Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) — ELA

About state-specific ELA standards

State-specific English Language Arts standards govern what books are taught in public schools in states that have either fully replaced Common Core with their own framework (Texas, Virginia, Nebraska, Alaska, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina) or layered state-specific additions on top of Common Core (Florida B.E.S.T., California ELA Framework, New York Next Generation Learning Standards). Each state's Department of Education publishes the framework; individual districts then choose books to teach the required skills.

Unlike national programmes, state standards typically include locally significant texts — state-history primary sources, regional authors, or specific civic-literacy texts mandated by state legislation. State frameworks are also where book-challenge and book-removal policies are codified: every state has a process by which a parent or board member can challenge an assigned title and request review, with state-defined response timelines.

This page lists titles cited in the relevant state's published framework or instructional-materials review documents. For exact mandates, consult the state Department of Education link below — state policies update annually and our list reflects the most recent annual revision plus carried-over titles from prior cycles.

How to use this Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) — ELA reading list

The book list above represents titles ReadingList has confirmed as referenced by Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) — ELA— either through the framework’s own published documentation, through audited classroom syllabi citing the framework, or through US state and district curriculum guides that map their reading expectations to it. Each book’s detail page links the specific primary source so parents, teachers, and students can verify the citation and locate the official document.

Reading lists evolve. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) — ELA citations on ReadingList are reviewed on a rolling basis as primary sources publish updates. If you teach or learn under this framework and a title on this page is no longer used (or you know of one that should appear), the ReadingList methodology page explains how to submit a correction with a citation.