience in Tennessee will be transformed to ensure access to high quality post secondary credentials of value," Deb said, describing four pillars: credentials of value, individualized advising, seamless transitions and work-based learning.

Deb said the state will finalize a single, statewide industry credential list in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Labor and workforce partners and with postsecondary partners (TBR and THEC). She cited a recent year in which "our students earned over 77,000 industry credentials" and said the department is building skills-assessment crosswalks so students and employers can match credentials to competencies.

On individualized advising the department plans a career-coach network and professional development: "We've identified about 400 [career coaches] across the state," Deb said, and the department will support certification and shared training modules for coaches and counselors. The portal will create student accounts and portfolios that capture transcripts, ACT scores and earned industry credentials and show aligned programs, employers hiring in Tennessee and typical salaries for those pathways.

Deb described planned integration with state labor and economic-development systems: Jobs for TN and the Department of Labor will feed job and internship listings into the portal so students and counselors can see local employer pipelines. She said the department has completed a technical guide (phase 1) and is now seeking funding and a vendor; she estimated a build and pilot "no more than two years, including a pilot." A pilot of new work-based-learning models and expanded recognition for industry partners was described as starting in January.

Board members asked how the portal differs from existing platforms and how parents and counselors will be trained. Deb said the portal will be personalized and public-facing, offer a single application for some dual-enrollment processes and provide proactive outreach to schools and families during rollout. She emphasized the portal is meant to complement, not replace, guidance counselors and career coaches.

The department did not present a final procurement timeline or a vendor; the presentation closed with the department's pledge to coordinate communications, secure funding and to return to the board with implementation details.