Science

The State Board of Education is charged with conducting a review of all sets of academic standards at a minimum of every six years. The science standards, developed by a committee of Tennessee science educators throughout 2016, set grade-specific goals that exemplify what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of a given grade or course. 


History

The science academic review website was launched to collect public feedback on Tennessee’s grade K-12 science standards in Fall 2015. This highly transparent and comprehensive review process was an opportunity for every Tennessean to log in online, review each specific standard by grade level, and provide comments and make suggestions for changes. Once the data was collected from the public, it was aggregated and given to a team of educators to review the feedback and revise the standards, which was posted for a second round of review in Spring 2016. In total, the science academic standards received over 30,000 comments. 

In Spring 2016, a Science Standards Recommendation Committee (SRC) was appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the House of Representatives. The SRC reviewed the revised science standards before making their recommendation to the State Board of Education for adoption. The SRC presented the standards on first reading at the July 2016 Board meeting. The State Board of Education unanimously approved the new Tennessee Academic Standards for Science on final reading at the October 2016 Board meeting. Educators across the state reviewed the new science standards during the 2017-18 school year for full implementation during the 2018-19 school year. 

On September 19, 2021, the first round of the State Board of Education’s latest science academic standards review cycle closed, collecting over 10,000 comments from teachers, education leaders, and parents. With the conclusion of the first survey window, teams of Tennessee educators from K-12 schools and higher education began reviewing the public comments. These teams carefully considered the public feedback provided in the science survey and incorporated their own expertise and experience. The expert educators finished reviewing all standards and have provided their recommendations for revisions based on public feedback.

Members of the public were able to respond to these proposed revisions through a public feedback survey ending on  March 2, 2022. This second round of public feedback was reviewed by the Standards Recommendation Committee.


Additional questions about the science standards review process can be directed to TNStandards.Review@tn.gov.