Spiraling Curriculum and the Pre-K TEKS

The Technology Application (TA) domain for Prekindergarten children is one of the 10 skill domains that preschool-aged children are expected to have mastered when they reach kindergarten. The TA domain is broken down into five “End of Prekindergarten Year Outcomes.” The first outcome (X.A.1) describes that a child will be able to run and navigate through age-appropriate software that “enhance the development of appropriate concepts.” The second outcome (X.A.2) describes that a child should be able to identify and properly utilize various input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. A child, for the third outcome (X.A.3), should be able to use “voice/sound recorders and touch screens. The fourth outcome (X.A.4) dictates that a preschool child should be able to use a variety of software applications that allow them to create products and express themselves. The fifth and final outcome (X.A.5), states that the child is able to recognize, not necessarily find, that information is able to be found utilizing various technological devices. Each of these outcomes contains 1-2 examples of expected children’s behaviors, and examples of instructional strategies that can be used to reach the end of the year outcomes.

These outcomes set the framework for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) that children are expected to learn throughout their educational career. Each outcome mirrors the foundations, information acquisition, problem solving or communication TEK. These outcomes begin the spiraling or scaffolding that occurs within the TA domain of the TEKS, whereby each level builds upon the previous and prepares students for the next set of TEKS. For example, by the end of preschool, children are expected to, according to (X.A.2), use and name various input devices. For the K-2 TEKS, in particular the Foundations 2A, in addition to being able to name various input devices, students are expected to be able to use each one for the purpose of data entry. Reinforcing this set of TEKS, in third through fifth grade (2A), children are expected to use the same list of input devices for data entry. In middle school and high school students, not only are students expected to use various input devices, but they are expected to demonstrate proficiency in doing so.