NEWS

New education chief: Every student deserves great teacher

Dave Boucher
dboucher@tennessean.com

On Wednesday, Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Lipscomb dean Candice McQueen as the next Tennessee Commissioner of Education. McQueen discussed her priorities for the future and several challenges facing Tennessee. The questions and answers are compiled from a news conference and additional McQueen statements.

Why do you want to be commissioner?

"I care so much about the work that's being done. I want it to go forward at the speed that it can to make sure that every student has a great teacher and a great experience that gets them ready for what happens after college and after, you know, they're in their careers. And so I look at this as an opportunity to have a different kind of influence. We've had influence in the work that we've done, but I want to impact the million kids that we have in our state, for good. I want to make sure that we have the education that is nationally known and respected and I believe that's going to happen."

What are your priorities as the new leader of Tennessee education?

"First priority would be to listen. Second, we really do need to have conversations about how we're going to ensure that our standards review process is top of the line, and we get feedback from Tennesseans that actually help us make whatever revisions that need to be made, and any types of improvements that need to be made.

"So I look forward to the challenge of making sure our standards review process is exactly right and well done, so that we can be very confident at the end of it that we have high standards that will move us forward, and that we have aligned assessments with TNReady to make sure those assessments are well done so that we can get the feedback we need to ensure whether we're improving or not.

What do you think the future of Common Core is in Tennessee?

"I think the future of Common Core will certainly depend on how we look at our standards review process. I'm going to ensure that it is done very well and that we are doing all the of refinements and changes that need to happen. Certainly, I'm in favor, as I know the governor is, of high standards. And certainly the department is in favor of high standards. And so we're going to make sure that we are keeping high standards ... Higher standards can take lots of different forms, so we're going to stay on track for higher standards. And we're going to make sure our review process gives us that type of result."

How should student test scores factor into a teacher's employment evaluation?

"I think we're at a moment right now where we stepped back and made sure that when we put out our new assessments, the TNReady assessments that will be ready in 2015-16 school year, are implemented well, and that we take a step back and make sure our teachers know that we're in a period of realignment. And that we want to give them the benefit of the doubt to say let's look at this, do it well, and not have this penalize them in a way that we would not want during the realignment period.

"Any time you're going through change, you have to figure a process of realigning, make sure things work, and so I think the step back from that that's been proposed by the governor is very smart."

What role do you think you will have in creating "TNReady," the state's new assessment?

"I think a critical role. We've got to make sure our standards are very well done, they're high standards and then the alignment to those standards, they're going to be a work in progress. Any time you set assessment, and I've been involved in dealing with assessments over time, you have to consistently be watching them and making sure alignment occurs there. And so, I'll be working closely with our testing company to make sure that that happens."