A debate brewing all summer is expected to come to a head this week at a State Board of Education meeting when members will discuss the state-developed curriculum whose elementary grade lessons have come under fire because of the biblical stories mixed in the materials.  The reading curriculum has drawn criticism from parents and interest groups who say the content gives too much weight to Christianity over other faiths and handles the Christian faith in a preferential way. Texas Education Agency officials, on the other hand, have insisted that the materials offer students a balanced context of the cultures they’ll encounter in the world. view article

As Texas students were returning to classrooms last month, we school board trustees were anxiously awaiting the Texas Education Agency release of A-F accountability ratings. We were disappointed when the publication of the letter grades for our districts and campuses was halted by another lawsuit. It’s not because we were looking forward to showing off or competing with other districts. As board presidents for two of the largest public school districts in Texas, we are committed to transparency. In order to make the best decisions for the children we serve, it’s important we look clearly and honestly at education outcomes, even — especially — when data reveals we still have work to do. view article

All but one Castleberry ISD campus performed better during the 2023-24 school year than it did during the 2022-23 school year, according to the district’s self-reported accountability ratings certified by the Texas Education Agency. As the TEA faces ongoing legal battles preventing the release of A-F ratings across the state, some districts, including Castleberry ISD, have opted to disclose their results independently. view article

All but one Castleberry ISD campus performed better during the 2023-24 school year than it did during the 2022-23 school year, according to the district’s self-reported accountability ratings certified by the Texas Education Agency. As the TEA faces ongoing legal battles preventing the release of A-F ratings across the state, some districts, including Castleberry ISD, have opted to disclose their results independently. view article

Whether it's a school board or a city council, it's a common occurrence: people getting upset and demanding change. Tuesday, the person at the microphone during Fort Worth ISD's Board meeting was none other than the mayor. Mayor Mattie Parker presented the board members with a letter, bearing her signature along with that of 30 community members, including former Mayor Betsey Price. The letter criticizes Fort Worth Independent School District's performance, highlighting its shortcomings in comparison to Dallas and Houston. view article

The mayor of Fort Worth called Fort Worth ISD’s STAAR test results "unacceptable." She’s demanding trustees take action. Mayor Mattie Parker made the comment during Tuesday night’s school board meeting. She also presented trustees with a letter backed by 40 other community leaders addressing the reforms that must be made. view article

Dallas ISD plans to emphasize writing and math to help turn around two dozen failing schools. The district was one of just three statewide to release its projected school grades last week, along with Houston and Garland ISDs. Irving offered a grade for the district but not individual campuses. Dallas’s estimated ratings show 24 “F” campuses, most of them elementary schools. view article

This was the second year of a redesigned STAAR, which aimed to more closely align with how students are taught in the classroom. The new assessment is administered online.  Students who take the test are measured using four performance levels:  Did not meet grade level: a student does not show a sufficient understanding of the assessed knowledge and skills, and is unlikely to succeed in the next grade level without significant academic intervention  Approaches grade level: a student has some gaps in assessed knowledge and skills and is likely to succeed in the next grade level with targeted academic intervention (This score and all levels above constitute passing scores)  Meets grade level: students are highly likely to succeed in the next grade level and demonstrates a strong understanding of the material  Masters grade level: a student is skilled in the subject area and mastered the course material view article

A Houston ISD division superintendent at the center of several decisions that drew protests has left the district, according to a district announcement Wednesday. The announcement of West Division Superintendent Laura Stout's departure comes in the second week of the school year and about a year after state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles split the 274-school district into geographic North, Central, South and West divisions. It is unclear when Stout left her position and when Miles wrote educators and staff. view article

PBTISD involved with other Texas school districts in second lawsuit filed against TEA. view article

Irving ISD is the latest district to release its own state assessment amid a lawsuit blocking the Texas Education Agency from revealing scores. The district projects it earned a C in the most recent A-F grades, which were set to be released last Thursday but are on hold for a second year. “While the Texas Education Agency is currently prevented from releasing official A-F accountability ratings due to ongoing litigation, we believe it is important to share our insights on student performance with the community,” the district said in a statement. view article

Three elementary schools in Houston ISD (HISD) raised their state accountability grades from F to A, according to unofficial data released Monday by the district. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) typically releases annual academic ratings for schools across the state, but has been blocked from doing so each of the last two years because of ongoing litigation with districts that claim the ratings have been calculated unfairly. view article

