On September 19, 2021, the first round of the State Board of Education’s science academic standards review cycle closed, collecting over 10,000 comments from teachers, education leaders, and parents.
During the initial review period from August - September of this year, Tennesseans were invited to share their feedback on the state’s K-12 academic standards for science through an online survey. Members of the public were able to review the existing standards for all sections of the state’s science education standards as they shared comments. The survey offered options to indicate whether a standard should be kept, changed, removed, or moved to a different grade level, as well as space to indicate if a new standard should potentially be added.
“Reviewing Tennessee’s science academic standards is the design process in action and helps ensure a higher level of learning is attained by students through teacher instruction,” said Brandi Stroecker, director of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network. “Including a wide range of stakeholders — such as parents, educators, and even students — creates a rich and robust set of standards by including multiple perspectives as they work to articulate the essential core knowledge and skills students should master.”
With the conclusion of the first survey window, teams of Tennessee educators from K-12 schools and higher education will soon begin reviewing the public comments and propose revisions. Early in 2022, the revisions will become available again for public input in a second survey.