AHA senior program analyst Julia Brookins testified before the Texas State Board of Education on behalf of the AHA to express serious concerns about the draft 2026 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards for K–12 social studies. “Without numerous corrections and substantive changes,” Brookins explained, “the proposed TEKS would likely reduce and distort students’ understanding of historical events, while failing to develop their conceptual knowledge and historical thinking skills. We found too many problems to summarize, and they cannot be addressed haphazardly through amendments.” Brookins argued that the draft standards fail to comply with state law by neglect requirements for college and career readiness, inadequately addressing the history of civic engagement in the United States, and providing woefully insufficient coverage of world history. For more information about the TEKS revisions process, access the AHA’s Texas Social Studies TEKS Revision Field Guide.
