September 27, 2022 State Board of Education
Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School
(First Reading and Filing Authorization)
September 27, 2022
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION
SUMMARY: This item presents for first reading and filing authorization proposed amendments to
19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School. The proposed amendments would align with recent legislative requirements by updating the standards for Kindergarten-Grade 8 and five high school courses: Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and its Benefits, United States History Studies Since 1877, World History Studies, World Geography Studies, and United States Government.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §§7.102(c)(4); 28.002(a), (c), (h), (h-1), and (h-2); and 28.025(a) and (b-1)(4).
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 identify by rule 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(h), requires the SBOE and each school district to require the teaching of informed patriotism, Texas history, and the free enterprise system in the adoption of instructional materials for Kindergarten-Grade 12, including the founding documents of the United States.
TEC, §28.002(h-1), requires the SBOE to adopt essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an understanding of the fundamental moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the American experiment in self-government; the history, qualities, traditions, and features of civic engagement in the United States; the structure, function, and processes of local, state, and federal, government institutions; and the founding documents of the United States.
TEC, §28.002(h-2), requires the SBOE to adopt essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an understanding of the fundamental moral, political, entrepreneurial, and intellectual foundations of the American experiment in self-government; the history, qualities, traditions, and features of civic government in the United States; the structure, function, and processes of local, state, and federal, government institutions; and the founding documents of the United States; the ability to analyze and determine the reliability of information sources, formulate and articulate reasoned positions, understand the manner in which local, state, and federal governments work and operate through the use of simulations and models of governmental and democratic processes, actively listen and engage in civic discourse, and participate as a citizen in a constitutional democracy by voting; and an appreciation of the importance and responsibility of participating in civic life, a commitment to the United States and its form of government, and a commitment to free speech and civil discourse.
TEC, §28.025(a), requires the SBOE to determine by rule the curriculum requirements for the foundation high school graduation program that are consistent with the required curriculum under TEC, §28.002.
TEC, §28.025(b-1)(4), requires the SBOE to require by rule that students successfully complete three credits in social studies, including one credit in United States history, at least one-half credit in government and at least one-half credit in economics or personal financial literacy and economics, and one credit in world geography or world history.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The proposed effective date of the proposed amendments is August 1, 2025.
PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: The SBOE adopted the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for social studies effective September 1, 1998. Amendments to the social studies TEKS were last adopted effective August 23, 2010. At the June 2017 meeting, the SBOE approved the proposed TEKS and instructional materials review and adoption schedule and the revised TEKS review process to be used beginning with the streamlining of the social studies TEKS. At the November 2018 meeting, the SBOE adopted amendments to the streamlining of the social studies TEKS effective August 1, 2019, for Subchapters B and C and effective August 1, 2020, for Subchapter A. At the June 2021 SBOE meeting, the SBOE adopted new §113.76 to be effective 20 days after filing with the Texas Register, and the rule became effective August 1, 2022. At a special called meeting held August 1, 2022, the SBOE discussed the proposed new social studies TEKS and held a public hearing regarding the new standards.
At the August-September SBOE meeting, the board determined that it would not move forward with proposed new social studies standards. Instead, the board asked Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff to bring to the next SBOE meeting a draft of the current standards with proposed revisions only to address requirements of Senate Bill (SB) 3, 87th Texas Legislature, Second Called Session, 2021, that are not currently addressed in the TEKS.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION: The TEKS for social studies and economics were originally adopted effective September 1, 1998. The Kindergarten-Grade 12 social studies TEKS and the TEKS for economics were revised effective August 23, 2010. In 2018, the SBOE approved streamlining revisions to the social studies TEKS for Kindergarten-Grade 8 and four high school social studies courses: U.S. History Studies, World History Studies, World Geography, and United States Government. The SBOE also streamlined the TEKS for Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and its Benefits and consolidated the TEKS for economics into Chapter 113.
In 2015, the SBOE adopted revisions to the TEKS for certain Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) social studies courses to require that students demonstrate proficiency in the TEKS for the corresponding AP and IB courses in addition to the AP or IB course requirements.
In 2021, the 87th Texas Legislature passed SB 1063, amending TEC, §28.025, to add a one-half credit course in personal financial literacy and economics as an option to meet the one-half credit graduation requirement for economics under the Foundation High School Program. SB 1063 requires that the SBOE adopt TEKS for the personal financial literacy and economics course and that the required curriculum for the course allocate two-thirds of the instructional time to personal financial literacy and one-third of instructional time to economics. At the June 2021 SBOE meeting, the SBOE adopted new §113.76 to be effective 20 days after filing with the Texas Register, and the rule became effective August 1, 2022.
Additionally, the 87th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 4509, Regular Session, 2021, and SB 3, Second Called Session, 2021, to require the teaching of informed patriotism and the founding documents of the United States and require the SBOE to adopt essential knowledge and skills for social studies that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an understanding of the fundamental moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the U.S. government.
