Tag Archives: Texas Education Agency

EDF report on school buses

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Environmental Defense Fund: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) [Monday] released a report titled “Review of Texas’ Clean School Bus Programs: How Far Have We Come and What Is Still Left to Do?” This report evaluates each of the clean … Continue reading →

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Some sanity on STAAR

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is a welcome development. A requirement that the state exams count toward 15 percent of a student’s course grade sparked a backlash last spring over the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, among parents whose ninth-graders … Continue reading →

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Perry gives another middle finger to public education

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a twofer, actually. Here’s one. Gov. Rick Perry named Michael Williams the new commissioner of the Texas Education Agency Monday. A fixture of Texas Republican politics — and a former general counsel to the Republican Party of Texas — … Continue reading →

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Some things are not easily replicated

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Harmony Public Schools appears to have cracked the code. The charter school system, with 38 campuses across Texas and more than 23,000 students, regularly produces students who excel at math, science and … Continue reading →

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Some children left behind

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. Nearly half the public schools across Texas failed to meet tougher federal academic standards this year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday. The failures spiked sharply from last year, when a quarter of the state’s schools missed the mark. … Continue reading →

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HISD graduation rate up

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Students in the Houston Independent School District are graduating at a higher rate for the fourth straight year, thanks in part to better tracking and online make-up courses, Superintendent Terry Grier said Monday. The district reported a graduation … Continue reading →

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STAAR pushback

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The House Public Ed committee gets an earful. Members of the House Public Education Committee on Tuesday questioned why the first batch of students who took the end-of-course exams scored so poorly. For example, 55 percent of ninth-graders met the … Continue reading →

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Not a great start for the STAAR tests

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever we think about standardized tests, we’ll need to do better than this. Thousands of Houston-area high school students failed the state’s new standardized exams and must retake them – or risk not graduating. Preliminary test results released by several … Continue reading →

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Are the end of course standards too low?

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Beginning this year, high school students must pass new end of course exams in a variety of subjects in order to be able to graduate. These tests begin in the ninth grade and continue through the 12th. The standards will … Continue reading →

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No calculators for you!

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m OK with this. Texas schoolchildren should not use calculators until they learn to work through math problems the old-fashioned way — on paper, State Board of Education members said Thursday. The board on Thursday tentatively approved new math curriculum … Continue reading →

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The SBOE can even make math controversial

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The State Board of Education is gearing up to revise math standards, and as is always the case someone is pushing back. The Texas Association of Business is urging the state board of education to go back to the drawing … Continue reading →

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North Forest gets a reprieve

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For a year. The long-troubled North Forest school district will remain intact for at least another year as Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott granted it a rare reprieve Friday from having to close in July. Scott said he would give … Continue reading →

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Texas high school graduation rate improved over the last decade

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

According to one report, anyway. Texas’ graduation rate for high school students increased 1.9 percent since 2002 to just below the national average, according to a new report by a coalition of education groups. The report found that high school … Continue reading →

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More cuts, fewer teachers

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We knew this was what had happened, and now we have the numbers. New data from the Texas Education Agency illustrate what school officials have decried for months: Their staffs are stretched thin following the unprecedented state budget cuts that … Continue reading →

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The “Moneyball” approach to public education

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Via Lisa Falkenberg on Facebook, SBOE member Thomas Ratliff uses the philosophy from Moneyball to analyze the accountability system for Texas public schools. The book says, “One absolutely cannot tell, by watching, the difference between a .300 hitter and a … Continue reading →

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Shapiro backs STAAR delay

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This was unexpected. Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said Monday in a letter to [TEA Commissioner Robert] Scott that ninth-graders taking the exams this year should be given a reprieve from the 15 percent requirement during the phase-in … Continue reading →

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As always, the hole is bigger than we thought

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Remember how the Republicans in the Lege underfunded Medicaid by $4.5 billion, which they will have to tap the Rainy Day Fund in 2013 to deal with, in order to make the budget for this biennium appear to be “balanced”? … Continue reading →

