Commission finalizes advisory panelist scoring rubric, members raise concerns about screening experienced professionals

The Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission approved application questions and a scoring rubric for CTE (career and technical education) and wellness advisory panelists at its Jan. 10, 2025 special meeting.

Commission members discussed whether the rubric’s emphasis on prior committee experience risked excluding highly qualified content experts who lack committee service. Laurie Cardozo Moore, a commission member representing parents and citizens, said the rubric as earlier written "basically will disqualify someone with experience" if that person had not served on committees. Doctor Linda Cash, the commission chair, and staff explained changes intended to address that concern.

Lee Houston, a department staff member presenting the rubric, said the application includes question 5 that asks applicants to describe specific knowledge and credentials; those responses can raise an applicant's score even if the applicant lacks committee history. Houston said the commission itself will score the first portion of the rubric and the Tennessee Department of Education will score the subject-matter questions as content experts. Panelist scoring will use 0/2/4 with allowance for midpoints (1 or 3) where appropriate, and scores are due by Jan. 31, 2025 (the date was set at a prior meeting but the commission elected to keep it after the delay).

Commissioners confirmed the passing threshold used for panelists: applicants need to achieve at least 80% of the total possible points to be considered passing. William Bridal (referred to as Billy in the meeting), a commission member and high school teacher, asked whether 13 applicants was sufficient; staff replied that because some applicants are qualified to score multiple subjects the current pool was sufficient for the immediate review needs.

Candi Collier, senior director of CTE at the Tennessee Department of Education, described how rubrics are grouped by career cluster (for 2025–26, reviewers will score materials for information technology and advanced manufacturing among other clusters) and noted rubrics emphasize instructional focus, hands-on skill development, safety in CTE programs, accessibility, and standards alignment. The department will provide training for reviewers and use hypothetical scoring examples to calibrate reviewers’ judgments.

The commission approved the questions and rubrics by roll-call vote. Staff said they will email commission members the team assignments and scoring instructions, and results from the rubric scoring will be used to select advisory panelists at the next meeting.