Texas Education Agency

Texas Education Agency Gets Help to Improve Virtual Learning

The first set of instructional materials will be made available to school districts through a new TEA initiative

NBCUniversal, Inc.

The Texas Education Agency is working to improve at-home learning in the state. The first set of instructional materials, covering kindergarten through 12th-grade math and science will be made available to school districts through a new initiative.

The TEA has partnered with the organization, Great Minds to develop new math and science curriculums through the TEA’s Texas Home Learning Initiative, a suite of resources for a brand new learning environment.

There are two new sets of instructional materials: The Eureka Math TEKS edition, and the PhD Science TEKS edition.

According to the TEA, these are digitized, customized, and aligned to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, also known as TEKS to educators across the state.

TEKS are the states standards for what students should know and be able to do. These resources are optional, and they're free.

The hope is that this helps kids in an unprecedented learning environment continue to build knowledge in the classroom, at home, or wherever their learning takes place.

"So we call those our learn anywhere plans. Every lesson has one, again this is a complete curriculum,” said Jill Diniz, Great Minds Chief Academic Officer of Math. "It has all the normal things that you would use if you were in school, but it also has this learn anywhere plan for every lesson that is complete with video instruction, and support for the teachers to lead that math talk using either web meetings or phone calls."

Diniz says the news instructional materials will also help put parents at ease, who have for the most part been the teachers at home. Parents and caregivers will have full access to the new materials. It's encouraged that they stay connected, and support their kids at home. But the hope is they won't have to carry the load of providing that essential instruction.

“I think at this time more than ever, it’s just critical that parents have a coherent knowledge building learning experience,” said Diniz. "There’s a lot of worry that kids are going to be coming into school next Fall with much wider learning gaps with what would traditionally be called the summer slide, and this can be especially problematic in mathematics. You know, without the right tools and the curriculum, students can be left behind, never really catch up. Our Eureka Math TEKS Edition includes a uniquely effective tool to help teachers identify and remedy gaps very quickly so kids can stay on grade level.”  

The instructional materials are available in English and Spanish. To learn more, and for access to the new math and science curriculums:

https://greatminds.org/

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