Copyright © Texas Education Agency 2010. All rights reserved.

Curriculum UpdateGraduation Requirements

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http://www.tea.state.tx.us/graduation.aspx

Copyright © Texas Education Agency 2010. All rights reserved.

TEC, Section 28.025

Subject to Subsection (b-1), the State Board of Education shall designate the specific courses in the foundation curriculum required for a student participating in the minimum, recommended, or advanced high school program. Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), the State Board of Education may not designate a specific course or a specific number of credits in the enrichment curriculum as requirements for the recommended program.

House Bill 3

Layers of Graduation Requirements

Minimum High School Program State Law

In order for a student to opt into the minimum high school program, the student must

(1) be at least 16 years of age;

(2) have completed two credits required for graduation in each subject of the foundation curriculum; or

(3) have failed to be promoted to the tenth grade one or more times as determined by the school district.

• A student must meet one of the 3 circumstances.

• A student has the right to re-enroll in the RHSP at any time.

• A student must satisfy all the course requirements listed in 19 TAC Chapter 74 for a total of 22 credits to graduate.

Minimum High School Program State Law

Fine Arts

• Implementation of the fine arts requirement for students on the Minimum High School Program (MHSP) will begin with students who enter Grade 9 in 2010-11.

• The new rule adds the new CTE course Principles and Elements of Floral Design as a course that may satisfy the fine arts graduation requirement under all three graduation programs.

Speech

• The law limits the SBOE’s authority to require specific courses in the enrichment curriculum beyond what is required in law for the RHSP.

• Speech is part of English language arts and reading and the foundation curriculum.

• The new SBOE rule continues to require one-half credit of

speech for all three graduation programs. • The new SBOE rule adds the CTE course Professional

Communications as a course that may satisfy the speech graduation requirement.

Health Education

• By law, students on the Recommended High School Program (RHSP) are no longer required to complete a health credit for graduation beginning with the 2009-10 school year.

• The new SBOE rule eliminates the one-half health credit requirement for the MHSP and Distinguished Achievement Program (DAP) for consistency with the RHSP beginning with the 2010-11 school year.

• TEC, Section 28.002(p) requires the p.a.p.a. program to be part of “the district’s high school health curriculum.” The p.a.p.a. program must be part of any high school health class that is offered.

Technology Applications

• By law, students on the RHSP are no longer required to complete a technology applications credit for graduation beginning with the 2009-10 school year.

• The new SBOE rule eliminates the one credit technology applications requirement for the MHSP and DAP for consistency with the RHSP beginning with the 2010-11 school year.

• Review and revision of the technology applications TEKS will begin in Spring 2010.

Physical Education

• By law, students on the RHSP are required to complete one credit of physical education for graduation beginning with the 2009-10 school year.

• By law, students on the RHSP may no longer be required to take Foundations of Personal Fitness to satisfy the physical education graduation requirement beginning with the 2009-10 school year.

• The new SBOE rule requires only one credit of P.E. on the MHSP and DAP for consistency with the RHSP beginning with the 2010-11 school year.

• The new SBOE rule eliminates the Foundations of Personal fitness requirement in the MHSP and DAP for consistency with the RHSP beginning with the 2010-11 school year.

Physical Education

• There are currently five ½ credit TEKS-based P.E. courses that would allow a student to earn up to 2 and ½ credits toward graduation.

• Current SBOE rule allows the following substitutions: drill team, marching band, and cheerleading during the fall semester JROTC athletics Dance I-IV two- or three-credit career and technical work-based training

courses

• There is currently no limit on the number of P.E. substitutions that may be counted toward graduation requirements for the RHSP.

• The SBOE retains the authority to determine course substitutions for physical education.

• The following courses will be expanded to be one-half to one credit each: Foundations of Personal Fitness Adventure/Outdoor Education Aerobic Activities Team or Individual Sports

• Students may satisfy the one credit of P.E. by taking any combination of these courses.

Physical Education

• Students may earn credit for any of the TEKS-based P.E. courses through participation in athletics, JROTC, or appropriate private or commercially-sponsored physical activity programs conducted on or off campus for up to four credits toward graduation.

