![\"2048px-Barbara_Jordan_State_Office_Building\"](\"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2048px-Barbara_Jordan_State_Office_Building.png\" "\\"2048px-Barbara_Jordan_State_Office_Building\\"")
\n\t\n\tOver the next few months, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) will make decisions with profound implications for the future of history and social studies instruction in Texas public schools.<\/p>\n
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards for social studies establish academic benchmarks to evaluate student learning. The TEKS revisions process depends on robust participation from teachers, curriculum specialists, subject matter experts, and the wider public.<\/p>\n
At its next meeting June 22-26, 2026, the SBOE will likely hold a final vote to adopt new social studies TEKS. On April 7, the SBOE held a public hearing on proposed draft TEKS for social studies and voted to adopt an amended draft on first reading. We expect there will be a 30-day public comment period in May beginning as soon as the amended documents are posted online.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We encourage supporters of public education in Texas to contact their local SBOE and legislative representatives, and urge the SBOE to develop social studies TEKS that are responsive to the needs of all Texans, grounded in honest history, and designed to support educators in preparing students for success. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tWhat Are TEKS and Why Do They Matter? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t TEKS are state academic standards that provide benchmarks for student achievement in public elementary and secondary schools.<\/p>\n TEKS standards shape decisions at every level of education policy. The state uses social studies TEKS to structure standardized tests. School districts use the TEKS as frameworks for teacher training, professional development, curriculum assembly, instructional materials, and lesson planning. Many teachers use standards directly in their teaching. TEKS standards also guide expectations for parents, students, and the wider public. For more information on this form of education policy, consult the AHA’s Criteria for Standards in History\/Social Studies\/Social Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n TEKS revision is a technical process, and each stage involves jargon that is\u00a0 difficult to explain succinctly. Even SBOE members can find details difficult to parse. It is not necessary to understand all of the technical language in order to recognize the importance of academic standards for shaping public education.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tWhat Has Happened So Far? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t The revision of the the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards for social studies has strayed from both prior practice and the SBOE’s approved process. Board members have provided little meaningful oversight, while the process rushes toward a predetermined set of outcomes that are disconnected from proven methodologies. This has resulted in the concentration of an alarming degree of control over classroom content in the TEA and the Commissioner of Education. \u00a0A preliminary review of the draft considered at the April meeting identified hundreds of errors, mischaracterizations, and other issues. To date, AHA staff closely monitoring the revision have been troubled by the outdated, ideological, and overloaded historical content, the pedagogical viability of the revised framework, and the multitude of procedural defects that will work to the detriment of Texas students, teachers, schools, and communities if these TEKS are implemented. <\/p>\n In September 2025, the SBOE voted to replace the existing social studies strands and course sequence with a radically restructured model, opting to “implement an experimental and untested approach<\/a> that dramatically alters what Texas students will be expected to learn from kindergarten through Grade 8.”<\/p>\n The new sequence merges Texas, US, and world history into a single chronological narrative across grades 3-8 and pushes more advanced content into K-2. With clear emphasis on Texas exceptionalism, it sidelines critical thinking, disciplinary concepts, and all other social studies fields. The framework’s explicit references to Western Civilization have not been implemented with attention to the historic realities of cross-cultural connections in the ancient Mediterranean or in Medieval Europe. It is unlikely that the new TEKS will meet the statutory requirement for the curriculum to include world history.<\/p>\n In early October, the board appointed<\/a> nine Content Advisors to guide the revision process. The group lacks disciplinary breadth and the full range of professional qualifications we would hope to see in such a committee-only one is an active K-12 educator, and expertise in world history, economics, and geography are notably absent.<\/p>\n In November, the advisors presented “key topics” to anchor the new TEKS. In December, six of the nine Content Advisors voted, without board authorization, to begin drafting standards. While this effort\u00a0 was abandoned after advocates rasied concern, it was an early sign that the advisors were acting beyond their mandate.<\/p>\n .In subsequent phases, the SBOE Chair has used his procedural power to curtail discussion and severely restrict input from key stakeholders. In February, candidates were given less than 72 hours to respond to the invitation to join Work Group A, which met just one week later. Representatives of the TEA told members of this work group that they would have to vote to add, remove, or endorse the amount of content in each grade before discussing any potential changes. This charge, as well as the charges given to Work Group B in March, have restricted educators and subject matter experts from using their professional judgment to address systemic problems in the key topics and subtopics.