Common Core State Standards - Better Preparing Tennessee's Students for College and Career | Page 4

Taking Note

Superintendent Selection in2012
May Tennessee: A Brief History

Maintain commitment to improved teacher training that
aligns with Common Core standards
Collaboration between the Tennessee Department of Education,
Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and teacher training institutions
will remain essential to enhance the quality of teachers in the state and
ensure new teachers are prepared to provide instruction aligned with
Common Core standards. Once teachers are placed in the field, their
training institutions will need information on their classroom performance
to make improvements to preparation programs. THEC’s annual Report
Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs provides an
essential tool for accountability and training program improvement.
Provide ongoing, targeted professional learning opportuni ties
for teachers and administrators
Although the Department has announced plans for Field Service Centers
to host training sessions on Common Core standards for grades 3-8
math in Summer 2012, teachers and school leaders will need more
ongoing, in-depth professional learning to develop their skills and
knowledge to instruct to the depth required by Common Core. The
Department will also focus the agenda of its Fall 2012 LEAD Conference
on Common Core implementation. Professional learning for Common
Core should highlight the use of data generated by PARCC assessments
to inform their approach to supporting individual student needs and
areas in which classes need additional instruction. Core Coaches will
play a leading role in ensuring teachers have the resources they need to
successfully implement the standards.

communities, adapt Common Core standards to ensure alignment
with the needs of Tennessee’s employers. Non-profit and philanthropic
organizations dedicated to improving student college and career
readiness are also key partners in supporting schools and districts as they
apply the standards and prepare teachers for their full implementation.
All of these groups can support efforts at the state and local levels to
better inform the public about Common Core standards and how they
will contribute to improving educational and economic outcomes for
Tennessee students.
Communicate costs of Common Core implementation and how
the standards will be sustained after Race to the Top funds expire
As other states preparing to implement Common Core standards are
estimating associated costs involving hundreds of millions of dollars,
Tennessee must remain vigilant in leveraging its resources to integrate
the standards into the ELA and math curricula in the most cost-effective
way possible. Policy makers and the general public should have ready
access to data on implementation costs, and reporting this data will
enable state and local officials to identify areas where resources can be
shared or used more effectively.
Additional Information

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Recognize and support the instructional paradigm shift
represented by Common Core implementation
Ongoing professional development for teachers and administrators will
represent an essential foundation for Common Core implementation.
However, state and local education leaders must also revisit all aspects
of instructional practice—training, support, curricular materials and
textbooks, and reporting tools—to ensure alignment with the new
standards. As the Department moves to introduce a report card on
professional development providers, the information provided by the
report cards should provide actionable items for scaling up best practices
at the district level.
Provide information to the general public on lessons
learned from pilot and data collection phases
The Department and THEC can provide regularly updated information
on Common Core implementation, alignment of teacher preparation
programs and Common Core standards, professional learning
opportunities for current teachers, and lessons learned from
assessment pilots. This information will provide policy makers and
the general public with a better understanding of the state’s efforts to
support teachers and enhance student college and career readiness
through Common Core standards.
Engage business, non-profit, and philanthropic communities
Business leaders have a vested interest in supporting public education
to produce graduates who are ready to bring their skills and knowledge
into the workforce. Their voices can help the state, as well as local

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Tennessee’s state website devoted to Common Core
resources is available at http://www.tncore.org.
Information on PARCC assessments is available online at
http://www.parcconline.org/.
More information on the Common Core standards is
available at http://www.corestandards.org/.
Supporting materials from Achieve are available at
http://www.achieve.org/achieving-common-core.
Educators and parents can find information from
the Expect More, Achieve More campaign online at
http://www.expectmoretn.org/.

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) collaboratively
supports Tennessee’s work to prepare students for college and the
workforce. We are an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan
advocacy and research institution, founded by former U.S. Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist.
i

The District of Columbia is referred to as a state for counting purposes.

ii

TNCore. (2012) www.tncore.org.

iii

http://www.corestandards.org/frequently-asked-questions.

Tennessee Higher Education Commission. (2011). 2010-11 Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book. http://www.
state.tn.us/thec/Legislative/Reports/2011/2010-11%20Fact%20Book.PDF.
iv

Pare, M. (10 April 2012). “VW reaches out to fill technical jobs.” Chattanooga Times Free Press. http://
timesfreepress.com/news/2012/apr/10/volkswagen-vw-reaches-out-to-fill-technical-jobs/.
v

vi

Tennessee Curriculum Center. http://www.tncurriculumcenter.org/common_core/english.

Tennessee Department of Education (15 February 2012). Press Release: “Tennessee Announces Common Core
Leadership Council.” http://news.tn.gov/node/8421.
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1207 18th Avenue South, Suite 326, Nashville, TN 37212 — tel [phone] — fax [phone] — www.tnscore.org