 |
|
|
|
Twitter
ELA/R Twitter
Science Twitter
Social Studies Twitter
Bilingual Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Note from the TEKS Resource System Director, Ann Graves
|
|
Hello and Happy Spring!
It's the time of year we all yearn for after weeks of cold weather, freezing rain, possible snow, and other phenomenon from Mother Nature. There is one thing for certain, you are preparing for the marathon known as "the end of school". You work hard to reach this time of year and feel confident all TEKS have/or will have been taught. Thank you for working with the TEKS Resource System! We want you and the students of Texas to be successful. Please remember, with your feedback, we can change things immediately if necessary.
We have just finished our annual District Advisory Group meeting hosted by Region 10. This starts our planning for next year as we receive input from district users regarding what works and how things could be improved. In April we start our training process for all ESC personnel who work directly with you as users. And of course, our State Conference is July 31-August 2. Please register now as our early bird special ends April 1st.
Spring Break is also happening around the state. Please enjoy your time to refresh and renew. We will all return to "focus on learning". Thank you, again, and know we are here for you. Keep that feedback coming!
Sincerely,
Ann Graves
Director, TEKS Resource System
|
|
|
| A recent picture of our TEKS Resource System Content Development Team with Jay McTighe |
Did you know that our Content Development Team is a small team of educators made up of a director, 5 content coordinators, content specialists, and technology specialists? This small team of less than 20 people works to coordinate the writing, reviewing and updating of all the documents in the TEKS Resource System. Educators just like you are involved in this process and consult as writers and reviewers to provide multiple sets of eyes on our documents in order to publish the high quality documents found in the TEKS Resource System. Writers and reviewers are classroom teachers, district/campus specialists, and ESC specialists.
A huge shout out to our Content Development Team and all the educators who contribute to the TEKS Resource System! Thank you for the work you do for Texas teachers and students!
|
|
|
District Advisory Group Meeting Held to Hear Feedback from TEKS Resource System District Leaders
|
|
The 2018 DAG Meeting was held on February 27 - 28 in Allen, Texas. The TEKS Resource System Development Team, TEKS Resource System Leadership Team, and about 40 representatives from districts across the state of Texas attended. This meeting is held once a year and 2-3 district representatives are invited to attend from each region.
The purpose of this meeting is to...
- Survey wants and needs of districts
- Filter information related to content toward the TEKS Resource System content team and other stake holders
- Explore and share implementation strategies
- Receive brief updates from the TEKS Resource System content team
The pictures below show some of the collaborative opportunities particpants experienced. The District Advisory Group Meeting is always a refreshing conference that ushers in spring with hope and possiblities! Thank you to all the district leaders who took time out of their busy schedule to attend.
|
|
|
2018 State TEKS Resource System Conference:
TEKSCON
|
|
|
We will be hosting our annual
2018 TEKS Resource System Conference in San Antonio on July 31 - August 2, so mark your calendars! We will have an amazing lineup of presenters and inspirational speakers to motivate and inform you and your team for the 2018-2019 school year.
___________________________________
2018 State Conference Keynote
Don't miss this inspiring message from
Kim Thomas!
Be a trend setter, and create your own history! Live your priceless calling as an educator. Learn techniques to ensure the fun in your classroom is contagiou
s. Everyone loses track of time when they are laughing. Kids are less likely to misbehave when they enjoy learning
Light up your passions
Overpower each student with the belief they need
Verify you trust and students will trust you
Embrace differences and celebrate similarities
Your students will learn at a depth they never thought possible.
AND submit a speaker proposal! Registration is free for the lead speaker on each proposal.
Click the image or link below for a Video from the
|
The new K-8 ELAR/SLAR TEKS (implementation 2019-2020) are now published on the website. Districts can search for the new TEKS under the Standards tab. The NEW TEKS are labeled with a "New" icon to differentiate them from the current TEKS.
- We are continuing to develop new curriculum based on the new TEKS. Here is the plan for release:
- June 2018 - K-12 Vertical Alignment Documents (VADs) and TEKS Clarification Documents (TCDs) with specificity
- July 2018 - K-8 1st semester Year-At-A-Glance (YAGs), TEKS Verification Documents (TVDs), and Instructional Focus Documents (IFDs)
- October 2018 - K-8 2nd semester Year-At-A-Glance (YAGs), TEKS Verification Documents (TVDs), and Instructional Focus Documents (IFDs)
*Please note these documents will be available as PDFs in the Resources section of the website.
- Opportunities to provide feedback on the NEW K-8 Curriculum documents:
- Attend our grade-level feedback sessions at the TEKS Resource System Conference this summer.
- Provide feedback on the documents located in the "Resources" section of our site using the "Feedback" button.
- Participate in ESC focus groups. More information about this will be coming from your ESCs this summer/fall.
|
What our team has completed...
- Review and enhancement of all curriculum and assessment components reflecting the study of newly released TEA Mathematics TEKS Supporting Information documents, completion of STAAR Analysis, consideration of District feedback, and recent TEA conversations
- From August 2017 to February 2017, added 185 Assessment Items and 88 Formative Spiral Items
What our team is working on ...