<\/p>\n The Texas State Board of Education met in a special-called meeting on February 25 with a public hearing and Board discussion (no action) on the social studies TEKS revision. Much of the public testimony highlighted imbalances in the content and the ways that they omit or oversimplify significant historical events (the Renaissance, Great Depression, and Civil Rights Movement, for example), ignore the wider world in the modern era, shortchange other social studies strands (e.g. geographic and economic skills), or distort history through an ideological lens.\u00a0 Several testifiers pleaded for the SBOE to instruct the TEA to slow the revision process so that work groups could make meaningful improvements to the draft TEKS. Members of Work Group B, which met the following week in Austin, were not given even a summary of the oral or written public comments to inform their revisions.<\/p>\n Dr. Donald Frazier, <\/b>named as one of nine official TEKS content advisors in fall 2025, serves as the Director of the Texas Center at Schreiner University<\/b><\/a>, a small initiative with just four staff members. According to publicly available 2024 tax filings<\/a>, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative research institute invested in promoting right-wing policy proposals, awarded the Texas Center at Schreiner University a $70,000 grant for the “development of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Standards.” The funding predates both the formal launch of the TEKS review and Frazier’s appointment as content advisor, by at least a year.\u00a0This funding raises serious questions about the integrity of the TEKS review process to date and the influence of special interests to set the agenda for history instruction in Texas public schools in coming years.<\/p>\n On April 7, 2026, the Texas State Board of Education held a public hearing on proposed draft TEKS for social studies and voted on first reading. We expect a period of public review in May before a vote on final adoption in the SBOE meeting June 22-26.<\/p>\n Historians’ best remaining opportunity to influence the final version of the standards will be to submit written feedback during the public comment period in May.<\/b><\/p>\n In the meantime, consider taking the following actions:<\/p>\n On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, Whit Barringer, AHA program and data analyst, shared live updates regarding the Texas State Board of Education social studies TEKS revision on her Bluesky account, @drwhit.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 7 Live Updates\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\tHow to Prepare Effective Testimony<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t When preparing to testify at a public hearing, consider the following best practices:<\/p>\n Raise awareness in your local community.<\/b> Share your concerns about the TEKS and provide information about the hearing with individuals and groups in your community. Board members are likelier to take note if they hear from many different kinds of stakeholders in their districts.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tPast SBOE Meetings<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t April 2026<\/b><\/p>\n February 2026<\/b><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.adminmonitor.com\/tx\/tea\/committee_of_the_full_board\/202602252\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n January 2026<\/b><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.adminmonitor.com\/tx\/tea\/general_meeting\/20260130\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.adminmonitor.com\/tx\/tea\/committee_of_the_full_board\/20260128\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n November 2025<\/b><\/p>\n September 2025<\/b><\/p>\n At this stage in the process, the SBOE is still making decisions about the content to be included in the new TEKS, as well as the skills to emphasize in the standards. When developing your testimony, you might consider articulating some of the following points:<\/p>\n Honest history and historical thinking are essential knowledge<\/strong> and skills for students preparing to enter the 21st-century workforce.<\/p>\n The new scope and sequence will almost certainly make TEKS standards harder to implement and less useful to teachers.<\/strong><\/p>\n The integrity of the TEKS revision process must be defended.<\/strong><\/p>\n Molly Hennessy-Fiske, “In Texas, a state hearing on social studies becomes a clash of religions<\/a>,” (Washington Post<\/em>, April 9, 2026).<\/p>\n Silas Allen, “Texas education officials pushed to delay new social studies standards. Here are the issues<\/a>,” (The Dallas Morning News<\/em>, April 8, 2026).<\/p>\n Jaden Edison, “Democrats seek to pause Texas’ social studies revamp over $70K grant from conservative think tank<\/a>,” (The Texas Tribune, <\/i>April 8, 2026).<\/p>\n James Phillips, Adam Schwager, “Texans gather to protest proposed social studies changes ahead of long SBOE meeting<\/a>,” (KXAN<\/em>, April 7, 2026).<\/p>\n Sarah Mervosh, “Texas Considers Required Reading List for Schools, Which Includes the Bible<\/a>,” (The New York Times<\/em>, April 7, 2026).<\/p>\n Greta D\u00edaz Gonz\u00e1lez V\u00e1zquez, Texas is changing its social studies curriculum. Critics say it’s too state-centric<\/a>, KUT News<\/em> (April 6, 2026).<\/p>\n Kaela Thomas, “A history overhaul<\/a>,” The Daily Texan<\/em> (April 2, 2026).<\/p>\n Sara Sanchez, “Concerns raised as Texas Board of Education considers Social Studies overhaul<\/a>” (NBCDFW<\/em>, February 26, 2026).<\/p>\n Lileana Pearson, “Parents and education groups divided over proposed changes to Texas social studies curriculum<\/a>,” (ABC13Houston<\/em>, February 25, 2026).<\/p>\n Jaden Edison, “Texas’ social studies shakeup creates divide over whose histories to teach, and how,<\/a>” (The Texas Tribune, <\/i>February 2, 2026).<\/p>\n Scott Huddleston, “Texas SBOE advances sweeping social studies overhaul, as critics warn of ‘too much’ content<\/a>,” (Austin American-Statesman<\/i>, January 30, 2026).<\/p>\n Isaac Yu, “Texas is overhauling what students will learn in social studies and history. Here’s what to know<\/a>,” (Austin-American Statesman,\u00a0<\/i>December 30, 2025).<\/p>\n Claudia Lorena Silva, “UTEP professor to advise State Board of Education on contentious rewrite of K-8 social studies curriculum<\/a>,” (El Paso Matters<\/i>, December 4, 2025).<\/p>\n Katie Serrano, “‘Hyper-partisan’ panel deciding how students learn about history in Texas<\/a>,” (Courier Texas<\/i>, November 26, 2025).