Positive Character Traits Education

The Texas Education Code (TEC) §29.906 states that the State Board of Education (SBOE) shall integrate positive character traits and personal skills into the essential knowledge and skills adopted for kindergarten through grade 12, as appropriate. The law further states that the following positive character traits and personal skills must be included in instruction:

• Courage
• Trustworthiness, including honesty, reliability, punctuality, and loyalty
• Integrity
• Respect and courtesy
• Responsibility, including accountability, diligence, perseverance, self-management skills, and self-control
• Fairness, including justice and freedom from prejudice
• Caring, including kindness, empathy, compassion, consideration, patience, generosity, charity, and interpersonal skills
• Good citizenship, including patriotism, concern for the common good and the community, responsible decision-making skills, and respect for authority and the law
• School pride
• Gratitude

The new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in positive character traits and personal skills became effective in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 120, Other Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, Subchapter A, Character Traits on August 1, 2021, and are required to be implemented in classrooms beginning with the 2021-2022 school year. 

In accordance with the rules adopted by the SBOE, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools are required to provide instruction in the TEKS for positive character traits and personal skills at least once during each of the following grade bands: kindergarten-grade 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12. Schools may provide the required instruction in a variety of arrangements, including through a stand-alone course or by integrating the positive character traits standards in the TEKS for one or more courses or subject areas at the appropriate grade levels.