Archive for March, 2007
Race matters
I don’t know what to think about this. School separates races for TAKS talk | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle: Administrators at a Katy school are facing criticism from parents after holding separate assemblies for black, white and Hispanic students to address low scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test. The assemblies at [...]
More whining about the top ten percent rule from Plano
At least this time they found an actual student who didn’t get into UT because of the law. MySA.com: Metro | State: Each spring, she said, she gets calls from constituents whose children didn’t make the top 10 percent at highly competitive Plano Senior High School.Josh Wakeman, 22, a senior studying accounting at the University [...]
Would they pay if they knew they wouldn’t play?
Baseball season has started (which has cut into my blogging time) and once again I get to see up close and personal what coaches and parents will do to win. My biggest gripe is the minimum play rules. In Little League, you only have to play a kid for six consecutive outs or one at [...]
They get two months off, what more do they want?
MySA.com: MySA.com: Jobs: Need a job? The Northside Independent School District needs to hire 800 teachers before the fall semester.So, if you’re qualified and you have teaching credentials, you could have a new job by summer. The teachers are needed because 4,000 new students are expected to enter the school district this year. “We’re going [...]
If only they would give us money
Charter school network could rival HISD | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle: “If we learn from (KIPP’s expansion), then it will be great for the district,” said HISD trustee Harvin Moore, a former KIPP board member. “If we continue to treat them as if it’s us against them and make excuses for why they do better [...]
Because I say so…
MySA.com: Metro | State: Many school principals require parents to separate twins despite the lack of research, Robinson said. The proposed law would allow parents of multiples to request school principals to place their children in the same classroom or in different classrooms. Schools would have to honor the request unless it would be disruptive [...]
Hormone stresses teenagers
Newswise | Scientists Find Hormone Activity Explains Adolescent Mood Swings: Newswise — If your teenager doesn’t act the way you expect–blame this hormone. The “raging hormones” of puberty are known to produce mood swings and stress for most teenagers, making it difficult to cope with this period of life. Until now, the specific causes of [...]
What’s the merit in merit-based aid?
Very interesting article. Merits of student aid – The Boston Globe: Since then, the growth in merit-based aid at these places has outpaced that of need-based aid in an effort to attract these upper-middle-class students with higher board scores who will make a school more competitive. While some merit money is mixed with need, the [...]
Preventing increases in the rate of deaths among high school students
Given the obscure definitions used by the Texas Education Agency to calculate the high school dropout rate, I can understand why the legislature might feel the need to explicitly define who is a dropout. But I have to wonder about the following requirement: 80(R) HB 3621 – Introduced version – Bill Text: (e) Each school [...]
Basketball saves socially inept homeschooler
Who knew that sports writers were so well informed about homeschooling to be able to make the following statement? Sports – StatesmanJournal.com: Unlike a lot the typical home-schooled students, Berrier (pronounced like Perrier) is well-adjusted and blends in enough with his McKay teammates that outsiders can’t tell the difference. And then there is the basketball [...]