Texas hasn't adopted a drone-specific TEKS course at the high-school level yet. That sounds like a problem if you're a CTE coordinator trying to defend the addition of a drone elective to your campus's CTE pathway — but it isn't. TEKS §130.452 (Introduction to Aircraft Technology), paired with the 2025 TEA Drone (Unmanned Vehicle) Regional Program of Study, gives Texas teachers a clean, defensible alignment for any FAA Part 107 curriculum, including the DroneReady Curriculum.
This post walks the crosswalk you'll actually need to put in front of an administrator or instructional coach.
1. The Texas TEKS landscape for drone programs (as of 2026)
Texas TEKS — the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills — is the state's official curriculum framework. CTE courses sit under 19 TAC Chapter 130 (Transportation, Distribution & Logistics). Until very recently there was no drone-specific TEKS course; the closest fits were aircraft and aerospace courses originally written for traditional aviation pathways.
In 2025, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) published the Drone (Unmanned Vehicle) Regional Program of Study — a recommended sequence of existing TEKS courses that, together, prepare students for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. The Program of Study explicitly names FAA Part 107 as the target industry credential, which matters for Perkins V funding eligibility.
So Texas's approach is: use existing aircraft + transportation TEKS courses, point them at the drone industry, and target the FAA Part 107 as the capstone credential.
2. What §130.452 actually covers
19 TAC §130.452 — Introduction to Aircraft Technology is a one-credit CTE course. The TEKS describe broad aircraft-systems knowledge: aircraft components, basic aerodynamics, aircraft operations, maintenance fundamentals, and safety procedures.
That description maps directly onto the FAA Part 107 Airman Certification Standards. The ACS covers:
- Aircraft components and systems (rotorcraft / quadcopter anatomy)
- Basic aerodynamics (the four forces of flight)
- Aircraft operations (Part 107 operating limits, airspace, weather)
- Maintenance fundamentals (pre-flight inspection per §107.49)
- Safety procedures (emergency procedures, ADM, physiology)
If you've ever taught §130.452 with a traditional aviation textbook, the drone-curriculum version covers the same conceptual ground — just with sUAS-specific examples and the FAA Part 107 ruleset replacing the Part 61 pilot rules.
3. DroneReady → §130.452 crosswalk
Here's how the 14 DroneReady topic Assessment Packs map onto §130.452's general subject areas. This is the table you can paste straight into a course alignment document.
| §130.452 area | DroneReady Assessment Pack(s) | FAA ACS code |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft components & systems | Drone Systems & Components | UA.III |
| Aerodynamics & flight principles | Loading & Performance | UA.III |
| Aircraft operations (regulations) | Regulations · Night Operations | UA.I.A |
| Airspace | Airspace · Sectional Chart Practice · Alerts & NOTAMs | UA.I.B |
| Aviation weather | Weather · METAR & TAF Worksheets | UA.II.A |
| Maintenance fundamentals | Maintenance & Inspection | UA.V.B |
| Aviation safety (human factors) | Physiology · ADM · Emergency Procedures | UA.IV–UA.V |
| Airport operations & communications | Airport Operations · Radio Communications | UA.II.C/D |
| Security & airspace restrictions | Security & Privacy · Alerts & NOTAMs | Cross-cutting |
Every row in that table is testable on the FAA Part 107 Knowledge Test. The full DroneReady curriculum delivers 378 FAA-style multiple-choice questions across these 14 topics, plus auto-graded Google Forms™ for each, so a single semester comfortably hits the §130.452 expectations and drives toward an industry-recognized credential at the end.
4. The companion TEKS courses to know about
§130.452 is the most-cited match, but a Texas drone pathway often uses these TEKS courses in combination — pick the ones that fit your school's existing CTE structure.
19 TAC §130.402— Principles of Transportation Systems. The introductory-level Transportation cluster course. Great as a Year 1 entry point if §130.452 isn't yet on your master schedule.19 TAC §130.411— Energy, Power, & Transportation Systems. Engineering-systems angle on transportation. Aligns well with the physics-of-flight + battery + systems content in DroneReady's Loading & Performance and Drone Systems packs.19 TAC §130.452— Introduction to Aircraft Technology (1 credit, adopted 2015). The primary alignment for a Part 107 elective.19 TAC §130.453— Aircraft Airframe Technology (2 credits, adopted 2015). If your school runs a multi-year aviation pathway, §130.452 → §130.453 is the natural Year 1 → Year 2 sequence. DroneReady's Maintenance & Inspection + Drone Systems Assessment Packs feed Year 2 content too.
5. A 6-week §130.452 pacing example
DroneReady's 6-Week Bootcamp pacing maps to §130.452 like this. (The pacing assumes 30 class periods of ~50 minutes each; adjust for block scheduling.)
- Week 1 — Foundations. Regulations + Airspace + Sectional Chart Practice. Hits §130.452's "aircraft operations" and "airspace" subject areas.
- Week 2 — Environment + Physics. Weather (with METAR/TAF decoding lab) + Loading & Performance (the four forces of flight). Direct §130.452 alignment for aerodynamics + flight principles.
- Week 3 — In-Flight Operations. Emergency Procedures + Radio Communications.
- Week 4 — Human Factors. Physiology + Aeronautical Decision-Making. The "aviation safety" content area.
- Week 5 — Airport & Maintenance. Airport Operations + Maintenance & Inspection. Maps to "airport operations" and "maintenance fundamentals."
- Week 6 — Capstone. Alerts & NOTAMs + Drone Systems & Components + Night Operations + Security & Privacy + a mock FAA exam. Closes out cross-cutting §130.452 areas + readiness for the actual Part 107 knowledge test.
Run that 6 weeks at the end of a Year 1 §130.452 course (after the airframe/maintenance theory the TEKS calls for) and your students graduate the elective with both a course credit AND a federally recognized industry credential — the Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Perkins V funding officers love that pairing.
6. What about §99.7 and Remote ID?
Two newer regulatory areas that didn't exist when §130.452 was originally written (2015) — but show up on the FAA Part 107 exam in 2026:
- Remote ID (14 CFR Part 89) — drone broadcast identification, mandatory since 9/16/2023. DroneReady covers this in the Security & Privacy and Drone Systems & Components packs.
- National Defense Airspace (14 CFR §99.7) — Special Security Instructions, the DC SFRA/FRZ, criminal penalties under 49 USC §46307. Covered in Security & Privacy.
These aren't called out in §130.452 explicitly because they post-date the TEKS adoption — but they're squarely inside the "aviation safety" + "regulations" subject areas. Including them prepares your students for the actual modern exam, not the 2015 version.
7. Defensive paperwork for your alignment doc
When you submit the course alignment to your CTE coordinator, here's the elevator pitch:
"This drone elective is delivered using the DroneReady Curriculum (378 FAA-style assessment items + lesson slides + scenario decks) and aligns to 19 TAC §130.452 Introduction to Aircraft Technology. The course prepares students for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate — an industry-recognized credential under the 2025 TEA Drone (Unmanned Vehicle) Regional Program of Study. Crosswalks to §130.402, §130.411, and §130.453 are also available. The curriculum is Perkins V eligible for the Transportation, Distribution & Logistics cluster."
Paste that into the standards-alignment section of your course proposal. It's accurate, specific, and uses the exact language Texas administrators expect.
What's next
If you teach in another state and want an equivalent crosswalk — Virginia CTE 8910, Florida FACS, Ohio OACTE, California's CTE Model Curriculum — see the full standards crosswalk page, or email us at hello@dronereadycurriculum.com for a free custom alignment PDF.