Time to Brush Up on Texas History

Whether you can trace your Texas roots back to the Old Three Hundred or you are relatively new to the Lone Star State, it is time to brush up on your Texas history. The State Board of Education (SBOE) recently revised the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for social studies, fundamentally shifting how Texas history is taught.

Historically, Texas history has been taught in isolation with an overview in Grade 4 and a dedicated year-long course in Grade 7. Under the new 2025–2026 revision cycle, the SBOE has discarded this approach in favor of chronologically aligning Texas history alongside U.S. and world history. The SBOE adopted the revised K-8 Social Studies TEKS, which are expected to roll out beginning with elementary grades during the 2030-31 school year. The board decided to push final adoption of the high school standards to a later meeting. (Read more on ATPE’s Teach the Vote.)

• Grades K-2 Teachers: You’ll be planting foundational roots with narrative stories and local traditions.
• Grades 3-4 Teachers: You’ll be looking at the birth of indigenous civilizations right here in Texas as a direct parallel to early world history from Prehistory to 1500.
• Grade 5 Teachers: U.S. History and colonization is transformed into an integrated 1500–1800 time block, including history of the Spanish Texas missions and the relationship between European empires and indigenous populations in the Southwest.
• Grade 6 Teachers: Your classrooms shift from strictly geography to 20th century Texas economic milestones and into the American Century.
• Grade 8 Teachers: Early U.S. history is becoming a “Texas & U.S. Capstone” course focusing on how statehood, constitution, and politics have fundamentally impacted the world.

The Bullock Texas State History Museum is an approved continuing professional education provider. The Bullock will host free professional development opportunities, both in-person and online, this year and throughout the transition. Beyond professional learning, the Bullock Museum offers ways to engage your students with in-person field trips and distance learning classes with virtual live presenters.

The landscape of Texas social studies is changing, but it gives us a reason to dive into our roots and support one another. Visit the ATPE Online Community today to join the discussion and share how you plan to brush up on your Texas history this season!

Distance Learning | Bullock Texas State History Museum