By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A EL PASO – One of the perks of becoming a math teacher at Del Valle High School in El Paso: You’ll never have to write a test again. The math department chairwoman writes them all for you. Along with your entire curriculum. And what you’ll be teaching every […]
Category: DMN | Education
School recognized for personal touch; Teachers at Irving campus team up to focus on student needs
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A To call the boy shy would be understating the case. When he arrived at Irving’s Lamar Middle School, the sixth-grader sat in the back of his classes. He spoke to no one. “He’d just sit down with the hood of his sweat shirt over his head,” math teacher […]
It’s last call at UNT fraternities; Officials cite ‘culture’ of drinking for ban; students wanted input
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Animal House at the University of North Texas just got tamed. Officials have banned alcohol from all common areas of the university’s seven fraternity houses because of a rise in underage drinking. In addition, UNT announced Thursday that it was suspending the local chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha […]
An honor society for home-schoolers; Shut out of campus chapters, N. Texans may get own version soon
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 15A Hey, kid, think you’re pretty smart? Want to join the National Honor Society – a prestigious bunch that does good work and looks awfully nice on your college applications? Well, if you’re a home-schooler, you’re out of luck. NHS won’t take you. That’s why a group of Houston-area […]
Dropouts stump educators; Forum with state leader focuses on ways to keep students enrolled
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 23A RICHARDSON — Failing grades. Parents who aren’t involved. Feeling isolated from the rest of the school. Pregnancy. It wasn’t hard for the educators at Wednesday’s dropout prevention forum to say why some kids quit school. Figuring out how to keep them in class – that has proved harder. […]
1 in 6 area third-graders may be at risk on TAKS; Figures may provide ‘wake-up call’ on new reading test, official says
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Nearly 10,000 North Texas third-graders – about one in six – are at risk of failing the state’s new reading test, according to a Dallas Morning News survey of area school districts. If they can’t pass the test, new rules could keep some of those 9-year-olds from advancing […]
Houston hailed as nation’s best urban school district; $500,000 Broad Prize awarded for reforms that boosted test scores
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A The Houston schools were good enough to get Superintendent Rod Paige a promotion to Washington. Now they’re good enough to be called the best in the country. The district is the first recipient of the $500,000 Broad Prize for Urban Education, which aims to recognize the best large […]
They’ll win some, they’ll ooze some
Page 19A Texas-Oklahoma it ain’t. But the University of Texas at Dallas promises the start of a brand-new athletic rivalry during this month’s homecoming celebrations. The chosen sport: oozeball, a sort of volleyball played in knee-deep mud. In case you’re wondering, no, UTD doesn’t have a football team. On Oct. 23, UTD will sponsor an […]
Principal demands perfection and gets it; Houston educator shows students’ poverty doesn’t preclude success
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A One in an occasional series HOUSTON – Mister Rogers and Nancy Blackwell have something in common. Not long after her 6:45 a.m. arrival at Hambrick Middle School, where she’s principal, Ms. Blackwell switches shoes, from modest heels to sensible flats. “You want to see what kind of principal […]
They’re not your everyday schools; A Fridays-off schedule cuts costs and motivates, some districts say
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A MIDLAND, La. – It sounds like a school calendar Ferris Bueller would dream up: every Friday’s a day off. At Midland High School, in this remote outpost of the south Louisiana prairie, it’s reality. And proponents in several states say it might be a way to score a […]