June 29, 2020 Committee of the Full Board Item 4
Discussion of Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 115, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Health Education
June 29, 2020
COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: DISCUSSION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: NO ACTION
SUMMARY: This item provides an opportunity for the committee to discuss proposed revisions to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 115, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Health Education, Subchapter A, Elementary; Subchapter B, Middle School; and Subchapter C, High School. The proposed revisions would update the standards to reflect current health education research and best practices and to align with changes to requirements in state statute.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §§7.102(c)(4); 28.002(a), (c), (r), and (s); and 28.025(a).
TEC, §7.102(c)(4), requires the State Board of Education (SBOE) to establish curriculum and graduation requirements.
TEC, §28.002(a), identifies the subjects of the required curriculum.
TEC, §28.002(c), 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, §28.002(r), requires the SBOE to by rule adopt essential knowledge and skills for the health curriculum that address substance abuse.
TEC, §28.002(s), requires the SBOE to by rule adopt essential knowledge and skills for the health curriculum that address bullying.
TEC, §28.025(a), requires the SBOE to by rule determine the curriculum requirements for the foundation high school graduation program that are consistent with the required curriculum under TEC, §28.002.
The full text of statutory citations can be found in the statutory authority section of this agenda.
FUTURE ACTION EXPECTED: First reading and filing authorization of proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 115 will be presented at a future SBOE meeting.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION: 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.
In preparation for the review and revision of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for health education, the board in September 2017 requested that the commissioner of education convene a group of experts to develop a study to provide guidance for the development of revised health education TEKS. At that time, the SBOE also approved parameters for the recommendations of the commissioner's committee to include a framework for what the strands should be for Kindergarten-Grade 12, distinctions regarding grade levels and/or grade bands at which health concepts are most appropriately taught, and a summary of all statutory requirements related to health education and suggestions regarding the most appropriate way to integrate those requirements into the framework. In 2018, Texas Education Agency (TEA) convened a group of experts to develop recommendations to address the SBOE's charge related to the health education TEKS. This health education advisory committee drafted a response to the SBOE's charge, and the response was submitted to the commissioner. Based on the response, the commissioner provided recommendations to the SBOE at the June 2019 meeting.
The review of the health education TEKS is taking place concurrently with the review of the physical education TEKS. In March 2019, applications to serve on the health education TEKS review work groups were posted on the TEA website. At the April 2019 meeting, SBOE members were asked to designate content advisors for the health education TEKS review. In May 2019, TEA distributed a survey to collect information from educators regarding the review and revision of the health education TEKS. TEA staff provided applications for the health education review work groups to SBOE members on a monthly basis from June 2019 to May 2020.
In August 2019, content advisors met in a face-to-face meeting to develop consensus recommendations regarding revisions to the health education TEKS to share with future work groups. At that time, the content advisors met with representatives from Work Group A to discuss the consensus recommendations. Work Group A convened in September 2019 to review survey results and recommend specific topics that should be included in the proposed framework. The work group was also charged with identifying where student expectations from the current TEKS would fit into the proposed framework. The work group completed recommendations for Kindergarten only. Work Group B was convened in October 2019 and was charged with identifying where student expectations would fit into the proposed framework for all other grade levels and identifying the grade levels where topics developed by Work Group A should be taught. Work Group C was convened in December 2019 and again in early February 2020 to draft recommendations for student expectations in three of the six strands in the proposed framework. Work Group D was convened at the end of February 2020 to draft recommendations for the remaining strands in the proposed framework. Work Group E was convened for a face-to-face meeting in March 2020 and in subsequent virtual meetings in April-May 2020 to review the vertical alignment of the strands across all grade levels, ensure horizontal alignment with the physical education TEKS, and make other recommendations to finalize the draft revisions. In May 2020, content advisors were sent the draft recommendations for review and met virtually to develop consensus recommendations to be provided to the SBOE.
A public hearing on proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 115 is presented as a separate item in this agenda.
Staff Members Responsible:
Monica Martinez, Associate Commissioner, Standards and Support Services
Shelly Ramos, Senior Director, Curriculum Standards and Student Support
Separate Exhibit:
Text of Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 115, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Health Education, Subchapter A, Elementary; Subchapter B, Middle School; and Subchapter C, High School
(to be provided at the June-July 2020 SBOE meeting)