The State Board of Education approved the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) science for public elementary and secondary schools nearly four years ago.
ODESSA, Texas – Nearly four years ago, the State Board of Education approved the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) science for public elementary and secondary schools.
The Texas Education Agency expects these standards to be fully implemented during the 2024-2025 school year. On May 1, 2024, TEA released its first Science TEKS guide.
Some schools in West Texas already follow these standards, including Ector County ISD. Caitlin Couch is ECISD’s science coordinator and also president of the Texas Science Education Leadership Association. According to Couch, the group of leaders from across the state had a voice in the creation of the new TEKS.
“It really is a complete shift in the way we think and do science here in the state of Texas,” Couch said. “This rewrite really aligns our state standards with national standards; and it allows our students to really mirror the practices and investigations that a scientist or engineer would actually do in the field.”
According to Couch, public schools will be moving from traditional to dimensional learning, which consists of content and processing or laboratory skills, to three-dimensional learning.
“Think about when you look back at your childhood and one of the things that stands out is science, because it’s so practical. … We can tweak and hone our curiosity and try to find a solution to the problem,” Couch said. “These changes allow us to think about all the things that are happening and actually act on those wonders.”
New TEKS Science also incorporates themes that help educators bridge all scientific disciplines.
“Everything in our three-dimensional learning is centered around an anchoring phenomenon…it means an event that happens in the natural world,” Couch said. “We’re going to introduce an anchoring phenomenon, and within the class cycle we’re going to have smaller phenomena that they can use to help explain the big phenomenon. We call our big phenomenon our anchoring phenomenon.”
Couch shared that most states have adopted Next Generation Science Standards.
“This is in line with these and this entire transition is supported by extensive research. We are truly aligning our science standards with national standards,” Couch said.
