NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
The way Tennessee students learn mathematics will completely change after Tuesday. The state launched its largest teacher training program ever to prepare for a tougher curriculum.
The goal is to prepare students for a career and implement a new standardized test that will replace the TCAP in assessing teachers.
"In the past in Tennessee we've been a little bit behind the curve," said Jo Byrns High School Assistant Principal Bob Pruitt.
Crunch the numbers and you'll find Tennessee students rank 46th when it comes to math.
"We know our students struggle in math. We know employers tell us they can't find workers with math skills they need, and we know that we need to prepare children so they can compete," said Emily Barton, assistant commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education.
More than 13,000 third through eighth grade math teachers are undergoing the largest department teacher training program in state history called Common Core.
It's a math standard being adopted across 46 states, and Tennessee is one of the first to take it on.
"We are moving toward new standards over the next two years that are very rigorous but very inspiring," Barton said.
The new curriculum will add up to what students will eventually use at work and in life.
"So instead of saying, 'I need to learn this because it's on the TCAP,' they're going to say, 'I need to learn this because someday I'll want to buy a car or I'll want to work for a company,'" said Kellee Hill, teacher at Margaret Allen Middle School.
The curriculum change is geared toward a new standardized test the state will adopt in the 2014-2015 school year called PARCC, or the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career.
And the way students are tested in math will completely change. They won't see as many multiple-choice answers. Instead, they'll have to explain them in long-form responses.
PARCC will replace the TCAP for teacher assessments, which now account for 35 percent of evaluations that determine teacher tenure in Tennessee.
"That testing piece has a very good potential to punish hard-working teachers, but most kids are going to try to do well for themselves and for their instructor, too. We'll just have to watch," Pruitt said.
Training sessions last three weeks at 16 schools across Tennessee. Similar training will be done a year from now in English/language arts.
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