The ELA Standards Recommendation Committee used its Sept. 5 session to finalize operational guidance for multi‑day in‑person review sessions next week and to receive an overview of Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) support and stakeholder feedback themes.

Meeting logistics and procedure
Brianna Summers, director of policy and academics for the State Board, reviewed practical details for the committee’s working sessions: daily start times, reflection periods, flex time for deeper review, and the “parking lot” tool to capture unresolved items for later deliberation. Summers said the committee’s leadership (chair and vice chair) will control the daily pace and called on members to submit brief priority‑reflection documents before the workweek to help set the agenda.

On voting, Summers and committee staff explained the difference between roll‑call votes (used for electronic meetings) and voice votes (used in person). She also described the required motion-and-second procedure and reminded members that a simple majority (five of nine) is sufficient to adopt changes during the work sessions. The meeting record shows the committee already used a roll‑call vote Sept. 5 to approve using the electronic recording as the minutes (8–0).

TDOE overview and stakeholder themes
Christy Wall, assistant commissioner in TDOE’s Office of Academics, and TDOE staff outlined how the department collected and summarized stakeholder feedback and described supports the department will provide during implementation. TDOE staff explained that feedback was gathered through surveys, direct outreach to district leaders and professional organizations, convenings and ongoing communications.

TDOE summarized three recurring stakeholder themes:
- Clarity: Stakeholders asked for clearer, more precise language and more consistent verb choice so teachers can interpret standards consistently.
- Progression (vertical alignment): Several respondents asked the committee to confirm that skills are introduced, reinforced and mastered at developmentally appropriate grades, especially across the 5–6 and 8–9 transitions.
- Coherence: Stakeholders sought alignment between the standards, the introductions/glossary and the appendices so teachers can confidently translate standards into instruction.

Donna Shope, TDOE senior director for early literacy, urged committee members to consider whether standards are understood the same way by novice and veteran teachers and recommended the committee review the supporting introductions and glossary to eliminate ambiguity. TDOE staff also offered to provide grade-band specialists on site during committee workdays to answer content questions and to help document the committee’s decisions for later publication.

Why it matters: TDOE staff framed the standards not just as policy text but as the foundation for instructional materials adoption, teacher training and statewide assessment; the department and State Board stressed that clarity and vertical coherence will shape future curriculum purchases and professional development.

Ending
Committee leadership confirmed that staff and TDOE will remain available during the working sessions for point-in-time questions, and that final edits to standards and supporting documents will be documented in the committee’s shared drive and the leadership-maintained spreadsheet.