The Committee of the Full Board met on January 25 to discuss new proposed technology TEKS for elementary and middle schools and considered changes in graduation and curriculum requirements that reflect changes in legislation passed during the 87th session. An archive video of this meeting can be found here.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Item 1: Public Hearing on Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 126, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Technology Applications, Subchapter A, Elementary, and Subchapter B, Middle School
- TEA Staff – Invited testimony from work group representative and content advisor
Invited Testimony
Eric Lambosa, Content Specialist
- In support of the proposal; grows student knowledge of technology, online safety, and troubleshooting operations
- The 5 strands proposed meet all expectations and guidelines
Casey Phelps, Instructional Technology Specialist
- Not all districts have access to the same technology and programs; recommends changing specific language to make skills more logic based and accessible to all districts
Alexis Harrigan, State Government Affairs at Code.org
- org supports the proposals of the board; Texas coding job market is growing each year and provides a stable income
- Educating kids early on technology will prepare them for good futures
Item 2: Discussion of Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 126, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Technology Applications, Subchapter A, Elementary, and Subchapter B, Middle School
TEA Staff
- Continuation of the first topic but open to board discussion
- Discussion for language changes
- Current standards are based on the Standards for the use of Technology in Teaching and Learning (ISTE) but new proposed TEKS are bases on both Computer Science Teachers Association standards (CSTA) and ISTE standards; also reviewed three other Texas group standards but names were not specified
- Large changes in content; 5 strands rather than six, and work groups recommended the board go back to having grade level specific standards
- Most work groups spent time adding standards instead of removing standards
- Hardy – What was the reason for the want of grade specific TEKS?
- TEA Staff – Work group did not think TEKS are being taken seriously enough by teachers; when TEKS are not grade specific, teachers assume previous or future teachers have instructed the TEKS
- If they are individualistic to grade levels, then teachers will be held responsible for teaching the TEKS
- Bell-Metereau – How were the 6 strands combined to 5?
- TEA Staff – Technology Operations has been changed to Practical Technology Standards
- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision-Making strand was separated and distributed throughout the remaining strands
- More emphasis on computational thinking than before
- Ellis – If we decided to make grade specific standards are we too crunched for time?
- TEA Staff – Not an issue; can be revise before April meeting
- Hardy – Are these TEKS blended into core concepts or in a standalone course?
- TEA Staff – It is up to the district; consensus was to provide flexibility for district to decide
- No motion taken up
Item 3: Proposed Repeal of 19 TAC Chapter 130, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career and Technical Education, Subchapter E, §§130.161-130.166; Subchapter G, §§130.201-130.211; Subchapter H, §§130.221-130.234; Subchapter I, §§130.251-130.263; Subchapter L, §§130.331-130.343; Subchapter O, §§130.401-130.435; and Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 127, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career Development, Subchapter G, §§127.309-127.314; Subchapter I, §§127.402-127.415; Subchapter J, §§127.468-127.480; Subchapter M, §§127.625-127.648; and Subchapter O, §§127.742-127.776 (Second Reading and Final Adoption)
- TEA Staff – Long time discussion about the administrative decision to move some TEKS out of 130 and put them in 127 without changes; more room for growth
- Written public comment asked board to be mindful of not altering TEKS to protect graduation requirements; staff aware of this and ensures consistency
- Motion passes; recommendation will be made to the SBOE
Item 4: Proposed New 19 TAC Chapter 127, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career Development, Subchapter G, Education and Training, §§127.311, 127.317, and 127.318, and Subchapter O, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, §127.783 and §127.784 (First Reading and Filing Authorization)
- TEA Staff – Education and training §§127.311 should be §§127. 323
- 5 courses that were not presented to board earlier because they needed more fine tuning in work groups
- Motion passes
Item 5: Proposed Amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 74, Curriculum Requirements, Subchapter B, Graduation Requirements (First Reading and Filing Authorization)
TEA Staff
- In November, graduation requirement changes were in discussion to reflect legislation passed last session
- SB 369 requiring students to apply for financial support or opt out in order to graduate; content reflects this
- New content allowing students to waive prerequisites for certain CTE courses so students can earn core credits and courses more accessible to all districts
- Forensic science CTE class has a law class pre-requisite that has hindered students from being able to take the course if their district does not have the pre-requisite offered; new content allows for waving these pre-requisites
- SB 1063 calls on board to decide whether they are going to require districts to have a personal financial literacy course; board could require them to have all economic class options, only one economic course, or give the district free choice over which economic course they want to teach
- TEA will provide a form for student financial aid; no district requirement to complete the form, but each student must indicate if they opted out or completed it
- Hickman – Could we add a statement about mandating districts to hand out these forms?
- TEA Staff – This requirement would be more appropriate in Commissioner rules; about to amend these rules to align with current legislation so this request is timely
- Statutory requirement to allow students to earn performance acknowledgements on college readiness tests; SAT acknowledgment score is lower than the score required for PSAT acknowledgment in current standards so board should reevaluate
- New test ACT Aspire that will replace the ACT; in the transitional years where both tests are offered, staff recommends the board set acknowledgement scores for the new and old test
- Staff has provided board with scores they recommended setting for SAT and ACT
- Hickman – What is a high-ranking SAT score?
- TEA Staff – Current SAT scores show that 15% of students score a 1310; 10-12% are scoring 1350 or higher
- Motion passes to adopt staff recommended amendments for curriculum and graduation requirements