Seventeen percent of Colorado seniors refused to take the new state standardized tests in November 2014. The students and their parents decided to boycott (opt out) the state tests out of rising concern about the amount of testing.  Last year, in New York, over 30,000 parents boycotted the state tests and opted their children out of testing last spring. In Texas, parents in thirty districts boycotted the state tests. High stakes testing is narrowing the curriculum and is not measuring the skills we really want our children to learn- creativity, complex problem solving and the joy that comes from learning new things. This year Texas children do not need to pass the STAAR math test to be promoted to the next grade. There will be no additional test dates if you opt your child out of the STAAR math test. This is true in HISD too. Test dates: March 30 (grades 5 and 8) and April 21 (grades 3,4, 6,7 ) For more information, email houstoncvpe@gmail.com Read more

"In some places, tests — and preparation for them — are dominating the calendar and culture of schools and causing undue stress for students and educators." -Arne Duncan (surprised?  I was!) Read more

The trend of testing "does not reflect the work cycle of the real world". Read more

Great Houston Chronicle op ed by Cy Fair Superintendent Mark Henry on the lack of charter transparency and accountability and its effect on democracy. "...charter schools... have created an innovative way to make money on the backs of taxpayers without transparency and fiscal accountability while producing inferior results. "  Read more

Most homeowners pay taxes on the real value of their property. But many large commercial property owners routinely report below-market values on their properties, then use appeals and lawsuits to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. According to an analysis by Real Values for Texas, over the last five years communities across Texas have lost an estimated $5.6 billion in tax revenue because the top 500 taxable commercial properties were appraised at below market value. Read more

Leverage Leadership (LL), a Harvard EdLab initiative, began as a pilot in 29 HISD schools in August 2014. The administration plans to expand it to 140 schools by the spring of 2015. This program is deeply flawed, from concept to execution, and poses a grave danger to the health of the district. The HISD school board should halt this program after Year 1 and require a third party evaluation before it is continued or expanded. Read more

First graders in Houston ISD now take practice tests to prepare for state STAAR tests that they will not take until third grade. So much for HB 5 reducing benchmark testing. Here, below, is an excerpt from a first grade benchmark exam. In this question the teacher reads the prompt to the children. The children are supposed to sound out the pictures. What do you think the second and third images represent? Your guess is as good as mine.  Read more

Is it the truth?Is it fair to all concerned?Will it build good will and better friendships?Will it be beneficial to all concerned?To school vouchers, the answers are no, no, no and no. Bill Ratliff, longtime Texas State Senator and Lt. Governor and Thomas Ratliff, current member of the State Board of Education, write about vouchers below. Bill Ratliff famously once said that "I am a Republican because I agree with the Republicans at least 51 percent of the time." Our state would run better with more moderating voices like them.  Read more below. Read more

On November 17 the Senate Education Committee will meet to discuss charters, vouchers and choice. It is a preview of the next legislative session and privatization of public education. As charters receive public money and are essentially given a blank check to open schools wherever they want regardless of societal needs, it is important for our State Legislative to implement some controls on charter proliferation. What should be up for consideration is a targeted approach to charter school approval which takes into consideration the geographic location (so as to not disrupt neighborhood schools) and student needs. This hearing will be webcast live and will be archived and can be found here.   Read more

Eleven civil-rights groups were out this morning with a letter calling on local, state and federal policy makers to focus on equity when designing school accountability systems. They argue that schools should get credit not just for boosting test scores, but for prioritizing integration; supporting students' emotional, cultural and physical well-being; creating an equitable disciplinary system and developing services that build on the "cultural and linguistic assets children bring to schools." The groups also call for a new focus on engaging parents, especially those who speak languages other than English. And they seek better teacher preparation, including programs to help educators recognize implicit bias. Signatories include the National Urban League, the NAACP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.  Read more