Author: jbenton

If you own stock in a company that makes No. 2 pencils, now might be a good time to sell.

After a few years of tiptoeing, Texas is preparing to take its first big step into online testing. School districts have the option to administer next spring’s TAKS test by computer.

“Students have become more and more accustomed to a computer environment,” said Susan Barnes, associate commissioner for standards and programs at the Texas Education Agency. “That has become the mode of how they interact.”

Some worry that the shift, designed to eventually save money and time, could have substantial implications for the tests’ fairness. Not every school has access to the same quality or quantity of computers.

It could also be a solution to Texas’ cheating problems – or make them worse, depending on who’s talking. […]

Read More… from TAKS online testing option raises concerns; Aim is to save money, time, but cheating, fairness are worries

Why do some parents make such stupid decisions?

That was the question that kept popping into my mind last week as I walked around the KIPP TRUTH Academy in South Dallas.

(For the moment, please forgive their over-commitment to capital letters.)

Here was a middle school, in a poor part of town, that put academics first. A free charter school with a demonstrated record of taking struggling neighborhood kids and putting them on a path to college. A school whose graduates will get scholarships to Dallas’ most elite private high schools and who will eventually be successful in life.

And it opened school this month with 20 empty seats in its fifth-grade class. […]

Read More… from Column: Good schools available for parents who care; If your child’s education is a priority, you have an option

An alarming number of students who graduated from Texas high schools last month probably cheated to get there – and state education officials are in no hurry to catch them.

A state-sponsored analysis found thousands of suspicious scores on the 11th-grade TAKS, the test students must pass to graduate.

The study found 96 Texas high schools where groups of last year’s 11th-graders turned in unusually similar answer sheets – suggesting they may have been copying each other’s answers. Scores in almost every Dallas neighborhood high school raised red flags.

Eleventh-grade classrooms were more than eight times more likely to have suspicious scores than those in other grades, researchers found.

The study’s results don’t surprise experts. “Levels of cheating in high school are at astronomical levels,” said Tim Dodd, executive director of the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University. […]

Read More… from TAKS analysis suggests many graduates cheated; Exclusive: DISD, other districts unlikely to look into suspicious scores

A state-sponsored analysis has flagged 114 North Texas schools as having suspicious scores on the 2005 TAKS test – scores that could suggest cheating by students or teachers.

Dallas, the area’s largest district, led the way with 39 schools. Plano ISD, with nine schools on the list, had the area’s second-highest total. Fort Worth ISD had seven, the Lewisville and Richardson school districts each had six, and McKinney ISD had five. Five charter schools also made the list.

Texas Education Agency officials are quick to point out that inclusion on the list is not conclusive evidence that cheating occurred.

“We’re not pointing a finger,” said Shirley Neeley, the state education commissioner. “We’re just saying, ‘Folks, once again it’s been pointed out there may be some testing irregularities.’ We’re asking them to just double-check.” […]

Read More… from Signs of cheating at 114 area schools; State asks campuses to check ’05 TAKS scores that raised suspicions

Texas officials have tried to artificially boost test scores by eliminating 10 percent of the state’s students from the No Child Left Behind accountability system – including many of the state’s most disadvantaged children.

But federal authorities quietly blocked the attempt last month – along with three other proposed changes that would have improved the appearance, if not the reality, of Texas schools’ performance.

It’s the latest step in the continuing dance between the U.S. Department of Education and states seeking to make life easier for their schools.

“We have this race-to-the-bottom problem,” said Kevin Carey, a researcher at the Education Sector think tank who has studied how states negotiate with the federal government. “One state comes up with a particular wrinkle that has the effect of reducing pressure on schools to achieve. Other states notice it and say, ‘Oh, yeah, can we do that too?'” […]

Read More… from State’s No Child changes blocked; U.S. rejects plan to boost scores by cutting 10% of students

Gerald Heeger is a newcomer to Texas, but he isn’t afraid to set Texas-size goals.

In five years, he wants his company, Whitney International University, to enroll more than half a million students around the world and be on its way to becoming the biggest provider of higher education the Earth has ever seen.

“How’s that for audacity?” Dr. Heeger said in his downtown Dallas office. “I believe there’s a big problem in the world, and big problems need big solutions.”

The big problem is that billions of people in developing countries can’t afford higher education. Whitney plans to offer it on the cheap – at one-quarter the price of competitors – by relying heavily on standardized lessons and the Internet.

Whitney International University is in talks with Politecnico Grancolombiano, a Colombian university. “We’ve got to get the cost of a college education under $1,000 a year,” said Whitney creator Randy Best. “The whole mission is to reach the bottom of the pyramid.” […]

Read More… from Low-cost education providers see a world of opportunity; With focus on poor, firms vie for piece of global market

Of all the new education companies funded by Randy Best, the least developed is Early College, which was formed as a Delaware corporation last June.

But the early stage of its development doesn’t mean its ambitions – to reimagine the American high school – are any smaller.

“The day that this program is introduced in a high school, people will have the sense that 21st-century education didn’t arrive over a period of time – it arrived that day,” Mr. Best said. “It redefines school.”

Early College’s goal is to tie the final years of high school into a college education and preparation for a career. Students enrolled in the college’s programs would be able to graduate with both a high school diploma and up to 60 hours of college credit, or roughly two years’ worth. […]

Read More… from Company’s ambitious goal: Redefine high school; New curriculum to include college credit, career focus

By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 15A For Mike Moses, the business world is not foreign territory. He worked for several private companies during his later years in top public education jobs. But now the former Dallas superintendent and state education commissioner has made a full-time leap into the world of for-profit education, both as […]

Read More… from Moses busy in private sector; Ex-DISD leader works on education ventures, sits on corporate boards

By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Second of three parts Dallas entrepreneur Randy Best has owned more than 100 companies in his career. Bakeries and defense contractors. Greeting-card makers and health-care companies. Companies that sell telecom equipment and companies that sell cheerleading equipment. But now, at 63, his focus is fully on education. Mr. […]

Read More… from Entrepreneur pursues dream of building educational empire; After run of successes in other fields, he sees bright future in for-profit schools

By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 19A American colleges and universities have to negotiate a complex network of approvals and accreditations to be successful. The most important come from state officials, who typically grant colleges the right to operate and grant degrees. Without state approval, colleges generally can’t open their doors. But the most prestigious […]

Read More… from Regional accreditation ‘the gold standard’; Colleges work hard to earn — or buy — key stamp of quality