Tag Archives: textbooks

School districts don’t need gift registries

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They need to have their needs met by the state. Texas school districts ravaged by Hurricane Harvey still need thousands of textbooks, dictionaries and other instructional resources, so the state’s education agency is borrowing a page from the wedding industry … Continue reading →

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SBOE approves new evolution standard

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Shockingly, it doesn’t suck. The Texas State Board of Education tentatively voted to remove language in high school biology standards that would have required students to challenge evolutionary science. Currently, the curriculum requires students to “evaluate” scientific explanations for the … Continue reading →

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Some things never evolve

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The SBOE, for instance. The Texas State Board of Education on Wednesday voted preliminarily for science standards that would keep in language that some say opens the door to creationism. The votes came a day after the board heard from … Continue reading →

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SBOE rejects that lousy Mexican-American studies textbook

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. The State Board of Education voted 14-0 Wednesday to deny the adoption of a Mexican-American studies textbook decried by opponents as racist and inaccurate. The textbook, titled “Mexican American Heritage,” was the only submission the board received when it … Continue reading →

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Publisher of crappy Mexican American Studies textbook defends said textbook

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not that crappy, she swears. The publisher of a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook that scholars, elected officials and Hispanic activists have decried as racist and inaccurate is defending the high school text ahead of a public hearing on the … Continue reading →

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Documenting the ways that proposed Mexican-American Studies textbook sucks

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Read the report. Saying that a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook is “dripping with racism and intolerance,” several educators and students are calling for the State Board of Education to reject the controversial book. “It is an utter shame we must … Continue reading →

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In which we find another way to suck at textbooks

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, good Lord. If the State Board of Education approves a proposed Mexican-American studies textbook this fall, Texas students could learn that the Aztecs waged war because of “bloodlust,” 19th-century Mexican industrial laborers often drank on the job and slavery … Continue reading →

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Our stupid social studies

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Unbelievable, except that it totally is believable. The publisher of one of Texas’ controversial social studies textbooks has agreed to change a caption that describes African slaves as immigrant “workers” after a Houston-area mom’s social media complaints went viral over … Continue reading →

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SBOE adopts history textbook changes it hasn’t read

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. After adopting hundreds of pages in last minute updates and corrections, the Texas State Board of Education approved new social studies textbooks Friday. All but the five Democrats on the 15-member board voted to accept products from all publishers … Continue reading →

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SBOE defers new textbook decision

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They’re funny even when they’re not trying to be. After an afternoon spent wrangling over the proper definition of jihad and the influence of Moses on the Founding Fathers, it was Common Core that ultimately derailed the State Board of … Continue reading →

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It’s textbook approval time again

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

You know what that means, because we can’t do this sort of thing without controversy and a generous side order of knuckleheadedness. Bowing to public pressure, the world’s largest textbook publisher has revised misleading language on global warming in a … Continue reading →

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Next in “What’s wrong with our textbooks”: Climate change

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: An examination of how proposed social studies textbooks for Texas public schools address climate change reveals distortions and bias that misrepresent the broad scientific consensus on the phenomenon. Climate education specialists at the National Center for Science … Continue reading →

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Time again to talk textbooks

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Kathy Miller of the Texas Freedom Network sounded the alarm in the Sunday op-eds. The last time Texas adopted social studies textbooks – in 2002 – political activists and members of the state education board themselves demanded scores of changes … Continue reading →

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Digital textbooks are on their way

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

HISD is on the leading edge. HISD is the first of Texas’ large districts – and among the first large districts in the nation – to radically rethink the way it buys new high school instructional materials, shifting from printed … Continue reading →

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SBOE does something OK

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I know, I’m as surprised as you are. Instead of making Mexican-American studies an official high school course, the Texas State Board of Education has settled on a tentative compromise that would allow school districts to decide whether to offer … Continue reading →

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Teaching creationism in Texas

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Zack Kopplin reports on some unconstitutional behavior by a national charter school operator that has several campuses in Texas. When public-school students enrolled in Texas’ largest charter program open their biology workbooks, they will read that the fossil record is … Continue reading →

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Barton versus Cornyn?

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Warren Throckmorton: There is a lot of chatter these days among tea partiers in Texas about who should run against John Cornyn in the 2014 Senate primary. Despite a conservative voting record, Cornyn is being targeted by the tea party … Continue reading →

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Standing up for science

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope it did some good. A past Texas State Board of Education chairman and outspoken creationist urged his former colleagues on Tuesday to approve high school biology textbooks he said would “strike a final blow to the teaching of … Continue reading →

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SBOE getting set to review biology textbooks

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

TFN Insider sounds the alarm. We already knew that creationists on the State Board of Education had nominated anti-evolution ideologues to sit on teams reviewing proposed new high school biology textbooks in Texas. We now have seen the actual reviews … Continue reading →

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CSCOPE still in scope

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Every once in awhile, whether they intend to or not, the SBOE does something worthwhile. The State Board of Education concluded its July meeting without providing further guidance as to whether Texas school districts continued to use lessons from CSCOPE, … Continue reading →

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Open source textbooks

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a great idea. The words “free” and “college” aren’t often used in the same sentence, but a philanthropic venture at Rice University is drawing attention for bringing them together. OpenStax College, a nonprofit publishing organization founded by a … Continue reading →

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Soto’s parting gift on textbooks

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Outgoing SBOE member Michael Soto will be missed. Soto, the Trinity University English professor who was knocked off in this year’s Democratic primary by the little-known Marisa Perez, spent much of his two years on the board grappling with frustration … Continue reading →

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Texas Freedom Network’s guide to the SBOE elections

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Freedom Network has put out a useful little voter’s guide to the 2012 State Board of Education elections, which covers a range of topics from creationism and climate change to bullying and SBOE procedures. You might look at … Continue reading →

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Who sets the standard for science?

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t get the fuss over this. Many say students need to be science literate so they can innovate, compete and maneuver with the latest technology. If the United States wants to compete on the world stage, teachers and science … Continue reading →

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Grading Texas science classes

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We get a C. Texas public school science courses “pay lip service” to critical content and largely ignore evolution in the middle grades, according to a national education foundation study that gives the state of Texas an overall “C” for … Continue reading →

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McAllen ISD goes digital

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at the future, coming to a school near you. A Rio Grande Valley school district plans to equip every one of its 25,000 students with Apple iPads, rolling ahead with a digitally enhanced curriculum effort that’s among … 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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Time to get it on again with the SBOE

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From an email from the National Center for Science Education: The Texas Board of Education is at it again, this time aiming to insert creationism into high school biology classes via textbook “supplements” (such as those from International Databases, LLC). … 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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So what is the point of the SBOE, anyway?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s another story about the difficulties of SBOE redistricting, and it’s got me wondering why we bother having an elected body called the State Board of Education. This legislative session, lawmakers are working on redrawing the 15 districts based on … Continue reading →

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SBOE wants its new textbooks

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

But it may not get them. State board members are growing increasingly anxious that lawmakers might not provide funding for new textbooks and instructional material – even though they’re giving the Legislature $1.9 billion from a 157-year-old endowment established to … Continue reading →

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Republican legislators want SBOE do over on social studies

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Texas House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie; Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands; and House Administration Chairman Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth; criticized the new [social studies] standards. Various civil rights and minority advocacy organizations have opposed … Continue reading →

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Where’s the money for new textbooks coming from?

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Nobody knows just yet. Neither legislative chamber’s base budget appropriates funds for any new textbooks. The primary concern in the short term is funding for science materials that reflect the 2009 curriculum changes made by the State Board of Education. … Continue reading →

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