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February 2015 Committee of the Full Board Item 8

Update on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Review

February 11, 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 schedule for review and revision of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (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.

BOARD RESPONSE: This item is presented for review and comment.

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: The State Board of Education (SBOE) adopted the TEKS for all subjects to be effective September 1, 1998. The mathematics TEKS were amended to be effective August 1, 2006. 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 secondary mathematics TEKS were amended to be effective February 22, 2009. 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. The board gave final approval to revisions to the mathematics TEKS at the April 2012 meeting. The mathematics TEKS were amended to be effective September 12, 2012. The revised mathematics TEKS for kindergarten through eighth grade were implemented in the 2014-2015 school year and the revised mathematics TEKS for high school are scheduled to be implemented beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, depending upon the availability of instructional materials funding. In April 2013, the board approved for second reading and final adoption proposed revisions to the fine arts TEKS. The revised fine arts TEKS are scheduled to be implemented beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. 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.

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. In February 2013, the board approved changes to their operating rules and directed staff to update the process for review and revision of the TEKS to align with changes to their 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 is being used for the review and revision of the CTE TEKS. At the September 2014 SBOE meeting, the Committee on Instruction heard invited testimony from representatives from each of the CTE TEKS review committees. At the July 2014 meeting the board took action to change the effective date of Proclamation 2016 to delay for one calendar year.

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 TEA staff in October 2014 to support future facilitation of the TEKS review committees.

The current subject under review and revision is CTE. Applications for appointment to CTE TEKS review committees were accepted by the TEA from October 2013 through January 10, 2014. Nominations for CTE TEKS review committees were made in spring 2014, and committee members were notified of the appointment in May 2014. The CTE TEKS review committees convened in Austin in June 2014 to begin work on draft recommendations for the TEKS. The committees met again in July 2014 to complete their initial draft recommendations. Math and science educators were also in attendance at the July meeting to provide content expertise to the CTE TEKS review committees in the revision and development of TEKS for courses that may satisfy a math or science credit. In August 2014 the first draft recommendations were posted to the TEA website for informal feedback, and the TEA shared the draft recommendations with numerous stakeholders including professional organizations and educators. A representative from each CTE TEKS review committee provided invited testimony at the September 2014 SBOE meeting. The CTE TEKS review committees met for a third time in October 2014 in order to review feedback and finalize their recommendations for revisions to the TEKS. At the November 2014 meeting, the SBOE was presented with proposed revisions to the CTE TEKS for 19 TAC Chapter 127, Subchapters A-B, and Chapter 130, Subchapters C-F, I-J, and M-N, for discussion. The SBOE will consider proposed revisions to Chapters 127 and 130 for first reading and filing authorization as a separate item in this agenda. A discussion item for the remaining CTE courses in Chapter 130 will also be presented to the SBOE as a separate item in this agenda.

In July 2014 the board received an update on the instructional materials allotment and the processes involved in using the funds including explanations of the current adoption cycle, approved expenditures related to Proclamation 2014 as of July 2014, and estimated minimum projected costs for proclamations 2015 and 2016. As a result of this update the board took action to change the effective date of Proclamation 2016 to delay for one calendar year in order to permit districts to use all IMA funds allocated in the 2016-2017 biennium to purchase Proclamation 2015 materials and to support technology needs.

The SBOE is scheduled to begin the review and revision of the English language arts and reading (ELAR) TEKS and the Spanish language arts and reading TEKS in 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:  Discussion of Proclamation 2017 of the State Board of Education Advertising for Bids on Instructional Materials is presented as a separate item in this agenda. Additionally, the following related proposals are presented as separate items in this agenda.

• Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 127, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career Development, and 19 TAC Chapter 130, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career and Technical Education, is presented for first reading and filing authorization.

• Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 130, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career and Technical Education, is presented for discussion.

• Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 111, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, Subchapter C, High School, §111.47, Statistics, Adopted 2015 (One Credit), is presented for second reading and final adoption.

• Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 111, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, Subchapter C, High School, §111.48, Algebraic Reasoning, Adopted 2015 (One Credit), is presented for first reading and filing authorization.

Staff Members Responsible:
Monica Martinez, Associate Commissioner
Standards and Programs

Shelly Ramos, Division Director
Curriculum

Kelly Callaway, Division Director
Instructional Materials and Educational Technology

Attachment:
Statutory Citations (PDF, 31KB)