The TEKS will impact classroom instruction for the state's 3.7 million public school children beginning in 1998-99. Those changes will be measured empirically by our state testing program. The changes in the curriculum will be apparent on a daily basis in the classroom. The new standards place greater emphasis on phonics than has been the case in recent years. They introduce algebraic concepts at an earlier age.
More specific content is outlined in science courses.
They personalize history by making students aware of the people who made the history. Contrary to fallacious rumors, greater emphasis was put on the basics, such as grammar, spelling, addition, subtraction, the alphabet and multiplication tables. They replace the curriculum, known as the essential elements, which for the first time gave Texas citizens some assurances that students all across the state were covering the same material at the same grade level. The new essential knowledge and skills take the next step by returning some decision-making authority to the local level. The new curriculum standards detail what students should know.