TNMathChic: A HOW TO GUIDE to the NEW TN MATH STANDARDS

As I meet with Tennessee math educators across our region, the question that seems to keep popping up is...

Q: "Where can I find next year's math standards?"

So....first, a little background....

BACKGROUND

The State Board of Education is charged with conducting a review of all sets of academic standards at a minimum of every six years.

October 2014 - Governor Haslam announced the creation of a standards review website, which was open for public review and feedback. This was done to provide a transparent and comprehensive review of math and ELA standards that would culminate in replacing the Common Core State Standards with rigorous Tennessee- specific education standards.

November 2014 - April 2015 - Thousands of people responded to the [Draft] Tennessee Math & ELA standards resulting in 131,424 reviews and 20,344 comments. After the data was compiled, it was sent to the math and ELA Educator Advisory Teams. The Tennessee educators that comprised these two teams reviewed every individual standard and revised them using every public feedback comment and their content expertise.

October 2015 - A revised draft of the Tennessee-specific standards was reposted to the website for a second period of public feedback.

December 2015 - The second posting of the review website for math and ELA standards closed.

Fall of 2015 - The Standards Recommendation Committee (SRC), appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, solicited feedback from across the state through Regional CORE meetings and roundtables with educators, parents, the higher education community, and other stakeholders. The SRC used all of the feedback collected via the website and roundtables to guide their final recommendations for additional standards revisions.

January 2016 - The SRC approved the new Tennessee academic standards and presented the new standards to the State Board for their first reading.

April 2016 - The standards were heard on final reading and approved at the Tennessee State Board of Education meeting.

2016-2017 - This current school year has been used to begin the training process for Tennessee’s educators on the revised standards.

2017-2018 - This upcoming school year, the revised math and ELA standards will be implemented and assessed.

2018 - 2019 - This same process is currently underway for revised Science standards to be implemented next school year.

2019-2020 - Next, revised social studies standards will be implemented the following year.

RATIONALE

Tennessee math standards can actually be found in two locations. This is not to hide or make it difficult for educators to find the upcoming standards, but rather to prevent confusion. So....here's the rule of thumb...

If a set of standards are currently in effect for that current school year.....Then those standards will be housed on the TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WEBSITE.
If a set of standards are NOT currently in effect for that current school year....Then those standards will be in (holding) on the TENNESSEE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION WEBSITE.

KEY REVISION TAKEAWAYS:

For mathematics, here is a list of a few takeaways I have stumbled upon throughout my research:

Overarching Similarities:

-College and career readiness

-The K-12 Learning Progressions

-Traditional and Integrated pathways options for high school

-The 8 Standards for Mathematical Practices

-The 3 Instructional Shifts: Focus, Coherence, Rigor

K-5 Overarching Revisions:

-Most major work of the grade remains the same

-Supporting and additional work of the grade is combined as supporting work of the grade

-Addition of Literacy Skills for Mathematical Proficiency

-Revised language to provide clarity and continuity

-Increased fluency expectations

-Added/shifted a small number of standards to strengthen coherence across grade levels

-Highlighted chart for grade level mastery expectations for add/subt, mult/div.

6-8 Overarching Revisions

-Most major work of the grade remains the same

-Supporting and additional work of the grade is combined as supporting work of the grade

-Addition of Literacy Skills for Mathematical Proficiency

-Revised language to provide clarity and continuity

-Revised a small number of standards to strengthen coherence by condensing, expanding,

and removing standards

-Revised a small number of statistics and probability standards

9-12 Overarching Revisions

-Removed or shifted a small number of standards to the major work of the grade to

streamline vertical progression

-Supporting and additional work of the grade is combined as supporting work of the grade

-Addition of Literacy Skills for Mathematical Proficiency

-Revised language and examples to provide clarity and continuity

-Shifted a small number of supporting work of the grade standards to fourth year

mathematics courses

-Restructured fourth year courses to reflect college and career readiness by removing three courses and adding Applied Mathematical Concepts

POTENTIAL GAPS

K-2

Time & Money Standards

3-5

Measurement Standards

6-8

Geometry & Probability and Statistics Standards

9-12

The greatest change in high school occurred in Algebra 2 (or Integrated Math III). This is due to the retirement of the course Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry. Many of the standards from AAT have been reshuffled and will now either live in Algebra 2 (IM3), Pre Calculus, or a new course called Applied Mathematical Concepts.

So....back to the question at hand...

Now that you know a little more about the revised math standards, which are set to go into effect for the 2017-2018 school year, follow the link below.