Tennessee Expands Access to Summer Standards Training to Every Teacher in the State

NASHVILLE—After three summers and training more than 40,000 Tennessee teachers, the state department of education will again offer optional, free professional development on the state’s math and English standards, this time with the goal of giving access to every teacher in Tennessee.

In previous years, the state has worked with Core Coaches, expert teachers who facilitated training sessions for their peers. This year, nearly 500 Core Coaches will offer similar professional development to teams of Learning Leaders, who will then take what they have learned back to each of their schools to teach their colleagues. As in previous years, the weeklong training sessions will be offered across the state throughout the month of June.

Research has shown that teachers who attended the summer training led their students to bigger academic gains than teachers who did not. More information is available on the department’s website: http://tn.gov/education/data/doc/impact_of_TNCore_Training.pdf. Additionally, nearly 80 percent of teachers who attended the summer training believe that it will help them improve instruction to support student learning.

“We’re excited to continue supporting educators as they teach the Common Core State Standards, which are Tennessee’s math and reading standards,” said Commissioner Kevin Huffman. “We believe it is important to keep offering professional development on these standards, both because of the incredibly positive responses we received from participants, as well as the research that shows the training has been effective at increasing student achievement.”

The department of education will be offering professional development for teachers throughout the summer, and those interested in attending can contact Deputy Director of Communications Ashley Ball at Ashley.M.Ball@tn.gov for training times and locations. Information about this week’s training is below.

For more information, contact Kelli Gauthier at (615) 532-7817 or Kelli.Gauthier@tn.gov.