Tag Archives: standardized testing

Perry signs HB5, adds transportation to the special session

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

There had been some buzz about a possible veto, but in the end this was to be expected. When Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 5 on Monday, he ended weeks of speculation that he might veto the high-profile education … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Perry signs HB5, adds transportation to the special session

Pushing for the Governor to sign HB5

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

While a lot of big ticket items were addressed by the Legislature during the regular session, not all of those bills have been signed into law yet. Among them are the big education reform bills, and proponents of fewer standardized … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

So where does the school finance lawsuit stand?

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Though Judge John Dietz issued a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the school finance lawsuit back in February, he still hasn’t written his full decision yet. That’s because he wanted to see what the Legislature did this session, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Testing and charter bills pass

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A lot of stuff gets done at the last possible minute in the Legislature. The two big education bills were examples of this. The session’s two biggest school reform bills, one from each chamber, have danced the House and Senate … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Testing and charter bills pass

Fewer tests in the future

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

If you’re tired of standardized tests, this will be good news for you. Under House Bill 866 by state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, which passed the Senate on Tuesday night, students who do well on state exams in third and … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Fewer tests in the future

Senate passes amended HB5

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate has passed its version of House Bill 5, which makes sweeping changes to standardized testing and curriculum requirements for high school students. Texas high school students would have new curriculum requirements under legislation unanimously passed by the Senate … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More test tweaking

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Seems reasonable. Students in elementary and middle school would get a little testing relief under a House bill that passed overwhelmingly on a preliminary vote Monday. Amid a backlash against state-mandated testing, the legislation eliminates writing exams in fourth and … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on More test tweaking

School stuff

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Just a basic roundup of education-related stories, since there’s so much going on. From the Trib, action in the House on testing in grade school. Elementary and middle school students currently take a total of 17 state exams before high … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

House passes major changes to testing and graduation requirements

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a big deal. Texas public high school students would face far fewer high-stakes exams and gain more freedom in choosing courses under a major education bill approved by the state House on Tuesday. Hours of debate among lawmakers … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Pauken for Governor

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We have our first official non-fringe candidate for Governor next year. Saying he hoped to reunite the “Reagan coalition of social and economic conservatives,” former Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken confirmed to the Tribune that he will file to run … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How much testing is too much?

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

There’s not a consensus on the right number of mandatory high school standardized exams, but a lot of people are saying that what we’re doing right now is too much. The number of high-stakes exams in Texas is the most … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How much testing is too much?

Here come the STAAR reform bills

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Fire one: State Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, the newly appointed chairman of the House Public Education Committee, filed legislation Wednesday that would restructure the state’s high school graduation and student testing requirements. Aycock’s proposal, House Bill 5, would move … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Here come the STAAR reform bills

School finance system ruled unconstitutional

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Surely no one is surprised by this. The system Texas uses to fund public schools violates the state’s constitution by not providing enough money and failing to distribute the money in a fair way, a judge ruled Monday in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More STAAR changes proposed

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone’s least favorite standardized test is a fat target these days. State Sen. Kel Seliger, the Amarillo Republican who chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee, filed a bill Tuesday offering broad changes to student assessment and high school graduation requirements … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on More STAAR changes proposed

Everybody hates the STAAR test now

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In reading this story about the flood of legislation being filed to scale back or defer the STAAR tests, I am struck, but not surprised, by the genesis of this activity. The clamor for change may have more to do … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Early extension for Grier

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This was a surprise. The Houston school board gave Superintendent Terry Grier a big but not unanimous vote of confidence Thursday, extending his contract through 2016 and awarding him $115,000 in bonuses for the last year. The board voted 6-2 … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Early extension for Grier

TAB yields on testing

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Retreat! Some of the strongest advocates for high-stakes testing, Texas business leaders now want to cut the number of exams students must pass to finish high school, the latest attempt to ease tougher graduation requirements that went into effect last … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TAB yields on testing

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 →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Some sanity on STAAR

TAB does not intend to release its hostage

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And why should they, if it’s a viable strategy? Representatives from the Texas Coalition for a Competitive Workforce, which includes major business groups and local chambers of commerce, said at a news conference that the assessment and accountability system known … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TAB does not intend to release its hostage

Eight billion dollars

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That’s how much is needed per year to make public education whole. Lynn Moak told state District Judge John Dietz that it will take more than $8 billion a year in additional money to get students on target to graduate … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pauken responds to Hammond

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Tom Pauken responds to Bill Hammond on the subject of school accountability. Hammond encourages us to “stay the course” of the existing high-stakes testing system and “4×4” curriculum that have come to dominate public education in Texas. Implicit in this … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pauken responds to Hammond

Fort Bend ISD goes BYOD

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Students in the Fort Bend Independent School District may now bring their own mobile device to class to connect to the school’s WiFi and be part of the curriculum. Fort Bend ISD’s policy allows students to use electronic devices to … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Fort Bend ISD goes BYOD

Hammond pushes back on Pauken

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

After I read Patti Hart’s column about Tom Pauken and his anti-standardized testing quest, I noted the absence of a mention of uber-testing advocate Bill Hammond. Hammond has no trouble talking about Pauken, however. Tom Pauken, former chairman of the … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Hammond pushes back on Pauken

Pauken on testing

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart has a conversation with Texas Workforce Commission Chair Tom Pauken about testing and accountability in public schools. As a Texas Workforce Commissioner, Pauken has spent a lot of time studying whether our public school system prepares an … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Focusing on reading

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds promising. When HISD Superintendent Terry Grier took charge three years ago, he quickly latched onto a troubling statistic: roughly 70,000 of the district’s students were not reading at grade level. Students who should have learned reading basics by … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

TAB takes a hostage

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t say I’m surprised by this tactic. Leaders in the business community said Wednesday that they would not stand for increased funding for education if it came with any rollback of accountability standards in Texas public schools. “If we are … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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 →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on STAAR pushback

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 →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another story about parents and education cuts

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I really want to believe that there’s an uprising in the works and that the Lege could be a very different place for the better next year, but I’m reserving judgment on that for now. Deep cuts in school funding … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Are you smarter than a Texas high school student?

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Well, why don’t you take this sample STAAR test and find out? It’s very much non-trivial. I got 11 out of 15 correct – I punted on the two physics questions and on the first World History question, though in … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

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 →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Make sure you measure everything