- Addition of Formative Spiral Items for Geometry (1st Semester available Spring 2018, 2nd Semester available Early Summer 2018)
- Review and enhancement of Overarching/Unit Understandings and Questions work based on current training with Jay McTighe (available Fall 2018)
- New Resources
- Backwards Design Documents (K - HS) (available Fall 2018)
- Engaging Literature for the Mathematics Classroom (available Late Fall 2018)
- Mathematics Grade Level Manipulatives (available Fall 2018)
- Concept Tree will be replaced with Concept Charts (K - 5, 6 - 8, HS; available Fall 2018)
|
|
Current Science Content Assessment
- NEW - Added 190 Formative Spiral Items for K-3 (tagged to 2018-2019 TEKS); search Assessment Creator by standard for use this year, and by unit for use next year.
- Coming Soon - 96 additional Formative Spiral Items will be added for Grades 4-5 (tagged to 2018-2019 TEKS); search Assessment Creator by standard for use this year, and by unit for use next year.
NEW 2018-2019 Science Content Development
- The New 2018-2019 Science TEKS have been entered into the TEKS Resource System site and are clearly labeled "New 2018-2019". They are available to view under the standards tab.
- DID YOU KNOW that all new 2018-2019 curriculum documents will be temporarily housed in the Resource section within a folder labeled "Grade X Streamlined 2018-2019 Curriculum Documents" for each grade or course?
- Currently, we have uploaded 2018-2019 YAGs (6 and 9 wks), TVDs (6 and 9 wks and by unit), and TCDs/VADs for K-12.
- Streamlined Science TEKS Side by Sides can be found in the Resource section of each course or grade level.
- IFDs will begin to be uploaded in the Resource section in March.
- All grade levels and courses will have a short introductory unit to begin the school year to allow for the establishment of science procedures, including safety and notebooking. These units will not be assigned a number, and there will not be any assessment items associated with introduction units. Process skills should be taught throughout every unit in the context of the content.
- We have revised our concepts, overarching understandings and questions, as well as unit understandings and questions.
- ALL new 2018-2019 science documents will be published in May to live dynamically side by side with our current curriculum and will be clearly labeled 2018-2019".
- Mid-summer, the 2017-2018 documents will be removed, leaving only the 2018-2019 documents.
- We are offering the following course versions for high school:
- Biology Systems Macro to Micro
- Biology Systems Micro to Macro
- Our current Biology Concept-Based is going away for 2018-2019. However, the units have been absorbed into the Biology Systems courses with a different sequence.
- Please see the Biology Concept-Based to Systems Crosswalk in the Resource section of Biology for details.
- Biology Sequential
- IPC Chemistry First
- IPC Physics First
- Updates to assessment items to align with streamlining will occur beginning in June 2018.
- We are working on several new resources including a backward design document, a vertical vocabulary list, and a vertical science equipment list.
NEW HS Science/CTE Course Development
- We plan to offer Anatomy and Physiology and Forensic Science CTE courses for the 2018-2019 school year.
- All new HS courses for science credit are searchable under High School Courses and Science, including CTE courses for science credit.
TEA and Science STAAR
- Several Readiness and Supporting Standards have been edited, recoded, moved from one student expectation to another (within the same course), or deleted during the streamlining process; so what does this mean for STAAR 2019?
- TEA plans to release any changes to the Science STAAR Blueprint including Readiness and Supporting Standards by the end of the current academic year.
|
|
Current Social Studies Content
- A Celebrate Freedom Week Guide has been added to the resources. This resource was created to provide guidance for observing the Celebrate Freedom Week, as the Celebrate Freedom Units will be eliminated in the coming school year. The guide also includes a list of federal and state observances, some of which are intended to be observed in public schools.
- Social Studies Literacy Skills Spiral Items for Grade 8 have been added in the assessment creator. Previously there were only items for World History and US History and items for Grade 8 have now been added. Currently there is a single item per unit. These items are found by building a test in assessment creator and choosing "Formative Spiral Items" as the item type. Additionally, in resources we have added an Info Sheet which provides an explanation of the spiral assessment items along with suggestions for extension classroom activities that can be done with the items.
- STAAR Blueprint and Item Percentages Resource has been added. This spreadsheet demonstrates how often a student expectation has been assessed in the past and additionally contains data on the percentage correct for the item.
- STAAR Analysis is complete and available in the resources.
- A Reading/Making a Map resource has been added as a tool for vertically aligning map skills.
Looking Ahead
- Performance Tasks, which are intended to provide a project based type of unit assessment for World Cultures (6th), Texas History (7th), and US History (8th), have been reviewed by a panel of teachers and revised based on the feedback. Additionally a Unit Performance Tasks Best Practices Guide will be included as a resource to accompany the performance tasks. Look for these on the IFDs in the coming school year.
- In order to get students doing history and focusing instruction on the processing skills Thinking Like a Historian units are being developed for the coming school year. These units are intended to specifically address the need for the incorporation of inquiry and skills development into instruction in social studies classrooms.
- Social Studies streamlining has begun. Work Group A has met and a documentation of their work is posted on the streamlining webpage. Work Group B is scheduled to meet in March. Information about streamlining is available via the following links.
|
|
|
|
