By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B Enjoying your vacation, kids? I hate to talk doom and gloom when the sun’s shining and the pool’s inviting. It seems downright immoral – or at least unseasonal. But the evidence is pretty clear: How you spend July is a huge factor in whether you turn into an […]
Category: DMN | Education
See Jane outscore the boys; ‘Nation’s report card’ finds huge gender gap in test of writing skills
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A In 1975, a national magazine wrote a cover story decrying the poor writing skills of American schoolchildren. The headline: “Why Johnny can’t write.” Almost three decades later, Johnny’s still having trouble – but his sister’s doing just fine. Girls far outscored boys on the writing portion of the […]
Column: Follow the leaders; Texas’ Schools That Work make for a valuable lesson to the many that don’t: The best never rest
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B Want to put a reporter in a sour mood? Just ask one simple question: “Why don’t you print some positive stories for a change?” All reporters hear it, but those of us who write about schools might get more than our share. People are attached to their neighborhood […]
Education chief quits unexpectedly; Departure of state’s 4th commissioner since ’99 follows legislative battle
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. […]
Reading students make grade; Test shows state’s white, black, Hispanic pupils compare well with peers
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 […]
At Houston alternative school, the eyes have it; Curriculum steeped in art helps at-risk ‘visual learners’ excel
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 […]
Agency trademarks TAKS, tests moneymaking waters with TAKS
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 […]
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Growing number of Hispanics leaving school in Texas; 20.7% dropout rate is worse than in Florida, California, study says
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 […]
TAKS exposes the grade divide; High schools rethink approach as new test shows performance gap
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 […]
Column: TAKS scores panic? Some rules on whether to worry
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 […]
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