K-12 education content standards in Tennessee

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Education Banner Blue.png
Education Policy
Education Icon 200x200.png
Education policy topics
• Local school board authority across the 50 states
• School choice in the United States
• Impact of school choice on rural school districts
• State policies on cellphone use in K-12 public schools
• School choice glossary
•Overview of trends in K-12 curricula development

Other policy areas
Click here for coverage of other policy areas on Ballotpedia
See also: K-12 education content standards in the states

This page features the following information about who sets K-12 education content standards in Tennessee public schools:

  • The state entity with the authority to approve K-12 education content standards.
  • Whether Tennessee requires or recommends that local schools or districts follow the K-12 education content standards.
  • The statutory or regulatory language in Tennessee governing the development and application of K-12 education content standards.

Background

State education officials develop content standards in order to facilitate curriculum development for public schools. This section examines the role of content standards in public instruction and the different state approaches that either require or recommend their use in public schools.

What are content standards?

Content standards are educational learning and achievement goals that state education officials either require or recommend that local schools satisfy in K-12 instruction. Content standards are not curriculum but rather aim to guide the development of what state officials view as a robust K-12 curriculum.[1]

The development of K-12 education content standards in public schools varies across the 50 states. State boards of education, state education agency leaders, and local school districts, for example, may play a role in the development and approval of content standards.

Do states recommend or require schools to follow content standards?

State statutes or regulations may require or recommend the use of K-12 education content standards in public instruction.

Some states require local schools to align curriculum with content standards by establishing content standards as a minimum course of study. Such states may also require local schools or districts to adopt content standards as part of their curriculum, or they may require students to demonstrate mastery of content standards through state assessments.

Other states recommend that local schools or districts follow state content standards.

Who sets state K-12 education content standards in Tennessee?

The following section provides information about the development and application of K-12 education content standards in Tennessee as of 2021.

The table below identifies the state entity tasked with setting content standards, whether the content standards are recommendations or requirements for local schools, and the governing statute(s). The text of the governing statute(s) is provided below the table.

Tennessee K-12 education content standards
Entity Recommendations or requirements? Statute or Regulation
State Board of Education Requirements Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-1-309 (2021)


Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-1-309:

“ No educational standards to be imposed by federal government — Adoption of state educational standards — Joining testing consortium — Use of collected data.


(a) No educational standards shall be imposed on the state by the federal government. Any adoption of educational standards for the public schools of the state shall be done freely by the state board of education which, except as provided in subsection (b), may change, adjust or recede from a standard at any time.
(b) A proposed change or addition to an educational standard, including, but not limited to, the Next Generation Science Standards, the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, the National Health Education Standards, or the National Sexuality Education Standards shall be posted for public review on the state board's website and submitted to the education committee of the senate and the education instruction committee of the house of representatives at least sixty (60) days before the state board meeting during which the final adoption of the proposed standard is to be considered. The state board may vote on adoption of standards or proposed changes or additions only at a public meeting at which a quorum is in attendance.[2]

”

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Common Core State Standards Initiative, "What are educational standards?" accessed April 21, 2022
  2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=K-12_education_content_standards_in_Tennessee&oldid=9081540"