Committee begins broad review of "innovative courses" rule, weighing tighter guardrails and sunset timing

The Committee on Instruction opened a discussion on the four-year review of 19 TAC chapter 74 (curriculum requirements and graduation rules), focusing especially on the “innovative courses” pathway and whether the committee should tighten application criteria, revise sunset timing and add clearer review standards for instructional materials.

Shannon Trejo, deputy commissioner for the Office of School Programs, outlined three ways a course can become available to students in Texas: a TEKS-based course created through the State Board of Education TEKS review process, an innovative course approved under 19 TAC §74.27 that grants state elective credit with an expiration date, and a locally approved course that grants local credit but not state graduation credit. Trejo said TEKS-based course development can take about a year, innovative courses are considered annually under the committee’s rule, and local courses are under district authority.

Staff provided several data points: about 260 TEKS-based courses award elective credit; 145 approved innovative courses exist statewide; 88 of the innovative courses are CTE-related; 15 innovative…