STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE: 2012-2013 – Section I: Year in Review
STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE: 2012-2013 – Section I: Year in Review
Lan-
From
the Field:
Common Core
During SCORE’s process to gather feedback
across the state on recent reform efforts, educators consistently said they were excited about
the potential of the Common Core State Standards
to provide a pathway for all students to be successful
after high school. In those districts that had already begun
implementing the standards, educators were encouraged by
the progress they have seen their students make. “What we’ve
seen is we did not have high enough expectations of our kids,” one
principal said. “They can do a lot more than we thought they could.”
Educators also said that the standards are raising the bar not only for
students, but for teachers as well. “I think my teachers feel more challenged
than they have in a long time. It has challenged them and allowed them more
freedom and allowed them to feel more professional about themselves than they
have in the past,” another principal said. Educators also praised the training they
received in Summer 2012 on the new 3-8 math standards, saying that it was high quality
training that would lead them to change their instructional practice. Many said they appreciated the depth of the training, which went beyond highlighting what the standards are to
modeling what a lesson would actually look like and discussing common student problems they
might expect. Additionally, educators said they appreciated the use of current Tennessee teachers as providers of the training. “When a fellow teacher leads trainings, it feels like support,”
one teacher said. “You feel like we’re doing it together.”
While educators had positive reactions to both the promise of Common Core and the state’s
implementation plan, many had reservations, particularly with regard to the state’s previous
implementation plan for Common Core and ensuring there is ongoing support for teachers to
implement the standards with the depth that Common Core necessitates. For many, the quality
of the 3-8 math training highlighted the lack of guidance and support that was provided to K-2
educators who began implementation in 2011-12. “If you would have asked my [K-2] teachers if
they were teaching Common Core last year, they would have said yes,” one principal said. “But
now that they’re seeing a complex performance task, they will say that they weren’t doing
that.” Educators consistently said it was important to ensure that teachers had both
the pedagogical skills and the depth of content knowledge needed to teach the
standards and help those students who have experienced many years of education before Common Core succeed.
29
guage
Arts Leadership Council
– composed of
district instructional
supervisors – who have
recruited and finalized a
list of more than 60 districts
to participate in a Common
Core English language arts pilot
during the 2012-13 school year.
The Department is planning to host
additional Common Core trainings
in the summer of 2013 for K-8 math
follow up, 9-12 math, K-5 reading,
and 6-12 English language arts and
literacy.
To increase awareness of the Common Core standards, the Department launched the website, www.
tncore.org, in April 2012 to serve as
the primary outlet for information on
implementation to reach educators
and instructional leaders. In September 2012, SCORE re-launched the
Expect More, Achieve More Coalition, a statewide alliance of more
than 150 business, community, and
education organizations in Tennessee that supports high academic
standards in public education
(www.expectmoretn.org). The
Coalition’s goal is to build
statewide and local
engagement, support,
and awareness of
the state’s efforts
to raise the
bar in the
class-
room so that every student graduates high school prepared for
postsecondary and the workforce.
In the Fall of 2012, the Coalition
distributed over 500,000 brochures
to parents across the state about
the importance of high academic
standards and the shift to the Common Core.
Over the last year, the Department’s work to offer high quality
training and engage educators
as partners in the state’s Common Core implementation plan
has been an important strategy
to ensure that educators not only
teach higher standards but also
change their practice in a way that
prepares students for college and
career. It is crucial that the Department continue its work to enhance
district capacity through the support
of the Centers of Regional Excellence and other peer leaders. It
will also be important to continue
to examine ways that high quality
resources can be shared.
PARCC Assessments
States that are implementing the
Common Core State Standards have
the opportunity to develop assessments that are aligned with the new,
more rigorous expectations. Tennessee, along with 22 other states,
belongs to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC),
which is [