Academic Gains Slowing; No Consensus on Why
Over the last decade, Texas students have made steady progress on a number of academic measures. But in recent years, that improvement has begun to stall. Full Story
The latest public education news from The Texas Tribune.
Over the last decade, Texas students have made steady progress on a number of academic measures. But in recent years, that improvement has begun to stall. Full Story
State legislatures are scrambling to renounce Common Core standards as a grassroots movement builds against them. But their most vocal and earliest opponent was Texas. Full Story
Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams has effectively overruled a vote by the State Board of Education to deny an Arizona-based charter school's expansion into the Dallas area. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Polls show support for education reform, a school lunch controversy and an interview with former Texas Education Commissioner Mike Moses. Full Story
Almost 20 percent of rising high school seniors in Texas are at risk of not earning their diplomas on time because they haven't passed one or more of five required exams. Full Story
In the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, the influence of the Tea Party is seen in a hardening line on immigration and views on the state's role in addressing the gender wage gap. Full Story
Voters do not see the necessity of a college education as strongly as they did four years ago, and they are open to a range of potentially major changes in public education, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
The value of a four-year college degree is becoming less apparent to Texans, according to the latest installment of the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: a new focus on chronically absent teachers, using babies to teach empathy and an interview with Rice University's Linda McSpadden McNeil. Full Story
Inadequate supervision from the state has led to "grossly deficient" English language instruction for Texas public school students, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. Full Story
The next step in nearly two years of litigation over the troubled Texas school finance system is a hearing on whether District Court Judge John Dietz should recuse himself from the case. Full Story
New court data show that the number of tickets written by public school police officers for student misbehavior has fallen 71 percent since new laws designed to reduce the procedure went into effect late last year. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: A new app points to different methods of teaching math in a digital age, and the federal government issues new guidelines on undocumented students. Full Story
David Dewhurst and Dan Patrick, the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, gave one last surprise in their final debate before the May 27 primary runoff election — a largely civil debate that avoided mention of the personal attacks that have come to dominate the last few weeks. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Edu newsletter: Diversity and evaluation of teachers are in the spotlight, and an interview with John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt CISD. Full Story
A decade before Tim Dunn became the benefactor behind one of the state’s most aggressive conservative groups, the West Texas oil and gas developer founded a school. The move marked his personal interest in education policy. Full Story
A new state policy that ties teacher evaluations to student performance on standardized tests is drawing criticism from a range of sources. It is likely to be a topic of discussion Wednesday at a Texas House Public Education Committee hearing. Full Story
Texas' "sriracha delegation" on Monday made its long-awaited visit to California to woo the makers of the popular hot sauce, but it was no clearer at the conclusion of the visit what might come of it. Full Story
Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott announced the third plank of his education policy plan on Thursday, calling for millions in increased funding for online learning initiatives. Full Story
Pat Hardy, a 12-year incumbent on the State Board of Education, is facing a tough re-election fight against a Tea Party activist in a Republican primary runoff that could shift the balance of power on the GOP-dominated board. Full Story