Educational Policy, Ethics, & Leadership

The San Antonio Express-News reports today that four area schools won appeals with the Texas Education Agency over school rankings.  LINK

The Texas Education Agency has granted the appeals of four San Antonio schools that sought reprieves after being labeled academically unacceptable under the state's accountability system for public schools.

Garcia and Truman middle schools in the Edgewood Independent School District, Edison High School in the San Antonio Independent School District, and the Eagle Academy of San Antonio, a charter school, have all been upgraded to academically acceptable — the second lowest rating in the state's system.

Some Schools Pass Up Bonuses

That's the title of an article in today's Dallas Morning News.  LINK

More than two dozen Texas schools have rejected state grants to set up a merit pay program for their teachers, deciding it was unfair to pit teacher against teacher in dividing up thousands of dollars in bonus money.

Although the vast majority of the 1,161 schools that were awarded grants are expected to take the money and run with merit plans this year, teacher resistance to the idea has remained strong. Critics predict that the nation's biggest incentive pay program will not produce the academic gains that proponents suggest.

Gov. Rick Perry and legislative sponsors, on the other hand, contend the concept will work just as it has worked in business.

"It's time to start treating teachers as individual professionals and not as just a monolithic profession. When you reward excellence the same as mediocrity, all too often mediocrity becomes the standard," said Mr. Perry, who has been promoting the program at news conferences in schools across the state.

But his sales job has not worked at schools like Bellaire Elementary School in Hurst or Highland Park Elementary School in San Antonio, where teachers voted to send $90,000 in grants back to the state.

Bea Cantu, principal at Bellaire, said that just two of 47 teachers at the school voted in favor of a plan that was developed to distribute the bonus money. The law creating the program – passed in a special legislative session in May – calls for merit-pay plans in low-income areas, with bonuses to be distributed based on standardized-test scores.

Textbooks and the State Board of Education

The San Antonio Express-News has an editorial, "Control over textbooks must be held in check," responding to a recent Texas Attorney General's opinion.  LINK

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's decision not to expand the State Board of Education's control over public school textbooks did not sit well with some social conservatives on the board.

They had sought an attorney general's opinion on existing textbook legislation in hopes of having Abbott expand their authority.

Having failed, they now plan to lobby state lawmakers to expand their control over textbook content.

Legislators need to be careful on this one. SBOE members cannot be allowed to use textbooks to promote their political agendas.

The review and approval of the textbooks, which will be used in Texas' public schools, has become a politically and emotionally charged process.

In 1995, the Legislature tried to limit the board's control by giving it authority to reject textbooks only if they are factually inaccurate or don't comply with the required state curriculum.

In the 11 years since, various members of the 15-member elected board have attempted end runs on that legislation.

A Slightly Less Than Half Full Glass

The good news from the ACT college admissions test is that scores of Texas students improved slightly.  The bad news is that the gap between Texas students and those across the country widened.  LINK

Texas high school students registered modest gains on the ACT college entrance exam this year, but the gap between Texas students and their counterparts across the nation widened slightly.

    

New results on the ACT released Wednesday indicated that Texas students showed their biggest improvements in math, while scores on the other three subject areas measured on the exam – English, reading and science – inched up less significantly.

    

The average composite score, reflecting performance on all four parts of the test, was 20.3 in Texas out of a possible perfect score of 36. The national average was 21.1. A year ago, Texas students had an average        score of 20.2, while the national average was 20.9.

Early Childhood Development

The San Antonio Express-News, in an editorial today, calls for mandatory enrollment in kindergarten classes for all Texas children, as a way to begin successful learning.  LINK

In the 2003-2004 school year, 21,100 first-graders in Texas public schools were not promoted to second grade. Another 11,684 who were kindergarteners that same school year were back in kindergarten the following fall.

In some school districts, the retention rates in the early classes are in the double digits.

Education Summit in San Antonio

A high school student has commentary on a recent education summit held in San Antonio pulling together various factions.  LINK

The speakers at the opening session emphasized our moral and economic obligation to ensure that everyone has a basic education. Otherwise, as former Mayor Howard Peak lamented, we would be creating an "under-class" of people who are illiterate, without basic work skills and unable to participate in society.

    

Everyone was assigned to a specific table at one of three work sessions: Pre-natal to Pre-K, K to 16+ and Workplace Skills. Each table produced "clear, concise" statements about "community expectations and/or demands," "immediate actions," "short-term actions" and a plan for "sustaining a successful community effort."

    

The table I observed, Table 10 in the K to 16+ session, worked efficiently at generating common-sense goals. Our group emphasized collaboration among different levels of education so that students who graduate from high school are ready for college. We agreed it is a disgrace that so many students are entering college unable to pass the most basic courses.

    

We also wrote that standardized tests such as the TAKS should actually assess the abilities they claim to evaluate. However, I believe we must also prepare the next generation to take on real-world challenges — not just bubble in ovals for hours.

Texas Ranks 35th in HS Graduation Rates

A new report shows that Texas is trailing the national average in its graduation rate, and that the Texas Education Agency numbers paint a far rosier picture than the reality.

San Antonio Express-News coverage is here.

Texas' high school graduation rate is below the national average and vastly lower than the Texas Education Agency has reported, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.

For the 2002-03 school year, Texas had a graduation rate of 66.8 percent, compared with the national average of 69.6 percent, according to the report "Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates."

For the same year, TEA reported an 84 percent graduation rate, a difference of just over 17 percentage points.

Houston Chronicle Coverage is here.

Texas students are 20 percent more likely to live in poverty and 60 percent more likely to be English-language learners than national averages, according to the report.

The study, Diplomas Count, shows that 1.2 million U.S. students failed to graduate with their classmates in 2006.

Texas is one of 23 states that requires high school seniors to pass a standardized test before graduating.

Houston ISD Changes Cell Phone Policy

Houston ISD changed its policy to give individual schools more latitude in how they deal with cell phones in the classroom.  LINK

"What we've seen with the use of cell phones is it's made principals and teachers equally miserable," said Gayle Fallon, head of the Houston Federation of Teachers. Students have used cell phones to cheat by text-messaging answers or photographing exams.

School committees that will decide cell phone rules at each of Houston's 305 campuses include teachers, administrators and parents who will also set limits on the use of other distracting entertainment devices including MP3 players.

Houston school trustees also toughened policies on dealing with bullies.

Earlier coverage of  the cell phone issue is here.

Cell Phones in the Classroom

Earlier we linked you to an editorial about cell phones in the classroom.  LINK

Today's Houston Chronicle has a report that HISD is looking at changes to its current policy.  LINK

Houston ISD students could have less access to cell phones if the school board agrees Thursday to let all 305 campuses make their own call governing the use of communications devices.

School administrators say they need more leeway in regulating cell phones, MP3 players and other gadgets to prevent fights, cheating and other distractions.

Don't Let Lobbyists Set School Calendar

That's the title of an editorial in today's San Antonio Express-News complaining that the new state law on the beginning of the school year removes local control.  LINK

Until the recent change in the law, districts were required to start school no earlier than the week of Aug. 21, but a loophole allowed districts to request waivers from the Texas Education Agency.

Last year, more than 800 school districts applied for the waiver, including several in Bexar County.

The new law governing when classes begin does not allow waivers.

Earlier coverage of this issue is here and here.