Texas Alternative Document

Welcome to the Website of the Texas Alternative Document (TAD)!

This document has been produced through the combined efforts of various members of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Clarification Writing Team and the Texas State Board Review Committee for English/Language Arts/Reading. The writers of this document have worked at their own time and expense to produce this draft. No federal or state moneys have been utilized to formulate the draft, nor have there been any staff to help produce it.

The TAD has been reviewed by many of America's leading reading researchers and Texas classroom teachers. Recommendations on early reading acquisition and instruction in this draft are supported by and concur with over $100,000,000 worth of empirical reading research on reading acquisition and instruction funded by the Child Health and Human Development Branch of the National Institutes of Health.

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Contents
TAD Download Area

TAD Endorsements / Related Articles

How to Order a Hard Copy (see ordering inforamtion belwow)

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Background Information
It is the intent of this Texas Alternative Document (TAD) for English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) -- Pre-Kindergarten through Grade12-- to offer a simple, easy-to-understand document which will communicate clearly to educators, parents, and students exactly what essential knowledge and skills (TEKS) need to be taught and learned at each grade level.

The writers of the Texas Alternative Document believe that the format of the TEKS must ensure that the classroom is both teacher-directed and student-centered; therefore, the Teachers' Supplementary Guide has been added as Subchapter D which delineates Teacher Elements in the left-hand column and Student Elements in the right-hand column. In the Teachers' Supplementary Guide, teachers could easily look under Teacher Elements and see what they should teach. Parents and students could easily look under Student Elements and see what the students should learn. Since there are two entities in the classroom (both teacher and students), the writers of the TAD believe that each entity should be addressed--each from a separate point of view. Clearly defining the role of each entity assures accountability.

The TAD is specific to each grade level, progressing in complexity from one grade to the next. This enables the people who write the textbook proclamations, the TAAS tests, and the credit-by-examination tests to know exactly what should be put in their documents. The TAD enables staff development coordinators to have clear direction as they plan their in-service offerings. The TAD also enables college/university professors to know exactly what teacher candidates need to learn in order to become certified teachers. The clarity of this Texas Alternative Document creates unity and focus for all parties involved in the education of Texas' children.

This document has been prepared by a combination of representatives from the English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) Clarification Writing Team and the ELAR State Board of Education Review Committee. All those involved in the writing of this Texas Alternative Document believe in the importance of instruction that is based on scientific/medical reading research; and such research clearly documents the importance of direct, systematic instruction of explicit skills. The writers of the TAD believe that the Texas Legislature in Senate Bill 1 meant for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills to be an explicit list of the skills which teachers should teach and students should learn before the students move to the next grade level.

The skills stipulated in each grade level represent content requirements--not methodology.The teacher is encouraged to seek out and develop creative methods to present the skills to the students so that students become proficient.

The writers of the Texas Alternative Document are all full-time educators. The writers believe that teachers should be held accountable to teach all the elements listed in the TAD and that students should then be held accountable on the TAAS and in the classroom for the elements listed in the TAD. The elements must be clear, and they must be "doable" in a year's time; therefore, this document has been limited to the essential skills. Teachers should, of course, be encouraged to introduce supplementary skills and activities to their students; but the essential skills must first be taught and learned.

The writers of this Texas Alternative Document are indebted to many outstanding researchers and education policymakers who have offered their time and expertise to this cause. The writers have also drawn from the best teaching practices of experienced educators throughout the state and from the work done by the Clarification Writing Team and the State Board Review Committee.

Whereas the TEKS have followed a format which breaks ELAR into Reading, Writing, Listening/Speaking, and Viewing/Representing, the Texas Alternative Document breaks the strands into the following: Reading and Literature, Grammar, Composition, Spelling and Vocabulary with all content requirements in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3 focusing on the acquisition of reading skills. The writers believe that the content requirements need to be written in separate strands at each grade level so that a more formal study of each strand can take place. The writers do not want valuable academic content to be lost as often happens when ELAR requirements are written in an integrated fashion. It is the job of the skilled and creative teacher to weave all the strands together in the classroom into a seamless course of instruction.

In the area of reading acquisition, the TAD Writing Team concurs wholeheartedly with the scientific/medical reading research community which believes that the emphasis on reading instruction, particularly in grades Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3, should be to help the student learn to read before he/she reads to learn. The researchers have meticulously documented the importance of implementing a definite order of presentation of phonemic awareness, decoding skills, spelling, and grammar; and the writers recommend that teachers follow the scope and sequence of delivery as listed in the TAD.

Because many educators may not have had adequate training in the areas of phonemic awareness, decoding skills, and explicit grammar, Texas must dedicate its resources to help teachers receive the necessary training.

The importance of the TEKS should not be underestimated. By writing them so that they are explicit and understandable, everything which is based upon the TEKS will be coordinated -- day-to-day classroom instruction, the TAAS, textbook content, credit-by-examination tests, staff development, and higher education teacher training. The children of Texas will be the true beneficiaries of coordinated instruction, and the public schools will have honestly achieved their mandate which is "to teach children to read and write."

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How to Order a Hard Copy
How to Order a Hard Copy
If you wish to order a hard copy of the Texas Alternative Document, please send $20.83 (which includes the cost of shipping and handling) to:

Kinko's
Waco, Texas
phone: (254) 776-7763
fax: (254) 776-2020

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Contact Information
We welcome any comments or questions you might have regarding this document. Please send any comments or questions to Mrs. Donna Garner at wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Telephone:
254-666-2798

Fax:
254-666-7904

Postal Address:
236 Cross Country Drive
Hewitt, Texas 76643

Electronic Mail:
General Information: wgarner1@hot.rr.com
Website Information: JimmyKilpatrick@EducationNews.org