David Brockman, a religion professor at TCU, finds “problems of balance, accuracy and neutrality” in the TEA's proposed curriculum for elementary classrooms.  For the past decade, David Brockman, a 66-year-old Episcopalian in Fort Worth, has been a "strong supporter" of teaching religion in Texas public schools. As a nonresident scholar at Rice University's Baker Institute and an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University, where he teaches religion, Brockman believes students in private and public systems would benefit from learning about Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism and would better connect with neighbors across an increasingly diverse state. The way he sees it, public school educators who identify with a range of political backgrounds already teach subjects like history and government. Why couldn't they be trained to take on the world's religions in classrooms?  This week, Brockman and the Austin-based watchdog group Texas Freedom Network released a 23-page report titled, "Turning Texas Public Schools into Sunday Schools?" which dissected the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) newly proposed "Open Education Resources" curriculum to include religion lessons for K-5 Reading and Language Arts lessons. Essentially, Brockman concluded that the TEA, the state branch responsible for public education, "missed an opportunity" in drafting the Christian-heavy curriculum that he deemed riddled with misleading statements and errors.  view article

On a sweltering August afternoon, members of the Austin school district family resource team stride through the parking lot of a South Austin apartment complex. ● Gloria Vera-Bedolla, wearing a bright red T-shirt, reaches into her drawstring bag for flyers explaining the district’s enrollment process. At one apartment door, no one answers, and she pins the flyer to a clip outside the door. ● At another door, Star Castillo invites Vera-Bedolla, a family engagement coordinator, to come in out of the heat and explain how to enroll her daughter for kindergarten. view article

Early returns show the New Education System (NES) in Houston ISD is helping to improve standardized test scores. The district's board of managers wants the rest of the school system to have the same impact, particularly as it pertains to students who are disadvantaged. Implementing and expanding his NES model has been a focus of second-year Superintendent Mike Miles, who along with the nine board members was installed by the Texas Education Agency because Wheatley High School received a string of failing accountability ratings from the state. Those ratings are tied largely to performance on standardized tests, so raising scores is a key charge for district leadership. view article

For the second year in a row, The Texas Education Agency has been blocked from releasing its ratings of the state’s school districts and campuses. Those ratings were supposed to come out Thursday. Earlier this week, a Travis County Judge looked at a second lawsuit filed over the proposed rating system and agreed to issue a temporary restraining order. view article

Noonan Elementary at Alice ISD purchased a book vending machine for the campus.  The book vending machine was purchased with profits made from campus book fairs. Students will get tokens that they'll use to purchase books of their choice..  Food for thought at Alice Independent School District. Noonan Elementary purchased a vending machine, but this one doesn’t give out typical snack food.  The librarian at Noonan Elementary wanted to create a new incentive to get more students to read this year. The idea led her to a vending machine.  “Everybody’s been so excited,” Noonan Elementary’s Librarian Pamela Gonzales said. view article

When state leaders took over Houston Independent School District, they wanted a superintendent who could withstand criticism. The man they hired has provoked it. view article

English-learning students’ scores on a state test designed to measure their mastery of the language fell sharply and have stayed low since 2018 — a drop that bilingual educators say might have less to do with students’ skills and more with sweeping design changes and the automated computer scoring system that were introduced that year. view article

Students’ scores in a test that gauges their English skills have been low since a redesign introduced computer scoring.  Passing TELPAS is not a graduation requirement, but the test scores can impact students. Bilingual educators say students who don’t test out of TELPAS often have to remain longer in remedial English courses, which might limit their elective options and keep their teachers from recommending them for advanced courses that would help make them better candidates when they apply for college.The way the state education agency currently tests English learners’ skills frustrates some educators who say many of their students are already fully capable of communicating in English but might be getting low marks in the test because of the design changes. view article

TEA's school ratings will be delayed, again, after judge blocks agency from releasing revamped scores.  A judge on Monday blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing statewide A-F accountability school rankings this week as planned.  The order, issued by Travis County District Court Judge Karin Crump, stems from a lawsuit brought by school districts around the state that alleged standardized STARR tests underpinning the rankings were not properly designed and unfairly included the use of a new automated computer system to grade essay questions.  view article

Many students and teachers in Houston ISD are beginning the school year with a brand new curriculum under the New Education System (NES) created by the state appointee administration. view article

