The Theatre TEKS are standards that identify what all students in Texas schools should know and be able to do in theatre. As in other curricular areas, they identify the content to be learned in Texas schools, kindergarten through grade 12. However, the Theatre TEKS do not constitute curricula nor do they prescribe methodologies or strategies for their implementation. Rather, Texas theatre educators develop the local curricula and instructional strategies that will enable their students to demonstrate the standards of the Theatre TEKS.

Effectively implemented, the Theatre TEKS are the foundation of student success in Texas elementary, middle, and high schools. Ideally, they are the basis of student success in theatre beyond the K–12 education and contribute to the success of students in other areas of their lives.

How are the Theatre TEKS organized?

The TEKS organize theatre 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 theatre classes and are most effectively taught when they are integrated in lessons and activities. The four strands are:

• Perception, developing concepts about oneself, human relationships, and the environment, using elements of drama and conventions of theatre through perceptual studies
• Creative expression/performance, interpreting characters, using the voice and body expressively, and creating dramatizations with design, direction, and production concepts and skills, to help students make artistic choices, solve problems, and build positive self-concepts and relationships with others
• Historical and cultural heritage, relating theatre to history and various societies and cultures to promote student understanding of theatre heritage and traditions
• Response/evaluation, responding to and evaluating theatre and theatrical performances to promote critical thinking and develop students who are appreciative and evaluative consumers of live theatre, film, television, and other technologies.

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are also organized by content area and grade level. For example, "Theatre, Kindergarten" is the first set of Theatre TEKS. After a brief introduction explaining the overall goals of theatre education, student knowledge and skills are listed. Knowledge and skills are the stated for each strand at each grade level 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. The Level I theatre course is the foundation for more in-depth study in Levels II–IV. 

The content and student expectations statements of the TEKS give sequence and structure to theatre education. The design of the Theatre TEKS structures the development of 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:

• Scope of the content demonstrated
• Depth of understanding in students’ response and evaluation
• Sophistication of ways a student understands, acquires, applies, and demonstrates theatre knowledge and skills.

Effective theatre programs, based on the TEKS, emphasize critical and creative thinking and problem solving at all grade and course levels. In addition, the Theatre TEKS are age-appropriate. Student expectations reflect careful consideration of the typical development of students at each grade 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 theatre. Student understanding of theatre expands, grows more complex, specific, and inclusive of abstract ideas as students progress through grade and course levels.