FAQs: Katy ISD Curriculum Standards

What are the TEKS state standards?
School districts in Texas are required to utilize state standards called the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). These standards govern the specific skills to be taught at a given grade level or course (Texas Education Code 28.002).

Do Texas school districts use Common Core?
No. In 2008, former Texas Governor Perry declared that Texas is best suited to determine the curriculum standards for its own students and should not commit to the adoption of national standards. Hence, Texas is one of the states which decided not to participate in the development and implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

What was the Legislative Intent concerning Common Core?
House Bill 462, passed during the 83rd Legislative Session, prohibits the State Board of Education from adopting Common Core State Standards (CCSC) and specifically states that school districts may not use CCSC to comply with the requirement to provide instruction in the essential knowledge and skills at appropriate grade levels under Subsection (c).

In June 2014, Former Attorney General Greg Abbott responded to HB 462 by clearly stating there are overlapping concepts in the TEKS and the CCSC therefore, using the same instructional materials is not forbidden.

How do revisions to the state standards occur?
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) determines a revision cycle for the state standards in all content areas. They form committees consisting of educators, business representatives and parents. When revisions occur, the state releases a draft version of the edited standards and offers a public comment period. This opportunity provides all stakeholders the chance to provide feedback which is reviewed at the state level prior to final publication.

What happens when state standards are revised?
When revisions to the TEKS are finalized, the state allows a transition period for school districts to revise their curriculum and to offer appropriate teacher training.

How does Katy ISD develop their curriculum?
In Katy ISD, curriculum coordinators along with master teachers utilize the TEKS to develop the District’s curriculum which consists of units of study. The teachers then access the units of study in an online curriculum management system when planning collaboratively to develop lesson plans.

Why is math taught differently?
The most recent state content area revision was Mathematics K-12. In 2008, Texas Governor Perry formed a mathematics panel and charged them to redesign the Math TEKS, which had been in place since 1998. Over the next four years, the TEKS were redesigned and drafts were posted for public comments. The new Math TEKS, guided by the college and career readiness standards, were approved in 2012 and were required to be implemented in 2014-15 school year for grades K-8 and in 2015-16 for grades 9-12. The goal of the redesign was to add more rigor, encourage thinking and understanding, and develop deeper number sense to prepare students to be skillful mathematicians. By embedding statistics, probability, and finance, while focusing on computational thinking, mathematical fluency, and solid understanding, students will be better prepared for the 21st century.