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Make sure you measure everything

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A lot of groups are measuring a lot of things related to the state’s cuts to public education funding, but there’s one big thing not mentioned in this story that needs to be accurately tracked as well. In March, the … Continue reading →

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On calculating graduation rates

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Education Agency publishes graduation rates for all Texas public schools every year. Some people and organizations disagree with their methodology, saying they assume too many departing students wind up in school elsewhere or are homeschooled rather than counting … Continue reading →

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Teacher evaluations

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD is gearing up to implement a new teacher evaluation system, but not without a fight first. The Houston Federation of Teachers has launched what is expected to be a protracted battle to void the new evaluation. It starts with … Continue reading →

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HISD to take over North Forest ISD

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be a challenge, assuming it does go forward. The North Forest Independent School District is nearing the end of its appeals to stay open, paving the way for Houston ISD to take over. State education commissioner … Continue reading →

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More classrooms with more kids

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We all knew this was coming, but the numbers are more than I expected. Thousands of Texas public schoolchildren are in more crowded classes this year as districts claim financial hardship following state budget cuts. The number of elementary school … Continue reading →

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Higher standards mean lower ratings

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Schools across the state have seen their academic ratings drop as a result of changes made in how the Texas Education Agency computes them. The new accountability ratings released Friday for public school campuses in the state’s 1,228 districts and … Continue reading →

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SBOE manages to not screw up science supplements

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Baby steps. The quietude of yesterday’s State Board of Education meeting came to a screeching halt during today’s final vote over supplemental science materials. After a unanimous preliminary vote on Thursday, the board appeared split over alleged errors in how … Continue reading →

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Day One at the SBOE

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your TFN Insider coverage of today’s SBOE science hearings. In Part I of the hearings, we find that the SBOE may not be such a major factor in school curriculum any more: 10:20  – Board members are quizzing the … Continue reading →

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Austin braces for job losses

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here they come. The Texas Education Agency said Tuesday that it is laying off 178 employees this week. Those are among the first of thousands of state government layoffs expected in the coming weeks. The TEA decision … Continue reading →

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Time once again to keep an eye on the SBOE

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Legislature is now out of town, but there will still be action in Austin to watch out for as the State Board of Education holds its July meeting. The Express News lets us know what’s happening. In 2008, an … Continue reading →

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We need better information about our schools

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

SBOE member Thomas Ratliff makes a lot of sense about school accountability ratings and how little they really tell you about a given school’s performance. Many people across the state are familiar with the terms “exemplary,” “recognized,” “academically acceptable” or … Continue reading →

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Corporal punishment

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating story in the Statesman from last week about the debate over the use of corporal punishment in schools. People who are not educators can be confused about the meaning of corporal punishment. It is not a teacher shoving a … Continue reading →

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So what happens if there isn’t a school finance deal?

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that having to change the school finance formula to distribute the billions of cuts to public education is causing problems with the budget. What happens if no changes are made to the formula? The Trib contemplates the … Continue reading →

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Lege loosens graduation requirements

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A sign of the times. The Texas House tentatively approved legislation Wednesday to make it easier for high school students to pass end-of-course exams, a move critics called “a substantial retreat” from school accountability. “This bill creates a clear, understandable … Continue reading →

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What about the jobs?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

With all of the public sector job cuts coming, will the private sector pick up the slack? This Statesman story paints a picture that I think is a tad bit too optimistic. Government employment, which includes local school districts and … Continue reading →

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Should we do away with school police forces?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Grits makes the case. If public school budgets will be radically cut in Texas, a prospect which for the moment appears all but inevitable, which employees should be eliminated first? Judging from the ongoing debate, maybe campus cops. Jason Embry … Continue reading →

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Adding charter schools

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There are currently 210 active charter schools, and state law limits the total number to 215. (Note that this refers to charter school networks as well, so those 210 schools translates to about 520 campuses.) There are about 56,000 students … Continue reading →

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