At the time of his Award, at Stewarts Creek Elementary School in Smyrna, Tennessee, fifth-grade teacher Trey Duke has fostered substantial academic growth among students across a wide variety of ability levels. Teaching in an inclusion classroom with a large number of special education students, Duke provides individualized instruction through innovative teaching strategies supported by technology, including small-group instruction, book clubs, kinesthetic learning opportunities involving music, and PowerPoint presentations. Duke uses formative assessment results to plan his instruction, monitors individual student progress, adjusts his instruction accordingly and conducts summative assessments. His students have exceeded local and state averages on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), and even autistic children have undergone remarkable transformations under his tutelage. Duke is the fifth-grade team leader and the acting principal when the principal is away from school. He is chair of several committees, including school literacy and the School Improvement Plan, and is the Phase I Core Group Leader in the Rutherford County Writer's Academy. He has presented his model classroom for the National School Boards Association Technology and Learning Conference and is one of a select group of teachers chosen to train peers on implementing the district's new reading program. After winning his award, Trey served as the Assistant Principal and Head Principal of Smyrna Elementary School in Rutherford County, Tennessee. As an elementary Title I school principal, he led his school with the district’s highest percentage of English Learners and students of poverty as they earned the distinction of “Tennessee Reward School” for exceptional student progress. Currently, he is serving as the Director of Federal Programs and RTI for Rutherford County.
2003 Middle Tennessee State University, B.S.
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