New online instructional material to be based on digitized curriculum standards
The State Board of Education will now require the use of machine-readable curriculum standards when publishers create new high school reading language arts instructional material. This is the first step towards requiring interoperability.
Although digitized versions of the state standards called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) can be purchased now from vendors, using a state-approved standardized framework will provide consistent free information for districts.
The requirement to use digitized standards, approved by the board on Friday, is included in Proclamation 2020, which is a call for instructional materials for high school reading language arts, English for speakers of other languages and English language arts electives.
"The requirement to use our digitized TEKS in Proclamation 2020 is the first necessary step toward insisting educational publishers utilize a common technical ‘language’ for their content—an urgent need for transparency and interoperability according to our Texas school districts and their teachers. Publishers who continue to deliver content using proprietary platforms waste our schools’ time and money. We require all of our schools to teach to our state’s standards; it is high time we require all of our publishers to provide content in the technical standards that allow districts to finally seize the promise of technology in our classrooms," said SBOE Chair Donna Bahorich.
Any online materials submitted for Proclamation 2020 must use the digitized TEKS.
Last year about 66 percent of the instructional materials ordered by Texas public schools were partially or completely digital.
Materials developed under Proclamation 2020 using the digitized TEKS will come before the board for a consideration in November 2019. Approved materials will be available for use in Texas classrooms in the 2020-2021 school year.
Additional information about Proclamation 2020 is available at https://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Instructional_Materials/Review_and_Adoption_Process/Proclamations/.
Although digitized versions of the state standards called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) can be purchased now from vendors, using a state-approved standardized framework will provide consistent free information for districts.
The requirement to use digitized standards, approved by the board on Friday, is included in Proclamation 2020, which is a call for instructional materials for high school reading language arts, English for speakers of other languages and English language arts electives.
"The requirement to use our digitized TEKS in Proclamation 2020 is the first necessary step toward insisting educational publishers utilize a common technical ‘language’ for their content—an urgent need for transparency and interoperability according to our Texas school districts and their teachers. Publishers who continue to deliver content using proprietary platforms waste our schools’ time and money. We require all of our schools to teach to our state’s standards; it is high time we require all of our publishers to provide content in the technical standards that allow districts to finally seize the promise of technology in our classrooms," said SBOE Chair Donna Bahorich.
Any online materials submitted for Proclamation 2020 must use the digitized TEKS.
Last year about 66 percent of the instructional materials ordered by Texas public schools were partially or completely digital.
Materials developed under Proclamation 2020 using the digitized TEKS will come before the board for a consideration in November 2019. Approved materials will be available for use in Texas classrooms in the 2020-2021 school year.
Additional information about Proclamation 2020 is available at https://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Instructional_Materials/Review_and_Adoption_Process/Proclamations/.