Tennessee's Academic Standards - A Brief History and the Challenges Ahead | Page 3

Taking Note

Superintendent Selection in Tennessee: A Brief History
January 2011

Common Core Assessments
Just as the TCAP assessments had to be revised to align with
the Tennessee Diploma Project’s more rigorous standards, a new
assessment will have to be developed to align with the CCSS.
Fortunately for Tennessee, the federal government has provided
funding to help develop this assessment. In September 2010, it was
announced that Tennessee was one of thirteen governing members in
the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
(PARCC), one of two consortiums of states that are being funded by
the federal government to develop new assessments aligned with the
CCSS.xii Over the next four years, Tennessee and other states in the
PARCC consortium will work together to develop new assessments
aligned with the CCSS. These new assessments will begin being
piloted in 2012-13 and fully rolled out by 2014-15. These assessments
will be administered online and will include not only end-of-the-year
assessments but also several mid-year assessments that will allow
teachers to better monitor their students’ progress throughout the year
and adapt their teaching methods accordingly.

Expected Benefits
Tennessee will see many benefits from its adoption of the Tennessee
Diploma Project, CCSS, and PARCC Assessments. First and most
importantly, Tennessee students will be taught a more rigorous
curriculum that will help them be better prepared to enter college
or the workforce. In fact, the CCSS was specifically designed to
ensure that any student who mastered the CCSS would be prepared
to enter college or the workforce and compete in today’s global
economy. Second, participating in the CCSS will allow teachers in
Tennessee to share curricular resources and professional development
opportunities with teachers in other states. While there was some
cross-state collaboration prior to the CCSS, the CCSS will greatly
enhance collaboration as all teachers in each grade and subject-level
will now be teaching a common curriculum, making it much easier
to share resources across states. Third, participating in the PARCC
Assessments will allow Tennessee to compare the performance of its
students to the performance of students across the nation. This will be
critical in helping ensure the state’s students are competitive for today’s
global workforce.

Expected Challenges
Although Tennessee will see many benefits from adopting higher
academic standards, the state will also face at least four challenges in fully
implementing these standards.

Stakeholder Engagement

It will take time for Tennessee students
to meet the new, higher expectations set by the Tennessee Diploma
Project and the CCSS. It is critical that key stakeholders across the state
be patient and supportive of our schools as they transition to these higher
standards. While the public must hold schools accountable for results,
everyone needs to understand that raising the bar for all students will
take time and lots of hard work by students, educators, parents, and the
broader community.

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Professional Development Both principals and teachers will
need significant amounts of ongoing professional development about
how best to teach the new standards. For teachers, this will require
both the state and districts providing ongoing, targeted grade-level
and subject-specific professional development. For principals, this
will require significant professional development around how to offer
constructive feedback to teachers about their teaching strategies on
the standards.
Technology

As mentioned above, the PARCC Assessments will
be administered online. This means that by 2014-15 every school in
Tennessee must have the technology infrastructure to test students
online. Both the state and districts must begin thinking about how they
will ensure every school has the Internet bandwidth and computers
needed to administer online assessments in 2014-15. This will likely take
thoughtful budgetary planning over the next several years at both the state
and district level.

Innovation

Ensuring that every student in the state meets the
higher expectations of the Tennessee Diploma Project and the CCSS will
require significantly innovation. The state, districts, and individual schools
will have to be very innovative in how they use resources (including
teachers, in-school time, and technology) to help every Tennessee
student achieve proficiency on the new standards. This may require the
state giving districts more flexibility from outdated regulations as well as
helping districts and schools share best practices as they find innovative
ways to increase student achievement, especially for the state’s most
disadvantaged students.

Conclusion
Over the past several years, Tennessee has significantly raised the
bar for its students by implementing the Tennessee Diploma Project,
adopting the Common Core State Standards, and participating in the
PARCC Assessment Consortium. Over time, these higher expectations
will result in more Tennessee students being prepared to compete in
a global economy. However, meeting these higher expectations will
not be easy. In the coming years, it will be critical that policymakers,
educators, and the broader public continue to support higher academic
standards and commit to providing educators with the flexibility, support,
and resources they need to be successful.

i
Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., Strohl, J. (2010, June). Help Wanted: Projections of Job and Education Requirements Through 2018. Retrieved from
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce: http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/ExecutiveSummary-web.pdf.
ii
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. (2008, September). Investing for Growth in Tennessee’s Workforce to 2016. Retrieved
from Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: http://www.doleta.gov/Programs/2007ReportsAndPlans/Economic_Analysis_
Reports/TN.pdf.
iii

Achieve. (2010). Education Pipeline Data State Profile, Tennessee. Retrieved from Achieve: http://www.achieve.org/tennessee.

iv

Achieve. (2010). National Education Summits. Retrieved from Achieve: http://www.achieve.org/Summits.

v

Achieve. (2010). About Achieve. Retrieved from Achieve: http://www.achieve.org/files/AboutAchieve.pdf.

vi
U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (2007, February 28). Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness. Retrieved
from U.S. Chamber of Commerce: http://www.uschamber.com/reportcard/2007.

Wilson, J. P. and Cour, K. (2009, September). On the Horizon: More Rigorous Standards and New Graduation Requirements. Retrieved from Offices
of Research and Education Accountability, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury: http://www.mnps.org/AssetFactory.aspx?did=39341.

vii

Tennessee Department of Education. (2010). Tennessee Diploma Project: Graduation Requirements. Retrieved from Tennessee Department of
Education: http://www.tn.gov/education/gradreq.shtml.
viii

ix
Tennessee Department of Education. (2010, May 29). Tennessee Department of Education Announces New Standards Training. Retrieved from
Tennessee Department of Education Newsroom: https://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/2038.
x
Achieve. (2009). Closing the Expectations Gap: Fourth Annual 50-State Progress Report on the Alignment of High School Pol icies with the Demands
of College and Careers. Retrieved from Achieve: http://www.achieve.org/files/50-state-2009.pdf.
xi

Interview with Tennessee Department of Education official (2010, December 29).

xii

Achieve. (2010). Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Retrieved from Achieve/PARCC: http://www.achieve.org/PARCC.

1207 18th Avenue South, Suite 326, Nashville, TN 37212 — tel [phone] — fax [phone] — www.tnscore.org