Commissioner Mike Morath and State Board of Education Chair Aaron Kinsey teamed up to present invited testimony to the House Public Education Committee regarding the implementation of HB 1605 on Monday, August 12. Commissioner Morath began by outlining the five broad impacts of the bill: creation of a new Instructional Materials Review and Adoption (IMRA) Process; increased parental access to instructional content; development of state-owned open education instructional resources (OER); updates to the Reading Language Arts TEKS; and protections for teachers. Their full comments may be accessed at this link at approximately the 1:49 point.
SBOE Chair Kinsey explained the actions taken by the SBOE in the seven meetings that have taken place since the bill was passed in 2023. The SBOE first had to develop rules for a new review process and set priorities for the first subject areas and grade levels for review. The SBOE prioritized English and Spanish Reading Language Arts K-5 and Mathematics K-12 for the first IMRA cycle. Chairman Kinsey noted the SBOE approved six quality rubrics and one suitability rubric in a unanimous vote that indicated bipartisan agreement. The rubrics are accessible at this link.
This summer, panels of educators reviewed 142 instructional materials products, developing reports which will be presented to the State Board of Education’s September meeting. Of the 295 reviewers serving on the panels, 53% are current classroom teachers. The reviewers are evaluating the products submitted for review for alignment to TEKS, and they are also using the quality rubrics to evaluate support for teachers and students. The SBOE developed a suitability rubric that is being used to ensure the content meets legislative requirements for content. The public also had the opportunity to review the content, with the comment period closing last Friday, August 16. Preliminary reports will be made at the board’s September meeting, and the SBOE will take final action to approve instructional materials at their November 2024 meeting.
Commissioner Morath explained that a “consumer reports” type website would be available “after Christmas” that will provide access to all the review committee reports. The website will include an executive summary report with additional supporting detail so that districts may locally review and select materials for use in the 2025-26 school year. A new ordering system in 2025 will enable local districts to access the $540 million in additional funding allotments designated for the SBOE-approved HQIM materials. Chairman Kinsey acknowledged that the timeline for getting the first cycle of IMRA reviews accomplished was quite compressed, but that the goal of the SBOE was to ensure as many HQIMs as possible were available as quickly as possible so that districts could access the additional funding available. Districts that choose to use SBOE approved instructional materials will receive an additional $40/per student per year.
The Commissioner also discussed the development of new OER materials for K-5 reading, K-8 math and Algebra 1. He noted that TEA developed materials would be reviewed through the IMRA process just as any other publisher-developed material. These TEA products were based on cognitive science and developed to align to the quality rubrics approved by the SBOE. The mathematics curriculum balances a procedural and conceptual approach to learning mathematics skills and problem solving. The Reading Language Arts curriculum includes a foundational skills strand and a knowledge-building strand, using cross curricular passages. The OER includes printed materials along with instructional software. Districts are not required to use TEA developed OER, although the HB 1605 allotments provide a financial incentive for districts to choose these. An additional $20 per student per year is available for printing costs associated with TEA-developed Open Education Resources.
Rep. James Talarico raised questions regarding Biblical content in the ELA OER, affirming that while students need to understand world religions, it was important to ensure inclusivity and respect for diverse faith traditions. Rep. Talarico also questioned Commissioner Morath about teacher preparation to handle questions that may arise from students in classroom conversations about religious content and differences among faith traditions. Rep. Harrison and Rep.Schaefer affirmed that for their districts, parents would welcome Biblical content. To hear more of their discussion, see this link at approximately the 2:28 point.
Chair Kinsey expects the SBOE will develop a long-range cycle for instructional materials review, so that publishers and local districts will know which subjects and grade levels will be reviewed in future years. A publisher may submit an instructional material for review any year, once the first IMRA cycle has been completed and a quality rubric has been developed for the subject area and grade. For example, companies may submit a K-12 math program next year or in future years, if they did not submit this year.
The next opportunity for public comment will be at the September 10—13 State Board of Education meeting. Materials under review in the current IMRA cycle are accessible at this link: Instructional Materials Review and Approval | State Board of Education (texas.gov)
How is your district approaching the new IMRA cycle? We are curious to know whether districts will prioritize Open Education Resources first, before considering commercially developed programs; review all SBOE approved HQIMs; continue using your current HQIM; or develop HQIM locally? If you have a unique perspective you would like to share in a future newsletter, please e-mail emyers@hillcopartners.com