Dive Brief:
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has selected Lipscomb University Senior Vice President Candice McQueen as the state's new education commissioner.
- According to the Tennessean, Haslam's decision was applauded by both education reformers, who supported former commissioner Kevin Huffman, and their critics, who were turned off by Huffman's push for test-informed teacher evaluations, Common Core adoption, and charter expansion.
- While a dean at Lipscomb's College of Education, McQueen was known for her knowledge on the Common Core standards.
Dive Insight:
Haslam, who is facing pressure from conservatives to drop Common Core, had previously announced that, by the end of 2015, the state would have its own rigorous standards. McQueen, who is well-versed in the Common Core, sounds OK with that, stating that her interest is more in rigor and less in what the standards are called. "I am a supporter of high standards ... and the form that they take is somewhat irrelevant," she said, per the Tennessean.
The newspaper reported that McQueen's biggest tasks when she takes over Jan. 20 will be creating these new standards, as well as a new state exam.
Huffman, who resigned in November, had been on the job for three years before announcing that he would step down and become a private consultant.