State Board ELA committee hears proposed standards revisions centered on science of reading and vertical alignment

The Tennessee State Board of Education’s English Language Arts Standards Recommendation Committee met Sept. 5 and heard a detailed presentation from educator advisory team (EAT) chairs on proposed revisions to the K–12 ELA standards that center the “science of reading,” clearer vertical alignment and grade-specific expectations.

The proposed revisions were described as intended to align Tennessee instruction to research on how children learn to read and to make expectations clearer for teachers. Michael Duerlein, deputy executive director of policy and research with the State Board of Education, told the committee that the process is “driven by educators in the public” and called the standards-review process “one of the most transparent” in the country.

The EAT chairs described three organizing priorities behind the draft standards. “Our three guiding goals today are to explain how to analyze the standards in practice, how the SDC developed revisions, and why vertical alignment is essential for student growth from year to year,” said Nicole Moore, a sixth-grade teacher and one of the EAT chairs. The chairs said each proposed change was based on classroom practice, research and public feedback collected during two rounds of surveys.

Why it matt…