At the June and November 2021 SBOE meetings, the board discussed the review of the social studies TEKS. Board members designated content advisors for the social studies TEKS review in August 2021. An application to serve on work groups was posted on the TEA website in September 2021. Additionally, in September 2021, a survey was posted on the TEA website to ask for feedback on the current TEKS for social studies. TEA staff provided SBOE members applications for approval to serve on the social studies work groups in September, October, and November 2021 and January and April 2022. The content advisors convened to discuss consensus recommendations in December 2021 and January 2022. In April 2022, the SBOE asked TEA to convene work groups to develop TEKS for two additional ethnic studies courses: Native American studies and Asian American studies. The SBOE directed future work groups to develop TEKS for Kindergarten-Grade 8 as follows: the TEKS for Kindergarten-Grade 2 would address topics in Texas, U.S., and world history thematically and work groups should to look to see if there are other organizational options for organizing the Kindergarten-Grade 2 content; and the TEKS for Grades 3-8 would address history chronologically with Grades 3-5 focusing on world history and Grades 6-8 focusing on Texas and U.S. history. In May 2022, the SBOE convened a special meeting to hear public feedback on the proposed new framework for the Kindergarten-Grade 8 TEKS. Work groups were convened to develop recommendations for the social studies TEKS in January, February, March, April, May, June, and July 2022. At a special called meeting held August 1, 2022, the SBOE discussed the proposed new social studies TEKS and held a public hearing regarding the new standards. Following the discussion, a final work group was convened in August to develop final recommendations.
At the August-September SBOE meeting, the board determined that it would not move forward with proposed new social studies standards. Instead, the board asked TEA staff to bring to the next SBOE meeting a draft of the current standards with proposed revisions only to address requirements of SB 3, 87th Texas Legislature, Second Called Session, 2021, that are not currently addressed in the TEKS.
This item presents proposed amendments to the social studies TEKS for Kindergarten-Grade 8 and five high school courses: Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and its Benefits, United States History Studies Since 1877, World History Studies, World Geography Studies, and United States Government.
A public hearing for proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School, is presented as a separate item in this agenda.
FISCAL IMPACT: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has determined that for the first five years the proposal is in effect (2022-2026), there are fiscal implications to the state. The estimated cost to the TEA related to revision of the social studies TEKS is $15,000. As part of the SBOE's TEKS review process, TEA executes personal services contracts with SBOE-appointed content advisors to provide written feedback on the TEKS. The content advisors may also be invited to testify before the board at an SBOE meeting. Expenses for travel to attend a meeting are reimbursed.
There may be fiscal implications for school districts and charter schools to implement the proposed amendments to the TEKS, which is expected to include the need for professional development and revisions to district-developed databases, curriculum, and scope and sequence documents. Since curriculum and instruction decisions are made at the local district level, it is difficult to estimate the fiscal impact on any given district.
LOCAL EMPLOYMENT IMPACT: The proposal has no effect on local economy; therefore, no local employment impact statement is required under Texas Government Code, §2001.022.
SMALL BUSINESS, MICROBUSINESS, AND RURAL COMMUNITY IMPACT: The proposal has no direct adverse economic impact for small businesses, microbusinesses, or rural communities; therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis specified in Texas Government Code, §2006.002, is required.
COST INCREASE TO REGULATED PERSONS: The proposal does not impose a cost on regulated persons, another state agency, a special district, or a local government and, therefore, is not subject to Texas Government Code, §2001.0045.
TAKINGS IMPACT ASSESSMENT: The proposal does not impose a burden on private real property and, therefore, does not constitute a taking under Texas Government Code, §2007.043.
GOVERNMENT GROWTH IMPACT: TEA staff prepared a Government Growth Impact Statement assessment for this proposed rulemaking. During the first five years the proposed rulemaking would be in effect, it would expand existing regulations by amending existing social studies standards required to be taught by school districts and charter schools to align with the requirements of SB 3.
The proposed rulemaking would not create or eliminate a government program; would not require the creation of new employee positions or elimination of existing employee positions; would not require an increase or decrease in future legislative appropriations to the agency; would not require an increase or decrease in fees paid to the agency; would not create a new regulation; would not limit or repeal an existing regulation; would not increase or decrease the number of individuals subject to its applicability; and would not positively or adversely affect the state's economy.
PUBLIC BENEFIT AND COST TO PERSONS: The proposed amendments would update the standards to align with recent legislative requirements and ensure the standards remain current. There is no anticipated economic cost to persons who are required to comply with the proposal.
DATA AND REPORTING IMPACT: The proposal would have no data and reporting impact.
PRINCIPAL AND CLASSROOM TEACHER PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: TEA has determined that the proposal would not require a written report or other paperwork to be completed by a principal or classroom teacher.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: The public comment period on the proposal begins October 14, 2022, and ends at 5:00 p.m. on November 14, 2022. The SBOE will take registered oral and written comments on the proposal at the appropriate committee meeting in November 2022 in accordance with the SBOE board operating policies and procedures. A request for a public hearing on the proposal submitted under the Administrative Procedure Act must be received by the commissioner of education not more than 14 calendar days after notice of the proposal has been published in the Texas Register on October 14, 2022.
MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The State Board of Education:
Approve for first reading and filing authorization proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School.
Staff Members Responsible:
Monica Martinez, Associate Commissioner, Standards and Programs
Shelly Ramos, Senior Director, Curriculum Standards and Student Support
Separate Exhibit:
Text of Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 113, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School
(to be provided in advance of the September 2022 SBOE special meeting)