By Pete Slover and Joshua Benton Staff Writers Page 3A Felipe Alanis, the state’s first Hispanic education commissioner, resigned unexpectedly Friday afternoon, the latest to leave what has suddenly become one of state government’s hottest seats. His replacement, when named by Gov. Rick Perry, will be the fourth person to serve as commissioner since 1999. […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Texas’ white, black and Hispanic students fare well against their peer groups across the country in reading, according to new scores from “the Nation’s Report Card,” the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP, which is given by the federal government, is perhaps the most respected of the […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A HOUSTON — Lea Ann Lockard has bachelor’s and master’s degrees, with a second master’s on the way. But on the wall of her office at the Spring Branch School of Choice, you’ll only find one diploma – from A.C. Jones High School in Beeville, Texas. “That one took […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Eagle-eyed visitors to the Texas Education Agency’s Web site may have noticed a recent change. The state’s standardized test is no longer just the TAKS. It’s the TAKS(tm). Trademarking its flagship test is the state’s first step toward turning it into a commodity, sellable to schools in other […]
Read More… from Agency trademarks TAKS, tests moneymaking waters with TAKS
By Joshua Benton and Reese Dunklin Staff Writers Page 1B WEATHERFORD – In the end, freedom was fleeting. The three inmates who spent weeks planning their escape from the Parker County Jail – they crawled through an air duct in their cell out to the roof, where they jumped and ran away – were surrounded […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 9A The national Hispanic dropout rate isn’t quite as bad as some have claimed, but Texas is bucking the trend and letting an increasing number of Latinos fall through the cracks, a study released Thursday says. The report, from the Pew Hispanic Center, analyzed dropout statistics nationally and for […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A If there’s a red wine stain on your carpet, you’ve got two options. You can scrub, scrub, scrub and do the hard work of getting it clean. Or you can just throw a rug over it. For years, Texas has had a hidden stain: Its high schools have […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B John Dewey, the philosopher and educator, once said that standardized tests reminded him of “the way they used to weigh hogs in Texas.” “They would get a long plank, put it over a crossbar and somehow tie the hog on one end of the plank,” he said. “They’d […]
Read More… from Column: TAKS scores panic? Some rules on whether to worry
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A It’s a tough choice: Write a big check now or a huge one later. Texas parents have 15 more days to make up their minds. The Legislature is considering a steep hike in college tuition, perhaps more than 60 percent over the next two years. As a result, […]
By Robert Dodge and Joshua Benton Staff Writers Page 1A When Oscar Fuentes enrolled at the Jerry Junkins Head Start Center in West Dallas, he never spoke. “All he would do is point at things,” said his mom, Rosa. It turned out he had a speech impediment. But with hard work and therapy, he has […]