Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Subchapter C, High School
(First Reading and Filing Authorization)
January 15, 2010
COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION
SUMMARY: This item presents for first reading and filing authorization proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Subchapter C, High School. The proposed revisions recommend an implementation date of the 2011-2012 school year for the revised English language arts high school electives Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §§7.102(c)(4), 28.002, and 28.025.
EFFECTIVE DATE: The proposed effective date of the proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Subchapter C, is August 22, 2011. The proposed revisions to the English language arts electives would be implemented beginning with the 2011-2012 school year; therefore, the original TEKS must remain in the Texas Administrative Code throughout the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years. The future effective date will allow the revised TEKS to supersede the original TEKS at the appropriate time.
PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: The SBOE adopted the TEKS for English language arts and reading to be effective September 1, 1998. New TEKS for English I, II, III, and IV were adopted to be effective September 4, 2008. A discussion item regarding proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Subchapter C, was presented to the Committee of the Full Board during the November 2009 meeting.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: In February, April, and July 2009, committees were convened to review the high school English language arts electives TEKS. Initial drafts of the recommendations for revisions to the English language arts electives TEKS were posted on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website for informal feedback. During the September 2009 SBOE meeting, the board directed TEA staff to instruct the speech TEKS review committee to attempt to align TEKS for additional speech courses to the Communication Applications TEKS.
The English language arts electives TEKS review committees met again in November 2009 to review feedback and complete recommendations for revisions to the English language arts electives TEKS. The recommendations from the review committees were presented to the Committee of the Full Board during a discussion item at the November meeting.
Attachment II reflects the text of the proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Subchapter C, High School, for consideration by the SBOE for first reading and filing authorization.
FISCAL IMPACT: There will be normal business costs associated with this process for the TEA, including staff and committee travel, meeting accommodations, and production and dissemination of documents. In addition, a need for the development and implementation of professional development to help teachers and administrators understand the revised English language arts electives TEKS is anticipated. It is not possible to determine the exact fiscal implication until input is received from districts regarding potential needs.
There are anticipated fiscal implications for school districts to implement the revised TEKS, which may include the need for professional development and revisions to district-developed databases, curriculum, and scope and sequence documents. Since curriculum and instruction decisions are made at the local district level, it is difficult to estimate the fiscal impact on any given district.
The TEA has determined that there is no direct adverse economic impact for small businesses or microbusinesses; therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis, specified in Texas Government Code, §2006.002, is required.
PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: Benefits include better alignment of the TEKS and coordination of the standards with the adoption of instructional materials.
PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: The proposed revisions would have no new procedural and reporting requirements.
LOCALLY MAINTAINED PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: The proposed revisions would have no new locally maintained paperwork requirements.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: The official public comment period will begin when the revisions are published as proposed in the Texas Register.
ALTERNATIVES: None.
OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: A public hearing regarding proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Subchapter C, High School, is included as a separate item in this agenda.
An action item is presented separately in this agenda to repeal select sections in 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, that were superseded beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.
COMMISSIONER'S RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that the State Board of Education:
Approve for first reading and filing authorization proposed revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Subchapter C, High School.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Scott
Commissioner of Education
Staff Members Responsible:
Anita Givens, Associate Commissioner
Standards and Programs
Norma Torres-Martinez, Deputy Associate Commissioner
Standards and Alignment
Attachments:
I. Statutory Citations
II. Text of Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading, Subchapter C, High School