Legislative History

In October 2014, then-Governor Bill Haslam announced the creation of a public standards review website to offer feedback on the math and English language arts standards. This process was codified by the General Assembly in Public Chapter 423 of 2015, which refined the review process to include numerous opportunities for input on the standards from the public and subject matter experts. Later, this process was expanded to include science and social studies standards. As such, Tennessee's standards review process is one of the most thorough and open in the country and is designed to ensure high-quality academic standards.

To date, Tennessee’s academic standards review process has received over 404,000 reviews and comments from Tennesseans, including parents, teachers, education leaders, and other citizens and serves as one of the most transparent standards processes in the country.

The Board's academic standards review is the first step to ultimately implementing revised standards in classrooms. Our standards review process begins with feedback and comments from Tennesseans over two survey periods. Before the science standards are approved by the State Board, the Standards Recommendation Committee will conduct a thorough review of the changes recommended by educator advisory teams. Members of this committee are selected by the governor, speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as the lieutenant governor/speaker of the Senate. These members are then confirmed by a vote of the General Assembly.