November 2015 Committee of the Full Board Item 10
Update on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Review
November 18, 2015
COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: DISCUSSION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: NO ACTION
SUMMARY: This item provides the opportunity for staff to present an update on the review of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §§7.102(c)(4), 28.002, and 28.025.
Statutory authority is the TEC, §§7.102(c)(4), which requires the State Board of Education (SBOE) to establish curriculum and graduation requirements. TEC, §28.002, identifies the subjects of the required curriculum and requires the SBOE to by rule identify the essential knowledge and skills of each subject in the required curriculum that all students should be able to demonstrate and that will be used in evaluating instructional materials and addressed on the state assessment instruments. TEC, §28.025, requires the SBOE by rule to determine the curriculum requirements for the foundation high school graduation program that are consistent with the required curriculum under §28.002.
BOARD RESPONSE: This item is presented for review and comment.
PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: The SBOE adopted the TEKS for all subjects to be effective September 1, 1998. The mathematics TEKS were amended to be effective August 1, 2006 and September 12, 2012. The secondary mathematics TEKS were also amended to be effective February 22, 2009. The English language arts and reading TEKS were amended to be effective September 4, 2008. The Spanish language arts and reading TEKS were amended to be effective November 26, 2008. The science TEKS were amended to be effective August 4, 2009. The career and technical education (CTE) TEKS were amended to be effective August 23, 2010. The social studies and high school English electives TEKS were amended to be effective August 23, 2010. The technology applications TEKS were amended to be effective September 26, 2011. In April 2012, the SBOE gave final approval to revisions to the mathematics TEKS. The mathematics TEKS for Kindergarten-Grade 8 were implemented beginning with the 2014-2015 school year and the TEKS for high school mathematics were implemented beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. The fine arts TEKS were amended to be effective August 24, 2015. In April 2014, the board gave final approval to revised TEKS for languages other than English (LOTE), which are scheduled to be implemented beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. In April 2015 and July 2015, the board approved for second reading and final adoption proposed revisions to the CTE TEKS. At the September 2015 meeting, the board approved for second reading and final adoption proposed new CTE TEKS for an Advanced Marketing course and second-level practicum and automotive technology courses. The revised CTE TEKS are scheduled to be implemented beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.
The board approved revisions to the process for review and revision of the TEKS in January 2011 and directed staff to use the revised process beginning with review and revision of the mathematics and fine arts TEKS. At the November 2011 SBOE meeting, the Committee of the Full Board held a work session to examine the instructional materials adoption cycle and the timeline for the review and revision of the TEKS. At the January 2012 meeting, the board adopted a revised instructional materials adoption cycle and updated the schedule for the review and revision of the TEKS to better align with the new instructional materials adoption cycle. The board took action at the July 2012 meeting to approve revisions to the process for the review and revision of the TEKS. On January 30, 2013, the board approved changes to its operating rules and directed staff to update the process for review and revision of the TEKS to align with changes to its operating rules. The revised process was used for the review and revision of the LOTE TEKS. In April 2014, the board again revised the process for review and revision of the TEKS to include more specific direction to TEKS review committees. The revised process was used for the review and revision of the CTE TEKS and will be used for the English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS review.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: The board received training from a standards writing advisor at the July 2014 meeting. The standards writing advisor provided additional training to Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff in October 2014 to support future facilitation of the TEKS review committees. This guidance will be fully implemented beginning with the review and revision of the English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS.
In accordance with statutory requirements that the SBOE by rule identify the essential knowledge and skills of each subject in the required curriculum, the SBOE follows a board-approved cycle to review and revise the essential knowledge and skills for each subject. The current subjects under review and revision are English and Spanish language arts and reading. Applications for appointment to English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS review committees were accepted by TEA from March 5, 2015 through April 6, 2015. The applications received were provided to SBOE members at the April 2015 meeting, and nominations for English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS review committees and appointments of expert reviewers were made in spring 2015. Committee members were notified of the appointment in July 2015. The expert reviewers completed their review of the current TEKS and submitted initial reports to the SBOE in July 2015. Committee members participated in a training webinar in August 2015 in preparation for the first face-to-face meeting. The English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS review committees convened in Austin in September 2015 to begin work on draft recommendations for the TEKS. The committees convened again in November 2015 to complete draft recommendations.
FISCAL IMPACT: There will be normal business costs associated with this process for the agency, including staff and committee travel, meeting accommodations, and production and dissemination of documents.
PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: Benefits include better alignment and streamlining of the TEKS and coordination of the standards with the adoption of instructional materials.
PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: None.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.
ALTERNATIVES: None.
OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: The following related proposals are presented as separate items in this agenda.
• Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter C, High School, §113.49, Personal Financial Literacy (One-Half Credit), Adopted 2016, is presented for first reading and filing authorization.
• Discussion of Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 126, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Technology Applications, Subchapter D, Other Technology Applications Courses, §126.65, Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles (One Credit), Adopted 2016.
Staff Members Responsible:
Monica Martinez, Associate Commissioner
Standards and Programs
Shelly Ramos, Division Director
Curriculum
Attachment:
Statutory Citations (PDF, 30KB)