NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) Gov. Bill Haslam is laying out a process for a public review of the state's K-12 academic standards in English and math.
Academic standards are typically reviewed in Tennessee every six years. But the recently implemented Common Core state education standards have proven controversial and the governor says he believes it's time to take a fresh look.
The highly influential State Collaborative on Reforming Education has been a strong cheerleader for Common Core. The group believes the governor is still solidly behind the standards, but SCORE spokesperson Teresa Wasson says they’ll be keeping a close on the review process.
“To ensure that the standards are not lowered through this process, or any other process, and that we keep reaching for higher standards so we can help our students achieve even more.”
Wasson says SCORE’s discussions with educators statewide suggest teachers need more training on how best to teach the new standards. She also says Tennessee needs to develop new academic assessment tests that more closely aligned with Common Core.
In the coming weeks, a website will be available for Tennesseans to go online, review each current state standard and comment on what they like, don't like, or make suggestions.
The Southern Regional Education Board, as a third party, will collect the data in the spring and then turn that information over to professional Tennessee educators to be reviewed and analyzed.