Work Session on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Review and
Instructional Materials Adoption Cycle

June 21, 2017

COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: DISCUSSION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: NO ACTION

SUMMARY: This item provides an opportunity for the board to discuss the schedule for review and revision of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the processes for review and streamlining of the TEKS, and the review and adoption cycle for instructional materials aligned to revised TEKS.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §§7.102(c)(4), 28.002, 28.025, and 31.003.

TEC, §7.102(c)(4), 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 by rule to 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 the TEC, §28.002.

TEC, §31.003, grants the SBOE authority to adopt rules for the adoption, requisition, distribution, care, use, and disposal of instructional materials.

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 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 TEKS for high school English elective courses were amended to be effective August 23, 2010. In May 2017, the SBOE gave final approval to revisions to the English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS for Kindergarten-Grade 8 with a scheduled implementation date of the 2019-2020 school year. The mathematics TEKS were amended to be effective August 1, 2006. The secondary mathematics TEKS were amended to be effective February 22, 2009. The mathematics TEKS were again amended to be effective September 12, 2012. The science TEKS were amended to be effective August 4, 2009. The SBOE gave final approval to streamlined science TEKS in April 2017 for implementation in the 2018-2019 school year. The social studies TEKS were amended to be effective August 23, 2010. The career and technical education (CTE) TEKS were amended to be effective August 23, 2010. The CTE TEKS were again amended to be effective August 28, 2017. The revised CTE TEKS are scheduled to be implemented beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. The fine arts TEKS were amended to be effective August 24, 2015. The TEKS for languages other than English (LOTE) were amended to be effective July 15, 2014 and December 31, 2014 and are scheduled to be implemented beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. The technology applications TEKS were amended to be effective September 26, 2011.

The board took action at the May 2009 meeting to approve a revised process for review and revision of the TEKS. The board approved additional revisions to the process in November 2009. This process was used for the review and revision of the technology applications TEKS. 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. At the January 2013 meeting, 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 was used for the English and Spanish language arts and reading TEKS review.

A discussion item on the process for streamlining the TEKS was presented to the Committee on Instruction at the November 2015 SBOE meeting. At the January 2016 meeting, the board approved the process to be used in streamlining the TEKS. This process was used for the streamlining of the science TEKS.

Proclamation 2010 was issued by the SBOE in November 2007. Proclamation 2011 was issued by the SBOE in May 2008. In May 2010, the board voted to postpone Proclamation 2012 indefinitely. In its place, the board issued a Request for Supplemental Science Materials for science, grades 5-8, Biology, Chemistry, Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC), and Physics. Proclamation 2014 was issued by the SBOE in April 2012. Proclamation 2015 was issued by the SBOE in April 2013. At the July 2014 meeting, the board took action to delay the effective date of Proclamation 2016 for one calendar year and to combine the subject areas that were scheduled to be included in Proclamation 2016 with those that were scheduled to be included in Proclamation 2017. Proclamation 2017 was issued by the SBOE in April 2015. Proclamation 2018 was issued by the SBOE in November 2016. In April 2017, the SBOE issued Proclamation 2019.

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.

A revised adoption cycle for instructional materials was approved by the SBOE in January 2012. In July 2014, the SBOE took action to change the effective date of Proclamation 2016 to delay for one calendar year, and combine the subject areas included in Proclamation 2016 with those that were scheduled to be included in Proclamation 2017. House Bill 188, 80th Texas Legislature, 2007, required the SBOE to designate each proclamation by the school year in which the instructional materials are intended to be made available in classrooms. Proclamation 2019, which advertises for bids on new instructional materials for Kindergarten-Grade 8 English language arts and reading, Kindergarten-Grade 8 Spanish language arts and reading and English as a second language, and Personal Financial Literacy, was adopted by the SBOE at the April 2017 meeting.

FISCAL IMPACT: None.

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.

OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: None.

Staff Members Responsible:
Monica Martinez, Associate Commissioner
Standards and Support Services

Shelly Ramos, Senior Director
Curriculum Standards and Student Support
 
Kelly Callaway, Senior Director
Instructional Materials

Attachment:
Statutory Citations (PDF, 35KB)