The Ector County school district boosted student learning but now faces financial uncertainty. It closed schools and cut costs to stay afloat, but it won’t slash teacher jobs.  When Superintendent Scott Muri joined Ector County Independent School District, students scored poorly on the state’s standardized test. The state’s school rating system gave the district a D the year before he was hired.  Muri, a veteran school administrator with a reputation for running high-performing districts, said fixing Ector County ISD needed to start with teachers. The district was 350 teachers short. He used funds from a historic financial boost to public education approved by Texas lawmakers in 2019 to introduce salary increases, hire more teachers and train them.  His plan worked. Over the next five years, students improved their grades. By 2022, the district’s rating had gone up to a B. But the same windfall that financed his strategy has not kept up with inflation, an issue he and other educators across the state say has become impossible to ignore. Ector County ISD faces a $12 million deficit in its budget for the 2024-25 school year. view article

As the Houston Independent School District enters its second year under a state takeover, Superintendent Mike Miles told 13 Investigates his New Education System has helped turn around struggling schools. There were 121 schools considered "D" or "F" in the 2022-23 school year, but after a year of Miles' leadership, there were just 41 schools with those low ratings, according to HISD's own calculations. There were 93 "A" and "B" rated schools in the 2022-23 school year, which is up to 170 schools with "A" and "B" ratings now. view article

A string of failing accountability ratings for Wheatley High School triggered the state takeover of Houston ISD. If the new, upcoming ratings from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) are any indication, the district's state-appointed leader says it could be sooner than later before HISD is returned to local control view article

Sharyland Independent School District hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for its new 18 and up transition program. The STEPS program serves students with disabilities from the ages of 18 to 22 and prepares them for life, education, communication and independent living. view article

Several Beaumont ISD campuses received failing and nearly failing grades following the release of the latest assessments from a system BISD runs to predict what their grades from the state will be. Nine campuses, including six elementary and three middle schools, received failing grades while seven campuses, including five elementary, one high school and an alternative campus received a D grade, according to district spokesperson Jackie Simien. view article

The amount of students classified as homeless at Waco ISD is three times the state average. One non-profit and the local school district is helping those kids break the cycle and find success. view article

Last week, the Fort Worth Independent School District’s board voted down a plan that would have set academic goals and priorities for the next five years. Now, with the first day of school just weeks away, it seems likely that the district will start the year without a plan that outlines a coherent strategy for how schools function. But just how big a deal is that? view article

Mansfield ISD students outperformed Texas and regional averages in 2024 standardized testing, meeting many of the district’s goals in a year when schools across the state have struggled to shake stagnant, post-pandemic test scores. Changes to teaching methods and an emphasis on subject-specific teacher training helped boost scores, district officials said during a July 23 school board meeting. view article

In Newsweek’s America’s Education Series, released last week, Cleveland ISD and its Superintendent Stephen W. McCanless were highlighted for the District’s remarkable growth and innovative approaches to education. Recognized in 2019 by the Texas Education Agency as the fastest-growing district in Texas, Cleveland ISD’s student population has surged to more than 12,300, with projections to reach 27,000 by 2031. view article

That's how Arturo Monsiváis described life this year for his fifth-grade son, who attends Houston ISD's Raul Martinez Elementary School. Teachers raced through rapid-fire lessons. Students plugged away at daily quizzes. Administrators banned children from chatting in the hallways. Sitting in the parent pickup line on the last day of school, Monsiváis said his son often complained that the new assignments were too difficult. But Monsiváis, a construction worker, wouldn't accept any excuses: Study hard, he advised. view article

The region's largest district, Houston ISD, will not extend summer school past its July 19 end date after being closed for a week, the district. HISD planned to host summer school for 22 days this year, but cancelations bring the district closer to last year's length of 15 days.the district did not specify how many of its nearly 100 summer school campuses, now listed on its summer school webpage, remained without power when classes resumed Monday. A spokesperson for HISD said Sunday that students would attend a different site if the campus they normally attend does not have power.. view article

The Marshall ISD Board of Trustees were presented with pictures and video renderings of designs for the continued renovations to take place at the high school stadium at their Monday meeting. The presentation was given by a representative of GLS Architects, who showcased several design renderings of the stadium. This included pictures of the design for the second phase of the stadium renovations, following the completion of the fence along Maverick Drive as part of the several items in the first phase. view article

Tyler ISD was awarded the Texas Art Education Association District of Distinction Award for the sixth consecutive year. The district is one of 94 winners chosen by TAEA as a 2024 District of Distinction recipient, which recognizes districts for providing a well-rounded education that integrates visual arts into their curriculum. view article