The State Board of Education (SBOE) is set to approve instructional materials and resources to support the new science TEKS this week. The Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) leadership is concerned about the SBOE actions taken earlier this week that preliminarily rejected many instructional materials and resources that were reviewed and vetted by both by the TEA process and the Texas Resource Review (TRR). Rejection of these vetted items could make it difficult to for Texas schools, teachers, and students to meet the learning objectives in the new TEKS.

Prior to the final vote, scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, STAT is asking the SBOE to consider the following points:

Work Group E met for a series of virtual meetings between January and March 2021 to make recommendations to revise the TEKS for kindergarten through grade 5. TEA is currently collecting feedback on Work Group E Draft Recommendations.

When providing specific comments and recommendations for a work group, please identify the work group in the subject line of the email. For example, in the subject line, please indicate "Science TEKS Review Work Group E Feedback." Please submit comments to TEA at [email protected]. 

The SBOE met January 26-29, 2021. Related to the Science TEKS, the Committee of the Full Board heard public testimony on the drafts from Work Group D and Work Group C. Additionally, recommendations are available from the Vertical Alignment Work Group. Draft recommendations for Work Groups C and D are currently available for review and feedback on the Science TEKS Review Work Group Drafts web page.

The SBOE review process for the TEKS calls for multiple, separate work groups. Work Group C’s charge was to developed recommendations for revisions to the science TEKS for middle school, grades 6–8. The charge for Work Group D was to develop recommendations to revise four high school courses: Aquatic Science, Astronomy, Earth and Space Science, and Environmental Systems. Additionally, Work Group D has proposed a new high school independent study course, Specialized Topics in Science.

The State Board of Education gave final approval on November 20, 2020, to the Science TEKS for the following four high school courses: Biology, Chemistry, Integrated Physics and Chemistry, and Physics.

The adopted science TEKS are scheduled for implementation beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. A copy of the new TEKS can be found here: Text of 19 TAC Chapter 112, Subchapter C (PDF, 278KB). Please note that the document reflects what the SBOE approved for second reading and final adoption and is still subject to technical edits by Texas Register editors. Once the new TEKS have been filed with the Texas Register, the TEKS will become effective after 20 days and available in Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 112, Subchapter C, with “Adopted 2020” in the title.

The final recommendations for revisions to the high school science TEKS (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, IPC) and the K-12 scientific and engineering practices were distributed to the public and science stakeholders in August. These documents are posted on the TEA Science TEKS Review webpage.

The State Board of Education is meeting this week (September 8-11), and this set of TEKS is currently being considered on First Reading. On Tuesday, September 8, STAT President Kara Swindell, Lubbock ISD, and President-elect Jennifer Meyer, Leander ISD, provided testimony on behalf of the more than 5,000 STAT members.

The Science TEKS Review & Revision process was temporarily delayed in March by the impact of COVID-19 on Texas schools, communities and TEA. In recent weeks, Work Group B has been convened, and the process has begun again. Work Group B is focused on high school courses and is currently meeting to create a draft for SBOE review. STAT representatives connected with TEA officials to get an update on the process.

We are pleased to report that STAT goals are continuing to be considered and implemented, as evidenced in the following Q & A with TEA. STAT is grateful for the collaborative nature of this process with stakeholders and Agency staff, guided by the thoughtful leadership from the members of the SBOE.