Education reform
Where are they going to go?
This is a good idea. MySA.com: Metro | State Under UTSA’s proposal, guaranteed admission for top-ranked high school students would expand from the top 10 percent to the top 25 percent. Below that threshold, students would have to score from 920-1020 on the SAT, up from the current range of 830-970; on the ACT, that [...]
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 [...]
Do as I say–it’s not about the money
Except it is if you are going to reward effective teachers. Star-Telegram | 03/03/2007 | Report: Future rests on teachers’ shoulders: “Five years with an effective teacher, not just an average teacher, is sufficient to close the achievement gap between middle- and low-income youngsters,” said Sandy Kress, an Austin-based lobbyist and author of the report. [...]
Best Practices?
What kind of employer would prevent workers from asking questions about assignments? What kind of employer would put a water cooler in each cubicle to keep employees from getting up and potentially congregating around the water cooler? What kind of employer would muffle chair legs with tennis balls to keep them from making noise? What [...]
So who would work for Apple?
What kind of person could you get to make broad, sweeping statements on topics about which he’s obviously seriously uninformed? Steve Jobs. Apple CEO Jobs attacks teacher unions | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle: AUSTIN — Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs lambasted teacher unions today, claiming no amount of technology in the classroom would improve public [...]
Is it the money or the competition?
Texas’ 2007 dropouts will cost taxpayers $377 million every year | NCPA: The study finds that Texas school districts facing more private school competition have lower public school dropout rates. A modest school choice program, which would increase private school enrollment by just five percent, would reduce the public school dropout rate by 8,700 – [...]
How will private schools be held accountable for vouchers?
MySA.com: Metro | State: Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, plans to introduce a school voucher bill later this month that would allow up to 5 percent of the low-income children in the state’s largest urban school districts to attend a school of their choice at taxpayer expense.” It will target those folks who don’t have the [...]
Accountability
There are so many who want education reform based on “running a business” and accountability that I think it’s time to explain the situation in language they should understand. Let’s pretend that you run a plant nursery. You sell a healthy, well-kept tree to your customer. You give them fertilizer and detailed instructions. You might [...]
It’s the money that matters
Texans for Excellence in the Classroom Unveils 2007 Education Recommendations | Excellence in the Classroom: The report recommends strengthened standards and coursework aligned with those standards; improved collection of education data; improved tools to measure academic progress; dramatically improved teacher evaluation methods; increased pay for highly effective teachers; support for teachers through enhanced professional development; [...]
No, really?
MySA.com: State Government: At least half of all high school students in the state’s major cities are dropping out of school, creating a crisis that state leaders are not doing enough to address, some education experts say. This was true when I did my masters report in the 1980′s. This problem spans generations in terms [...]