STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE: 2012-2013 – Section I: Year in Review
STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE: 2012-2013 – Section I: Year in Review
been the ongoing review of the
Tennessee Instructional Leadership
Standards (TILS). The Department
is revising the leadership standards,
which are based on a national
model, so that they emphasize the
school leader’s role in talent management and improving student
achievement. The state department
has engaged in extensive work to
revise the standards during the Fall
of 2012, and plans to share this
work more broadly prior to presenting recommendations to the State
Board of Education in January 2013.
Although the state’s leadership
strategy is poised to make substantial improvements in schoollevel leadership, to date, not
enough has been done and this
area remains one of high priority in Tennessee. The changes in
the teacher evaluation system and
implementation of the Common
Core standards have highlighted
the need for effective instructional
leadership in schools. In order to
leverage their educators’ ability
to serve as leaders, schools and
districts in Tennessee will need
to adopt a distributed leadership
model that empowers both teachers
and principals to serve as leaders
in their schools. Furthermore, the
Department will need to develop
and execute a comprehensive communication strategy to ensure that
schools and districts understand the
new instructional leadership standards and the changes that will be
made to align training, support, and
evaluation.
Transition to Common
Core State Standards
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Grades K-2
Math & ELA
2011-2012
Standards and
Assessments
Transition to Common Core State
Core transition as well as managing
different aspects of the work. For example, the Leadership Council was
Standards
In July 2010, the State Board of
Education adopted the Common
Core State Standards, a set of internationally competitive standards
developed by state leaders based
on research about what it takes to
be prepared for college courses and
entry level jobs that lead to careers.
Beginning in the Fall of 2011, the
state embarked on a multi-year plan
to phase in the standards with full
implementation set for the 2013-14
school year. The adoption and implementation of the Common Core
State Standards will help ensure
that public schools in Tennessee are
preparing students to be successful
after high school.
The Common Core standards are
designed to help students understand subjects in greater depth.
They also require students to use
more critical thinking and problem
solving skills compared to the state’s
current standards. This requires both
students and teachers to engage in
new approaches to classroom learning. The Tennessee Department of
Education has initiated a significant
strategy to help educators make the
transition to the new standards. In
early 2012, the Department selected
13 school directors, supervisors, and
assistant principals to serve on the
Common Core Leadership Council,
a group that is responsible for advising the Department on the Common
Grades 3-8
Math (partial)
20 12-2013
instrumental in vetting and selecting
338 highly effective educators to
serve as Common Core coaches to
facilitate summer training sessions to
build regional capacity for ongoing support. In July 2012, these
coaches helped train more than
10,000 teachers, principals, higher
education faculty, and other partners
at 41 sites across the state.
The Department is also utilizing math consultants brought on
through its Race to the Top contract
with Battelle for Kids to work in partnership with the Centers of Regional
Excellence (formerly the field service
centers) to provide ongoing support
to schools throughout the school
year. (See call-out box on page 32.)
In the latter part of 2012, the Department hired additional Common
Core coaches as well as Common
Core Leadership coaches to support
ongoing implementation. The Department has also formed an English
Grades 3-8 Math
(full) & ELA; Grades
9-12 Math & ELA;
Grades 6-12
Literacy 2013-2014
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