Hot off the heals of our discussion of what 4th graders know.
This has to do with what 8th graders in Texas are supposed to know about science.
- Click here for the appropriate part of the TEKS curriculum.
- - or here.
- Click here for the article.
Starting next year, Texas will require that eighth graders learn about climate change as part of a science curriculum overhaul approved two years ago.
But which textbooks they’ll use to learn about it will largely depend on the state board charged with setting curriculum standards, and questions during a Tuesday meeting to hear testimony on the proposed teaching materials showed that the 15-member body — which has taken a rightward turn since 2021 — could make its decision along partisan lines.
One Republican member of the State Board of Education asked whether students ought to learn about the benefits of burning fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Democrats advocated for texts that emphasized the scientific consensus on climate change.
Dozens of publishers submitted textbook proposals for the state’s overhaul of its science curriculums. Any resident of Texas can submit written comments on the instructional materials before Oct. 30. The board plans to adopt instructional materials in November; the new science standards and textbooks will take effect at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
