Blog entries

No More TAKS!

Admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:24:06 +0100

The Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott, and the Texas Education Agency announced today more information about the next generation of the state testing and accountability program. Starting in the 2011-2012 school year, TAKS tests will be replaced with a "significantly more rigorous" test called the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STARR.

An interesting piece of the new plan calls for a complete suspension of the state's accountability and rating systemRead more

How Are Budget Problems Affecting Teachers?

Admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:16:49 +0100

It is no secret that most Texas school districts, if not all, around the state are tightening their purse strings due to the current economic downturn. A significant amount of school districts' money comes from property taxes, and with a shaky housing market, revenue is not keeping up with the demands.

So how is this affecting Texas teachers? A quick look at news from around the state show a dim and frustrating next school year. Austin ISD Superintendent, MRead more

Does Performance Pay Work?

Admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:28:45 +0100

In a recent report from researchers at Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, and the University of Missouri, researchers shared results that found that the Texas Educator Excellence Grant incentive pay program lead to no "impact on student achievement". This means that in the schools where the TEEG performance pay was implemented, student results didn't improve!

In this Dallas News article, you can read how despite these compelling findings, Gov. PeRead more

Just Trying To Make a Buck

Admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0100

In the past few months, I have noticed more and more examples of school districts and teachers doing crazy things to raise a buck in these difficult economic times. It started with the uproar last year when teachers were selling advertisements on their tests to afford the copies. Now, Arlington ISD is considering selling advertisements on school busses! You can read about it here.

Personally, advertisements often appear as an endorsement and it seemsRead more

Minimum Grades and the Law

Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:18:36 +0100

In this letter to school districts, TEA Commissioner Robert Scott clarified recent changes to state law that require districts to allow teachers to assign grades less than a 50 to students on assignments. He extended his interpretation to include that districts must allow teachers to assign a grade less than 50% for grading periods. However, in this news article out of Abilene, we learn that some districts have been slow to change previous policies, which were commoRead more

National Standards Leave Texas Behind

Admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:53:36 +0100

All but two states have signed agreements to adopt national standards for English and math. But Texas has decided it would probably be too costly to change now, and besides, we already have standards anyway. You can read details here about the standards and Texas' (and Alaska's) responses as to why they aren't quite on board.

To me, why wouldn't we want national standards? Think of all of the curriculum resources, textbooks, test prep guides, and more that are out there for eaRead more

New Social Studies TEKS

Admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:54:09 +0100

In case you didn't know, the Social Studies standards are about to change. In the coming weeks, the Texas Education Agency should release proposed changes which will be followed by a several month comment and review period before final changes are adopted in the Spring. To check on progress of the proposed changes, check out http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=3643 for the latest information. We'll also keep you updated here on the blog.

ThRead more

Principal Retention

Admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:38:44 +0100

In this Austin American Statesman Article we read about University of Texas research that shows that the average tenure of a principal is less than five years. It is even shorter in low-income area schools! A few highlights of the research include that principals seem to stay longer in elementary schools and higher performing schools than secondary schools and lower performing schools.

One reason principal retention should be a concern is the research Read more

Homework, Oh Homework!

Admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:11:11 +0100

This post is inspired from a post from one of my favorite teacher blogs out there: http://bettyb.teacherlingo.com/archive/2009/09/25/how-necessary-is-homework.aspx. Betty is not much of a believer in giving homework to students. I have a hard time giving homework that is easy enough for students to do without much help from others but challenging enough to make it worth their time. I want to help build a strong work ethic in my students, but also want them to have time for faRead more

Ticketing Elementary Students at School

Admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:32:04 +0100

An El Paso 10 year old was recently ticketed after he disrupted his class. You can find details of the story at http://www.kfoxtv.com/education/21215165/detail.html. In the end, the ticket was dismissed after his mother challenged the citation in court. This story brings up an important issue about punishing parents for their child’s behavior. Punishments and consequences should ideally be designed to change behavior. Does anyone have experience with tickRead more

First Blog Post!

Admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:31:27 +0100

Thank you for finding the LonestarTeachers.com blog! I hope that this space will soon be a place that educators around Texas come to read about the latest education news and ideas. Please feel free to provide any feedback and comments along the way. Thanks!