Haslam Lays Out Next Steps From Education Summit

Press Release

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced the process for a public review of the state's K-12 academic standards in English language arts and math. The process is in partnership with the State Board of Education and will include input from educators and citizens from across the state.

Academic standards are typically reviewed in Tennessee every six years. With these standards now in their fourth year, and with the discussion happening in Tennessee and across the country about Common Core state standards, Haslam believes this is the appropriate time to take a fresh look.

"One thing we've all agreed on is the importance of high standards in Tennessee," Haslam continued. "This discussion is about making sure we have the best possible standards as we continue to push ahead on the historic progress we're making in academic achievement."

In the coming weeks, a website will be available to every Tennessean to go online, review each current state standard and comment on what that person likes, doesn't like, or would suggest should be changed about that particular standard.

The Southern Regional Education Board, as a third party, independent resource, will collect the data in the Spring and then turn that information over to be reviewed and analyzed by professional Tennessee educators. The governor has asked the State Board of Education to appoint two committees, an English Language Arts Standards Review & Development Committee and Math Standards Review & Development Committee, as well as three advisory teams for each of those committees.

The advisory teams will review Tennessee's current standards and gather input to make recommendations to the two committees, which will then propose possible changes to the State Board of Education.

The two standards review committees will each be made up of six Tennessee K-12 educators and two representatives from Tennessee higher education institutions for a total of 16 Tennessee professional educators.

The two committees will receive input from three advisory teams each, for a total of six. The advisory teams will be grouped by K-5th grade, 6th -- 8th grade and 9th -- 12th grade, and each team will be made up of six Tennessee K-12 educators and one representative from a Tennessee higher education institution for a total of 42 Tennessee professional educators.

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