Social Studies TEKS Reform: The Story So Far

On April 7, the State Board of Education is set to give its final approval to new Social Studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), a much-needed reform to the standards that determine what educators teach. Here’s what you need to know:

The current Social Studies TEKS are profoundly inadequate.

The flaws of the K-8 Social Studies TEKS have been known for years. They do an especially poor job of explaining the moral foundations of America and instilling basic principles of citizenship into students. This deficiency is due in large part to the framework, which treats history as siloed courses like “Texas” and “American” history—to be drilled.

In K-3^rd grade, there is no formal study of history, but only of an assortment of topics related to the state, nation, and geography.

In 4^th and 5^th grade, students learn Texas history (4^th) and then U.S history (5^th). Sixth grade is a vague contemporary world cultures and geography course. Then in 7^th and 8^th grade, students again take a Texas history and U.S. history course. For those counting, that is two actual years of history content. As they say, it’s so stupid only an academic could have come up with it.

The new K-8 framework teaches history according to proven pedagogical principles.

The SBOE has endorsed a framework with a radical idea: actually teaching history. The new K-8 framework places a greater emphasis on foundational knowledge building in Texas, U.S., and World History. In 3^rd through 7^th grades, students learn World, U.S., and Texas history as a comprehensive narrative. Eighth grade is a Texas Capstone course that synthesizes the knowledge students learned in previous years to see how various influences combined to form this great state. More details on what years and topics will be covered in which years are available here.

• This framework is chronological. History is taught in the order in which it occurred, allowing students to gain a complete mental model of the timeline of history.
• This framework is comprehensive. History is one narrative. The history of the United States, Texas, and the rest of the world is interrelated. Teaching history in siloed subjects prevents students from seeing the relationships between events and ideas across time and place.
• This framework allows for spiraling. This model allows students to see the impact of ideas and events as they develop over time.

For more information on the science of chronological history, see here.

This is the second time the SBOE has attempted to reform the TEKS.

In 2022, the SBOE convened content advisors and workgroups to rewrite the Social Studies TEKS, but, unfortunately, some bad faith actors got onto the workgroups and smuggled in anti-American ideas, such as the glorification of left-wing terrorists and organizations and the omission of any positive contributions by Christianity.

They tried again during this process.

The usual suspects again came out against quality history education. The Texas Council of Social Studies, the National Council of Social Studies, and the American Historical Association have all been infiltrated and now lobby for curriculum that spends the majority of class time explaining the racist, colonialist, and imperialist foundations of America. They are often joined by the Muslim interest group CAIR-Texas which seeks to minimize the acknowledgement of the vital role of Christianity in our nation’s history and bizarrely overinflate the impact of Islam.

The alternative framework that they supported was radically different from the current, deeply inadequate TEKS. Just kidding, it was the exact same except it had a single year of World History jammed into 5^th grade. Because the framework approved by the SBOE covers world history across 3^rd through 7^th grade, instead of expecting a 5^th grader to learn the history of the world in a single year, it was called “Texas heavy” and accused of placing “less emphasis on world history and cultures.”

Why You Should Support the Updated TEKS

Workgroup Draft B is the latest version of the TEKS, and the SBOE will consider and vote on a final draft on April 7th. These TEKS will equip Texas students with the knowledge and education to be informed and patriotic American citizens. These TEKS:

• Cover the foundational historical events of America, including the settlement of Plymouth, the American Revolution, and the Civil War.
• Trace the moral development of Western Civilization, from the early republics like Athens and Rome, to the spread of the Old and New Testament, to the Magna Carta, culminating in the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
• Reject false, revisionist narratives of American and U.S. history, such as the uniqueness of Western aggression, the primacy of slavery in the American Founding, and the exaggerated importance of foreign influences, such as Islam or the Iroquois Confederacy.

Texas students deserve standards that will teach them all of history, especially the history most important to our society, in a way free from agenda or ideology. The new TEKS standards delivers on the promise of Texas schools to create informed, patriotic citizens.