Texas Social Studies Framework - Department of Geography ...

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§74.2 and §74.3(a) require school districts to “ensure
that sufficient time is provided for teachers to teach
and for students to learn...social studies...” and
further allows school districts to “provide instruction
in a variety of arrangements and settings, including
mixed-age programs designed to permit flexible
learning arrangements for developmentally appropriate
instruction for all student populations to support
student achievement of course and grade level
standards.”
§74.3 (b)(2)(D) and (E) require school districts to
“offer the following courses...and maintain evidence
that students have the opportunity to take these
courses: United States History Studies Since
Reconstruction, World History Studies, United States
Government, World Geography Studies, and economics
with emphasis on the free enterprise system
and its benefits.”
HISTORY OF THE TEKS
Chapter 2: An Overview of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Social Studies
The TEKS for Social Studies were adopted by the State
Board of Education in July 1997. The process to develop
the TEKS for all areas of the curriculum began with a
decision by the board in 1994 to clarify the existing
curriculum, called the essential elements, as a first step in
aligning the state assessment program with the state
curriculum. With the passage of Senate Bill 1 in June
1995, the Texas Legislature modified the task by directing
the board to identify “essential knowledge and
skills . . . that all students should be able to demonstrate.”
To do so, the board approved a process for developing
the TEKS that ultimately included the appointment of
writing teams; a connections team to promote interdisciplinary
connections; State Board of Education Review
Committees; wide review of drafts by the field, the
general public, and nationally known content experts;
and regular board discussion and work sessions. Writing
teams were charged with focusing on rigorous and
measurable academic skills. The social studies writing
team was made up thirty-five people, including teachers,
curriculum specialists, university professors, business
people, and parents. The State Board of Education
Review Committee for Social Studies was composed of
fifteen individuals charged with reporting their analyses
of the draft TEKS for Social Studies directly to specific
members of the board.
Two drafts of the TEKS for Social Studies were widely
distributed for field and public review. The process
included distribution of the TEKS to districts and
placement on the Internet, public hearings in every
education service center region, and summary documents
in both English and Spanish. The Texas Education
Agency received approximately two thousand responses
to the two social studies drafts, all of which were
considered as members prepared their final draft for
submission to the Commissioner of Education in December
1996. Designated experts then reviewed the TEKS
for accuracy, comprehensiveness, rigor, and other factors,
leading to further revisions.
In March 1997 the board held a work session on the
TEKS for Social Studies, followed by public hearings in
May and July, from which came additional changes.
Final adoption came on July 11, 1997, with full implementation
of the TEKS required in September 1998.
Figure 1 provides a summary of the content of the TEKS
for Social Studies.
In 1996, the Texas Education Agency funded the Social
Studies Center for Educator Development (SSCED) to
aid in implementation of the TEKS. The SSCED’s
mission is to support a statewide system of ongoing
education and professional development in social studies
for educators at all grade levels. Since its inception the
SSCED has provided training in exemplary social studies
content and methodology for trainers from the twenty
education service centers. In addition the SSCED has
developed and distributed a number of products that
guide and enrich instruction in the TEKS. The SSCED
website is accessible at .
ORGANIZATION OF THE TEKS
Organization across Grade Levels and Courses
From Kindergarten through Grade 12, the TEKS for
Social Studies are organized around eight strands:
history; geography; economics; government; citizenship;
culture; science, technology, and society; and social
studies skills. Each strand is an integral part of a complete
and comprehensive K-12 social studies curriculum,
with none being considered more or less important than
any of the others. While one strand may serve as the
logical hub around which curriculum, instruction, and
assessment are designed for a given grade level or course
(the history strand as the hub at Grade 7 and 8, for
example, or the government strand as the hub for the
high school U.S. Government course), curriculum
development would be incomplete without careful
inclusion of all strands.