The Art TEKS are standards that identify what all students in Texas schools should know and be able to do in art. As in all curricular areas, the TEKS identify content and skills to be learned by Texas students. However, the TEKS do not constitute curricula nor do they prescribe methodologies or strategies for their implementation. Rather, Texas art educators develop the local curricula and instructional strategies that will enable their students to demonstrate the Art TEKS.

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in art outline the essentials for building knowledge and developing skills. Effectively implemented, the Art TEKS are the foundation of student success in art in Texas elementary, middle, and high schools. Ideally, they are the basis of student success in art beyond K–12 art education and contribute to the success of students in other areas of their lives.

How are the Art TEKS organized?

The TEKS organize art education into the following four strands of learning. Within each grade and course level, the strands function interdependently, minimizing the need for allotting equal time to each strand. The strands make up the components of all art instruction and are most effectively taught when they are woven together in lessons and activities. The four strands are:

• Perception, the development and organization of ideas from the environment through increased visual awareness and sensitivity to surroundings, memory, and imagination
• Creative expression/performance, the expression of thoughts and ideas through original artworks, using a variety of media in processes and projects that  challenge the imagination, foster reflective thinking, and develop disciplined effort and problem-solving skills
• Historical and cultural heritage, the analysis of art history and styles as records of human achievement that foster respect for the traditions and contributions of various contemporary and past cultures 
• Response/evaluation, the analysis of personal artworks and the artworks of others that contributes to the development of lifelong skills of making informed judgments and evaluations in art and other areas of daily life.

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are also organized by content area and grade level. For example, "Art, Kindergarten" is the first set of Art TEKS.  After a brief introduction explaining the overall goals of art education, student knowledge and skills are listed. Knowledge and skills are stated for each strand at each grade level in kindergarten through grade 8. High school courses are indicated by course title and level (I–IV). For each broad category of knowledge and skills, several student expectations for demonstration of knowledge and skills are provided. In art, the Level I course is the foundation for more in-depth study in Levels II–IV. The content and student expectations statements of the Art TEKS give sequence and structure to art education.

The design of the Art TEKS scaffolds knowledge and skills, creating both horizontal and vertical alignment of learning. The breadth and depth of knowledge and skills can be evaluated on the basis of the following:

• The scope of knowledge and skills
• The depth of understanding in students’ response and evaluation
• The sophistication of ways a student understands, acquires, applies, and demonstrates art knowledge and skills.

Effective art programs, based on the TEKS, emphasize critical and creative thinking and problem solving at all grade and course levels. In addition, the Art TEKS are age-appropriate. Student expectations reflect careful consideration of the typical cognitive, social/emotional, and physical development of students at each level. The standards focus on students, their capabilities at different ages and course levels, and how to help them achieve higher levels of skill and knowledge in art. Student understanding of art expands, grows more complex, specific, and inclusive of abstract ideas as students progress through each grade and course level.