Tennessee Overhauls High School Graduation Standards
Published Jul 15, 2009
Tennessee has enacted tougher requirements for high school graduation, especially in math and science.
Tennessee is overhauling standards for high school graduates, a move to give students sharper skills as they enter the workforce.
The Tennessee Diploma Project, a part of the national American Diploma Project Network, will require all high-school graduates to complete a specific curriculum designed to better prepare them for college or a career.
It also adds more coursework to the state’s existing graduation requirements, especially in math and science.
The overhaul, championed by Gov. Phil Bredesen, included input from state educational entities, business and community groups, and others interested in the state’s educational welfare.
“We have been fortunate to have strong partners in terms of being part of a 34-state network, and also with the business community and others in the coalition,” says Margaret Horn, senior management consultant in the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Policy. “They’ve gotten the message out to their constituents.”
Tennessee Quick to Boost Standards
Compared to more than 30 other states in the American Diploma Project network, Tennessee has roared through the process, but it has done so in a deliberate manner and with the near total support of every organization and entity involved, says Dr. Rich Rhoda, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
The initiative provided a foundation for revising high school graduation requirements and bumping up math and science learning, Rhoda says.
When state education officials got into the existing curriculum they found that Tennessee wasn’t that different from other states — which wasn’t a good thing, says Dr. Gary Nixon, executive director of the Tennessee State Board of Education.
“Nobody was doing a very solid job in giving kids the reading, science and math skills they needed, and without those it’s hard to get the technical and post-secondary skills,” Nixon says.
With new standards and benchmarking systems in place, the next step will be helping schools and teachers develop their curriculum and deliver it.
“That’s going to take a lot of professional development, and we’re working on that,” Nixon says.
The importance of high school graduates having the skill sets in place to either join the workforce or do better in a certificate program, two-year college or four-year degree setting is vital to business, says Ellen Thornton, executive director of the Tennessee Business Roundtable.
Six meetings with 130 CEOs from around the state gave policymakers a clear view of employers’ specific needs for a current and future skilled workforce, Thornton says. “We didn’t find groundbreaking information, but we were able to provide that inventory to the TDP officials. We think we’re on the right track now.”
And other states are learning from Tennessee when it comes to organizing such a massive educational overhaul, notes Sandy Boyd, vice president for strategic communications and outreach for Achieve Inc., the company behind the American Diploma Project.
“This is what businesses look at,” says Boyd. “It sends a huge signal that Tennessee is serious about developing the kind of workforce it needs for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Brian McCord
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