Article · For parents · ~8 min read
Texas TEKS Math Overview by Grade
What kids learn each year, K through Algebra I. Plain English. Why each grade builds on the last. What to flag if your kid is behind.
What are the TEKS?
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are the official Texas curriculum standards — the things every public-school kid in Texas is expected to know by the end of each grade. They're written by the State Board of Education, published in Title 19 of the Texas Administrative Code, and they're what STAAR measures.
Each grade's TEKS is organized into reporting categories (also called "strands") — coherent groups of skills that build on each other across grades. Below is what each grade focuses on.
Kindergarten Math
The foundation. Counting to 20, comparing groups of objects, simple addition and subtraction within 10, basic 2D shapes.
What to flag: a kid who can't reliably count to 20 by the end of K, or who can't tell which of two groups has "more," is behind. This is the easiest year to catch a gap.
Grade 1 Math
Numbers to 120, addition and subtraction within 20 (with strategies, not just memorization), telling time to the half-hour, identifying coins, simple 2D and 3D shapes, basic word problems.
What to flag: a Grade 1 kid who can't fluently add and subtract within 10 by mid-year. This is fact-fluency territory and it compounds — every grade after this assumes it.
Grade 2 Math
Place value to 1,200, addition and subtraction within 1,000 (with regrouping), introduction to multiplication, halves/thirds/fourths fractions, time to the minute, money operations, more 2D/3D shapes.
What to flag: regrouping ("carrying" and "borrowing"). If your kid is stuck on this, it'll cascade into every multi-digit operation in Grade 3.
Grade 3 Math (first STAAR year)
Place value to 100,000, multi-digit addition and subtraction, multiplication facts to 10×10, basic division, fractions on a number line, perimeter and area, time/volume/weight, simple data analysis, personal financial literacy intro.
This is the first STAAR year. Test format matters a lot — kids who've never seen multi-select questions or grid-in answers waste time on format on top of content gaps. See the format primer.
What to flag: multiplication-fact fluency. Grade 3 STAAR Math is half about whether your kid has automatized 0-10 multiplication.
Grade 4 Math
Place value to 1 billion, multi-digit multiplication and division, decimals to hundredths, fraction equivalence and comparison, adding/subtracting fractions, geometry (lines, angles, classifying shapes), measurement conversions, algebraic patterns, data analysis, personal financial literacy.
What to flag: fractions. Kids who don't get fractions in Grade 4 hit a wall in Grade 5 when fractions get harder, and Grade 6 when they meet ratios. Don't skip fraction practice.
Grade 5 Math (STAAR Science added)
Decimals (place value, +/−, ×/÷), fractions with unlike denominators (+, −, ×, ÷), order of operations, coordinate plane, classifying 2D figures, volume of rectangular prisms, measurement conversions, personal financial literacy.
What to flag: the coordinate plane. Many kids see (x, y) for the first time in Grade 5; it'll be foundational for everything in Grades 6-8 + algebra.
Grade 6 Math (entering middle school)
Rational numbers (including integers and signed operations), ratios and rates, proportional reasoning, percent, expressions and equations, basic inequalities, geometry and measurement, statistics and personal financial literacy.
What to flag: ratios. This is the bridge from arithmetic to algebra. Kids who don't internalize ratios in Grade 6 struggle with everything in Grade 7 (proportional reasoning) and Grade 8 (slope).
Grade 7 Math
Operations with rational numbers (including negatives), proportional reasoning and percent (the deep version), two-step equations and inequalities, similarity and scale, probability, circles and 3D measurement (surface area, volume), statistics, personal financial literacy.
What to flag: two-step equations. This is where pre-algebra really starts. If your kid struggles here, freshman Algebra I will be brutal.
Grade 8 Math (STAAR Social Studies added)
The real number system, transformations on the coordinate plane, proportional and linear relationships, slope and y-intercept, linear equations and functions, Pythagorean theorem, 3D measurement, data analysis (scatterplots, bivariate data), personal financial literacy.
What to flag: slope. The concept that y = mx + b is THE algebra foundation. Kids who don't get it in Grade 8 are starting Algebra I from behind.
Algebra I (End-of-Course exam)
Linear functions (slope-intercept, point-slope, standard form), linear equations + inequalities + systems, exponents and polynomials (factoring, multiplying), quadratic functions and equations (graphing, factoring, solving), exponential functions (growth/decay).
This is a graduation requirement. Students need at least "Approaches" on the Algebra I EOC. Most kids who pass spent significant time on the foundation strands above — there's no shortcut.
The pattern: gaps compound, fluency carries
Math TEKS is intentionally vertical. Place value in Grade 2 → multi-digit operations in Grade 3 → decimals in Grade 4 → percent and ratios in Grade 6 → slope in Grade 8. Each year assumes the last year is locked in.
If your kid's STAAR report shows a gap, look at the strand that's weak and trace it backward to the grade where it was introduced. That's where the practice should start — not at the current grade's harder version.
A 4th-grader struggling with fractions doesn't need harder fraction practice; they need to go back to Grade 3 fractions and rebuild. The compounded version (Grade 4 fractions) will land easily once the foundation is solid.
Related
- Texas STAAR: A Parent's Guide — what the test covers
- STAAR Scores Explained — what scores mean
- What to Do After a Low STAAR Score — 30-day action plan
- Free TEKS-aligned worksheets by grade