<\/p>\n Daniel Perreault, “Texas education board debates narrowing focus of history curriculum<\/a>,” (KVUE<\/i>, November 19, 2025).<\/p>\n Jaden Edison, “Texas State Board of Education advisers signal push to the right in social studies overhaul<\/a>,” (The Texas Tribune<\/i>, November 14, 2025).<\/p>\n Forrest Wilder, “‘I Was Called Woke and Racist in the Same Day’: The Ousted Leader of the Alamo Restoration Speaks Out<\/a>,” Texas Monthly<\/i>, October 30, 2025).<\/p>\n Jaden Edison, “Christian activist David Barton will advise Texas State Board of Education during social studies overhaul<\/a>,” (The Dallas Express<\/i>, September 24, 2025).<\/p>\n Logan Washburn, “State Board Of Education Revamps Texas History, Adopts Chronology-Based Curriculum<\/a>,” (The Dallas Express<\/i>, September 12, 2025).<\/p>\n Jaden Edison, “State Board of Education OKs Texas-heavy social studies plan, setting stage for clash over history lessons<\/a>,” (The Texas Tribune<\/i>, September 12, 2025).<\/p>\n Jaden Edison, “1 in 4 Texas school districts sign up for new Bible-infused curriculum<\/a>,” (The Texas Tribune<<\/i>, August 28, 2025).<\/p>\n As part of its mission to promote historical thinking in public life and professional integrity in history education, the AHA monitors and offers guidance on state-level academic frameworks.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t The AHA’s criteria outline foundational elements for history-rich education that can be adapted to account for local priorities.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead Now\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t The AHA leads or participates in several initiatives to provide resources and support for history educators facing intensifying controversies about the teaching of the American past.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t AHA staff have delivered public testimony highlighting the challenges educators face from legislation restricting the history education and issues related to teaching history with integrity.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n The AHA’s 2024 report shares findings from the most comprehensive study of secondary US history education undertaken in the 21st century. The report provides empirical evidence and rigorous analysis to inform current debates over how history is taught in our schools.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n If you are a member of the media and would like to submit a request for a referral or interview, please email press@historians.org. Please provide any pertinent deadlines and we will do our best to accommodate your request. The AHA can find you a historian for any topic, and assists with dozens of inquiries each year.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n The American Historical Association provides leadership for the discipline, defends academic freedom, and promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life. We need your support for this and our ongoing\u00a0advocacy efforts<\/a>\u00a0at the federal and state levels. Please join\u00a0join<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0donate<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn More\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Support Honest History in Texas Public Schools Over the next few months, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":107700,"parent":105948,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-107697","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","has-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107697"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119216,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107697\/revisions\/119216"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/105948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screen-Shot-2026-02-04-at-3.16.12-PM-600x335.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screen-Shot-2026-02-04-at-3.16.04-PM-600x336.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\tHow You Can Help\t<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\tMake Your Voice Heard \t<\/h4>\n\t
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Live Updates from the April 7 SBOE Meeting<\/h4>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\tPrepare Your Messaging\t<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\tImportant Information\t<\/h4>\n\t
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“You cannot censor your way to great schools.”<\/h4>
~Julia Brookins (AHA) before the Texas State Board of Education, 2022<\/em><\/h5>\t\t\n
\n\t\t\tTEKS Revision Process News & Important Dates\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\tTEKS Revision Process Timeline<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\nA proposed, extensive list of statewide required literary lists readings would also impact history education through cross-curricular content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n
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\n\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\tNews Articles about History Education in Texas<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tAHA History Education Initiatives\t<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\tAHA State History Standards Support\t<\/h4>\n\t
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Woman-studying-in-library.jpg\" "\\"Woman")
\n\n\t\t\tCriteria for Standards in History\/Social Studies\/Social Sciences\t<\/h5>\n\t
![\"Committee](\"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/DSC_3118.jpg\" "\\"American")
\n\n\t\t\tTeaching History with Integrity\t<\/h5>\n\t
![\"AHA](\"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AHA-2016-Atlanta-Georgia-January-8-2016-Undergraduate-Teaching-Workshop-Assignments-001.jpg\" "\\"AHA")
\n\n\t\t\tAHA Testimony Before Legislatures and Boards of Education\t<\/h5>\n\t
\n\t\t\tAmerican Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools<\/i>\t<\/h4>\n\t
\n\t\t\tAHA Advocacy in Texas\t<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\tFor the Press\t<\/h4>\n\t
\n\t\t\tPerspectives<\/i> on History Education in Texas\t<\/h3>\n\t\t
Support AHA Advocacy<\/h3>\n\t\t