Tennessee aims to combine history and geography classes

As school districts transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), many educators are finding they need to make room in their students' daily schedules to ensure that they are acquiring essential knowledge. Under the Common Core, English language arts and mathematics are considered to be vital, as these are subjects on which skill sets are built, according to the CCSS' website.

For some schools, this means that English and mathematics classes take priority over those not covered by the CCSS, such as history and geography. This could be the case within districts throughout Tennessee, as the state plans to cover geography in history class, which would create more time for language arts instruction during the school day, WBIR-TV reported.

As should be expected, not every educator is in favor of this plan. For example, Rich McKinney, lead teacher at West High School, believes that the move may not be the best way to adequately represent physical geography. Still, state officials view the plan as a way of providing students with a deeper understanding of the two subjects.