Category: DMN | Education

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

By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A For a newborn college, the road to respectability runs through accreditation. It can take a school up to a decade to earn the nation’s official mark of quality. But last year some Dallas investors, keen to quickly launch a profitable revolution in higher education, found a shortcut to […]

Read More… from For students, for profit, or for both?; Dallas firm’s tactics spur debate over buying accreditation

About one in 12 Texas schools had unusual TAKS results that suggest cheating occurred last year, according to a consultant hired by the Texas Education Agency.

The consultant, a Utah test security firm named Caveon, was hired after a Dallas Morning News series found suspicious scores in nearly 400 schools statewide, based on 2003 and 2004 testing results.

Caveon’s analysis, using 2005 TAKS results, found even more: 609 schools, or 8.6 percent of the state’s campuses.

But state officials say even those numbers are not a sign of cheating in Texas schools.

“Given the size of this program and the size of this state, yes, we had 600 campuses identified,” said Gloria Zyskowski, TEA’s director of test administration. “But we have over 5,000 campuses where the test was administered.

“While we take very seriously any allegations of cheating – we don’t take any of that lightly – I believe that for the most part these tests are being administered according to the guidelines provided by the state.” […]

Read More… from Analysis suggests cheating on TAKS; TEA consultant cites suspicious scores in 1 in 12 Texas schools in ’05

Three education stories that caught my eye this week:

Item: Federal officials announce that not one single state will meet a key requirement of the No Child Left Behind law: that all teachers in core academic subjects will be deemed “highly qualified” by this fall.

This comes as a surprise to no one. The teacher-quality portion of the law is among its most ridiculed, since its strange network of rules says some tremendous 20-year veterans aren’t good enough to teach but declares many rookies “highly qualified” before they’ve ever set foot in a classroom.

Item: A group called the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has come up with a process designed to recognize top-notch teachers: a much-touted credential it calls National Board Certification.

Hundreds of millions of public dollars have been spent promoting it.

So the board hires a noted researcher to prove that National Board teachers really produce better results in their students.

But the researcher finds the opposite: Kids whose teachers had National Board certification didn’t score any higher than anyone else. […]

Read More… from Column: U.S. a failure at evaluating teachers