An initiative from San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro that would direct a portion of sales tax revenue to fund full-day pre-kindergarten unanimously passed the City Council, leaving it for voters to approve in November.
Public Education
Explore The Texas Tribune’s coverage of public education, from K-12 schools and funding to teachers, students, and policies shaping classrooms across Texas.
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Public Education
Testing Firm Hits Back Against Claims of Flaws
After a UT-Austin professor’s research suggested a flaw in the design of the state’s standardized tests, an official with the testing vendor said the firm welcomes an “open dialogue” based on well-founded evidence — but not what he called “wild conclusions.”
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Public Education
Fewer Than Half of Texas Schools Meet Federal Requirements
Only 44 percent of Texas schools met No Child Left Behind requirements for 2012. That’s a drop from 66 percent last year, meaning many of them will be subject to federal sanctions.
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Public Education
Michael Brick: The TT Interview
The author of a new book that investigates what communities lose when schools are shuttered talks about standardized testing and how students, teachers and parents cope with testing pressures.
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Public Education
In Preparing Students for College, a Struggle
Less than one in two Texas students met the state’s “college readiness” standards in math and verbal skills on the ACT, SAT and TAKS in 2010. And although the data shows that something is not going right, pinpointing why is difficult.
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Public Education
Design Flaw Suspected in Standardized State Tests
Researchers believe they have uncovered a glitch in the DNA of the state’s standardized exams that suggests, because of the statistical method used to assemble them, they are virtually useless at measuring the effects of instruction in the classroom.
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Public Education
Land Board Vote Cuts $300 Million Out of Texas Public Schools Budget
A little-watched board that operates out of the General Land Office cast a vote last week leaving public schools $300 million short — and the lawmakers who put that money into the 2012-13 budget scratching their heads.
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Public Education
Texas High Schools Graduating More of Their Students, but Why?
As the latest round of school finance litigation goes to trial this fall, it appears there is reason for optimism about the number of Texas students leaving high school with a diploma. But it’s hard to know what’s responsible for the success.
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Public Education
Weekend Insider: Cruz and the Supreme Court; Schools Explorer
Ted Cruz has argued more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than any practicing lawyer in Texas, reporter Aman Batheja explains. And reporter Morgan Smith discusses how to track Texas schools with the Tribune’s Public Schools Explorer.
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Higher Education
Texas Weighs State-Based Alternative to GED Exam
Because of concerns over a partnership between the national organization that develops the GED and Pearson, a for-profit, London-based testing company, Texas may create its own high school equivalency exam.