The Tennessee State Board of Education's English Language Arts Standards Recommendation Committee voted Oct. 28 to adopt a revised set of K-2 ELA standards, concluding months of work on definitions, references and elective guidance.

The committee, convened electronically and chaired by Chair Kernighus, began the meeting at 3:37 p.m. and approved a motion to use the recording as the official minutes. After a late-afternoon recess, members reconvened at 6:10 p.m., completed a final sweep of "parking garage" items (outstanding edits and appendix requests), and voted by roll call to (1) instruct the leadership team to prepare an executive summary and (2) adopt the revised standards. The roll-call votes recorded seven ayes and no opposing votes for both motions; one member was absent for parts of the meeting.

Why it matters: The committee's vote sends the revised standards to the State Board of Education for the next stages of consideration and implementation. Committee members spent the meeting clarifying critical glossary terms (such as "perspective," "rhetorical techniques" and "premise"), aligning cornerstone statements with grade-band progressions and removing unused references cited in earlier drafts. The group also asked the Tennessee Department of Education for a non-exhaustive K8 progression chart of roots and affixes to appear as an appendix.

What the committee approved: Staff and committee leaders documented a series of edits made during the meeting:
- Glossary: new or revised definitions for rhetorical techniques, premise and stance; consolidation of "purpose" and "author's purpose" into a single entry; addition of language to make clear that "perspective" can refer to both author and character viewpoints.
- References and appendices: an audit removed citations that were not cited in-text (committee members identified several unused entries) and corrected dated links; the committee asked staff to maintain and update appendix entries as supplemental materials are finalized.
- Electives guidance: the committee removed a separate "credits" column and instead directed staff to include guidance that multiple offerings of the same course must have distinct tasks or focus areas; districts remain responsible for awarding credit under state rules. The committee asked the department to prepare a non-exhaustive K-8 roots-and-affixes progression chart to guide instruction.

The committee also resolved language choices used throughout the standards, including replacing "integrate" with "synthesize" in certain reading and listening standards to emphasize higher-order practice and editing cornerstones so they align vertically across grade bands.

Direct quotes from the record include the chair's motion at the start of the meeting: "I move that the recording serves as the minutes for today," and, at the end of the session, the chair declaring the result after counting votes: "Chair Kurnegas, you have 7 ayes. The motion passes." (Speaker names as used in the meeting record.)

Next steps: The committee authorized its leadership team to draft an executive summary that will accompany the standards as they move forward, and members were invited to submit brief suggestions to staff for inclusion. The leadership summary will capture the committee's rationale for key choices and note items for future attention.

The committee adjourned after the final vote. Implementation timelines and any required rulemaking steps will be handled in subsequent State Board procedures and by the Tennessee Department of Education.