At the April 9–12 meeting of the State Board of Education, Commissioner Morath highlighted extensive changes affecting Career and Technical Education accountability and funding. The SBOE also heard a presentation on the TEKS revisions needed for CTE courses and voted to give final approval to the state CTE plan.
In his comments to the SBOE on Wednesday April 10, the Commissioner reported on the Programs of Study refresh, with the updated list now available for districts to use starting with the 2024-25 school year. 2024-25 CTE Programs of Study  The Industry Based Certifications list has also been updated, and going forward, timelines will be adjusted so that IBC’s and Programs of Study are aligned simultaneously for a more coherent process that can be more easily communicated to business partners. A-F Accountability requirements will also transition over the next few years as seen here: CTE Accountability Requirements IBCs
Also last week, TEA announced a new timeline for Outcomes Bonus funding, which will provide districts with earlier insight to the amount of funding they will receive. College, Career, or Military Readiness Outcomes Bonus (CCMR OB) Funding Timeline and New Early Counts File | Texas Education Agency
During Tuesday’s discussion of the cycle for TEKS revisions, the SBOE heard a presentation by TEA staff regarding CTE TEKS. The new CTE Programs of Study added some new courses, including 15 new engineering courses, 2 new health science courses, and 5 law and public service courses. Currently, there are 323 unique, TEKS-based courses and 117 CTE innovative courses. An additional 35 new courses in 8 career clusters need to have TEKS developed and be formally adopted by the SBOE. These courses could be included in upcoming Instructional Materials Review and Adoption (IMRA) cycles if the SBOE adopts TEKS and quality rubrics for these courses. These SBOE-approved CTE instructional materials would also then qualify for the additional $40/student in funding provided by HB 1605. As an alternative, districts can offer the new CTE courses as innovative courses, but the innovative course approval process takes longer and requires districts to first develop the course content and pilot the courses for local credit. Institutions of higher education, education service centers, or business partners may also collaborate on the development of standards and course content.
TEA staff presented other options for consideration by the SBOE, including TEKS development for fine arts, math, and character education. Fine Arts TEKS have not been revised since 2015 and current state contracts expire in 2027, so a revision of those TEKS before 2026 would be needed prior to an IMRA review. For math, TEKS for middle school advanced math courses could be developed to support districts with the implementation of SB 2124 requiring 5th grade students to be placed in advanced math courses in middle school. Public testimony from educators focused on the need for consistent advanced math guidelines to articulate the transition into algebra. For some students, there is also a need for high quality supplemental math instructional materials for accelerated instruction and tutorials. TEA staff pointed out the need to ensure that supplemental math materials are of high quality, research-based, and aligned to TEKS. Both advanced and supplemental math instructional materials could then be called for in a future IMRA process. Lastly the SBOE has adopted TEKS for positive character traits, but there are few instructional materials available in this area.
Certain SBOE members recommended revision of the social studies TEKS, with the first step being development of a new framework. The social studies TEKS revision process was suspended in 2022 with the intention of doing further study. On Friday, the SBOE heard testimony from one parent urging them to take up the social studies TEKS revision as soon as possible.
During the General Meeting on Friday April 12, the SBOE approved the state CTE plan on an 11-1 vote. Member Evelyn Brooks, the only member to vote against the plan, cited her concerns that the federal government was using funding to change the purpose of education to be more workforce-driven than academic. She noted that employers in her district wanted students to have a strong academic background. The new state plan, including the redesigned Programs of Study, was required by the reauthorization of the federal Perkins act, allowing districts to continue to access federal CTE funds.
At the April meeting, the SBOE did not take any action on determining the cycle for TEKS revisions or priorities for future IMRA cycles. During his summary remarks at the conclusion of the discussion on Tuesday, Chairman Kinsey indicated that the SBOE will return to these topics at a future meeting to develop a plan and take action.
Commissioner’s Comments slide deck: 2024_04_10 SBOE Comments final 1