September 2015 Committee of the Full Board Item 8
Update on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Review
September 9, 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: Statutory authority is the Texas Education Code (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. 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 language arts and reading (ELAR) TEKS and the Spanish language arts and reading (SLAR) 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 ELAR and SLAR 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 ELAR and SLAR. Applications for appointment to ELAR and SLAR 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 ELAR and SLAR 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 meetings expected to convene in fall 2015.
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.
• Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Personal Financial Literacy is presented for discussion.
• Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 130, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career and Technical Education, is presented for second reading and final adoption.
• Proposed repeal of 19 TAC Chapter 111, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, Subchapter C, High School, §§111.31-111.37, and Subchapter D, Other High School Mathematics Courses, §111.52, Independent Study in Mathematics (One-Half to One Credit) and proposed repeal of 19 TAC Chapter 117, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Fine Arts, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School, are presented for second reading and final adoption.
Staff Members Responsible:
Monica Martinez, Associate Commissioner
Standards and Programs
Shelly Ramos, Division Director
Curriculum
Attachment:
Statutory Citations (PDF, 30KB)