• Students may earn up to one credit for any of the TEKS-based P.E. courses listed above through participation in Drill Team, Marching Band, or Cheerleading.

• In order for a student to earn credit for one of these activities, the activity must include at least 100 minutes per five-day school week of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Physical Education

• Credit may not be earned for any P.E. course more than once and no more than four substitutions may be earned through any combination of allowable substitutions.

• Students may no longer substitute Dance or two- or three-credit career and technology work-based training courses for P.E. credit.

• Students who earned their P.E. credit through a Dance or CTE substitution prior to the start of the 2010-11 school year will still get credit for that substitution.

Physical Education

Options for earning credit:

• Credit by Examination • Correspondence Courses or Distance Learning• Summer School

• A school district must ensure that sufficient time is provided for teachers to teach and for students to learn the subjects in the required curriculum. The school district may provide instruction in a variety of arrangements and settings, including mixed-age programs designed to permit flexible learning arrangements for developmentally appropriate instruction for all student populations to support student attainment of course and grade level standards.

Physical Education

Mathematics

• The new SBOE rule adds the following courses as options for satisfying the fourth mathematics credit requirement for the RHSP: Mathematical Applications in Agriculture, Food and Natural

Resources (if taken before Algebra II) Engineering Mathematics Statistics and Risk Management

• The new SBOE rule adds the following courses as options for satisfying the fourth mathematics credit requirement for the DAP: Engineering Mathematics Statistics and Risk Management

Science

• IPC will continue to be an option for satisfying a science credit requirement for the RHSP.

• A student who takes IPC, must also complete a biology course, a chemistry course, and a physics course.

• IPC must be successfully completed prior to chemistry and physics.

• A student who successfully completed IPC and chemistry prior to the 2010-11 school year has satisfied the requirement that a student complete two out of the three courses (IPC, chemistry and/or physics).

• If a student took IPC prior to 2010-11, the student may take either chemistry or physics in 2010-11 or later to satisfy the requirement. The student does not need to take both chemistry and physics to satisfy the requirement.

Science

The new SBOE rule adds the following courses as options for satisfying the fourth science credit requirement for the RHSP and DAP:

Advanced Animal Science Advanced Biotechnology Advanced Plant and Soil Science Food Science Forensic Science

Science

The following courses will continue to count as options for satisfying the fourth science credit requirement for the RHSP and DAP:

Anatomy and Physiology Medical Microbiology Pathophysiology Scientific Research and Design

High School Course Offering

• Per 19 TAC §74.3. school districts and charters are required to make available the subjects in the enrichment curriculum but are not required to offer every course in each subject or to enroll and instruct each student in each subject.

• Students must have access to courses in the enrichment curriculum, but districts may determine how often courses are offered and which individual courses are offered.

• Whenever a district offers a course in the enrichment curriculum, all of the essential knowledge and skills for that course must be taught.

High School Course Offering

A school district must offer the courses listed below and maintain evidence that students have the opportunity to take these courses:

• English language arts--English I, II, III, and IV• mathematics--Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Precalculus, and

Mathematical Models with Applications• science--IPC, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics• social studies--U.S. History Studies Since Reconstruction, World

History Studies, U.S. Government, and World Geography Studies• economics--Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise

System and Its Benefits;• physical education--at least two courses selected from

Foundations of Personal Fitness; Adventure/Outdoor Education; Aerobic Activities; or Team or Individual Sports;

• health education--Health 1;

High School Course Offering

A school district must offer the courses listed below and maintain evidence that students have the opportunity to take these courses:

• fine arts--courses selected from at least two of the four fine arts areas (art, music, theatre, and dance)--Art I, II, III, IV; Music I, II, III, IV; Theatre I, II, III, IV; or Dance I, II, III, IV

• career and technical education--coherent sequences of courses selected from at least three of the sixteen career clusters

• languages other than English--Levels I, II, and III or higher of the same language

• technology applications--at least four courses selected from Computer Science I, Computer Science II, Desktop Publishing, Digital Graphics/Animation, Multimedia, Video Technology, Web Mastering, or Independent Study in Technology Applications; and

• speech--Communication Applications

Questions?