CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Dr. Candice McQueen, the state's new education commissioner, engaged 30 Cleveland school system educators on Tuesday as part of a statewide listening tour.
"We're really trying to take the feedback to make decisions about strategically where we'll go from a state department perspective in the next several years," McQueen said.
In a roundtable discussion at the Cleveland High School library, McQueen propelled discussions of the successes and challenges experienced by the teachers and their students with the adoption of the state's new educational standards in recent years.
Several teachers, from elementary to high school levels, cited increased student engagement and professional development through formal coaching and informal networking relationships as great positive strides.
The new standards -- regardless of whether they are called Common Core or something else "to make it palatable to the public" -- are working, said Christina Melton, a fourth-grade teacher at Stuart Elementary.
It's all about the foundation, said Melton, who praised the preparation that students already will have by the time they are in her classroom.
"Seven- and 8-year-olds are engaging in conversations they would not have had a few years ago," she said. "We are not just teaching them stuff, we are teaching them how to think and to go out and find the answers for themselves."
The biggest challenges addressed centered on how to best implement academic intervention for students and how to communicate with parents about the new educational standards.
That communicating is a major concern, McQueen agreed.
Plans are in the works to develop an informational tool kit that tells teachers what they need to know about the changes and how that information can be communicated at the local and district levels, she said.
Teachers said state student funding changes may be needed to address the reality of how teachers now engage their students on new, interactive levels.
When McQueen asked the teachers if they felt valued, a number of them said that other teachers had expressed frustrations over the changing standards and often felt like they had no real voice in the matter.
"Dissenting voices should be part of the change," said McQueen.
Dr. Martin Ringstaff, director of Cleveland City Schools, praised McQueen's efforts to "get on-the-ground feedback" from the teachers.
"Teachers are where the rubber meets the road for students," he said. "For her to hear it straight from the teachers, that is exactly what she needs to hear."
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.