By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B When kids take the SAT, they have to answer 138 questions in two and a half hours. The ACT asks 215 questions in a little under three hours. A typical TAKS test has between 40 and 50 questions. So why are some kids taking six or seven hours […]
Read More… from Column: To limit or not to limit time spent taking TAKS
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A The Fundamental Law of Test Scores: It all depends on how you look at them. Starting soon in Texas, there’ll be a new way – a way that’s likely to make some parents view their suburban school districts in a more negative light. “It’s easy for schools to […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A BYNUM, Texas — You can’t buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of gas in Bynum, population 225. But, thanks to a core of teachers who demanded change a decade ago, you can get a good education. “It’s amazing to see some of the things our kids […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 4A Texas has perhaps never seen so many college students happy about having their tuition raised. “I’m excited,” said Chris Featherstone, student body president at the University of Texas at Arlington. “I see it as a victory.” He was referring to the Senate education committee’s vote Tuesday to allow […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Only days ago, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf was Iraq’s public face on the war, giving his unique spin on worldwide television. No American soldiers in Baghdad, he insisted almost comically, with U.S. tanks only blocks away. “We besieged them, and we killed most of them.” And where […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Ask Terry Ford, founder of the East Dallas Community School, what tuition is at her 87-student private school. She’ll surprise you. “You know, I’m not sure,” she’ll say. “I’ll have to check on it.” It’s hard to imagine many private school heads not knowing such a basic number. […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B No child left behind. Has a nice ring, doesn’t it? After all, the opposite image isn’t very attractive: millions of kids marching merrily into the future and one cheerless orphan lagging back, tears welling in his enormous eyes. Turning it into law is a different matter. No Child […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 29A It takes years to learn how to read well. But Texas teachers have only 23 school days to turn thousands of underachievers into test passers. That’s how long they have before April 30, when third-graders who couldn’t pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills the first time […]
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 31A Universities would get new power to raise tuition rates under two bills filed Friday in the Legislature. The measures take different approaches in setting tuition, which for decades has primarily been the Legislature’s job. Backers say the changes are important at a time when budget cuts mean there […]
Page 33A North Texas home-schooled students can now get an honor from someone other than their parents. The first local chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha, an honor society for home-schooled students, is ready to launch. The group is open to high school-age students with a grade point average of 3.5 or better and high scores […]