Calendar
Categories
Archives
My linkage
Polling Texas 2020
UT/Trib, Apr 25: Trump 49, Biden 44
DT/PPP, Apr 29: Biden 47, Trump 46
UT-Tyler/DMN, May 3: Trump 43, Biden 43
Emerson, May 13: Trump 47, Biden 41
Quinnipiac, June 3: Trump 44, Biden 43
PPP, June 5: Trump 48, Biden 48
PPP/PT, June 23: Trump 48, Biden 46
Fox, June 25: Biden 45, Trump 44
UT/Trib, July 2: Trump 48, Biden 44
PPP/Emily’s List, July 2: Biden 48, Trump 46
UT-Tyler/DMN, July 12: Biden 48, Trump 43
CBSNews, July 12: Trump 46, Biden 45
Quinnipiac, July 22: Biden 45, Trump 44
Morning Consult, July 28: Biden 47, Trump 45
Morning Consult, August 3: Biden 47, Trump 46
Polling Texas 2018
WPA, Jan 5: Cruz 52, O'Rourke 34
PPP, Jan 27: Cruz 45, O'Rourke 37
Quinnipiac, April 19: Cruz 47, O'Rourke 44
Quinnipiac, May 31: Cruz 50, O'Rourke 39
PPP, June 8: Cruz 48, O'Rourke 42
GQR, June 16: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 43
CBS/YouGov, June 24: Cruz 44, O'Rourke 36
UT/Trib, June 25: Cruz 41, O'Rourke 36
Gravis, July 10: Cruz 51, O'Rourke 42
Lyceum, July 31: Cruz 41, O'Rourke 39
Quinnipiac, July 31: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 43
PPP, August 2: Cruz 46, O'Rourke 42
NBC News, August 23: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 45
ECPS, August 27: Cruz 38, O'Rourke 37
Crosswinds, September 12: Cruz 47, O'Rourke 44
Quinnipiac, September 18 (LV): Cruz 54, O'Rourke 45
Ipsos, September 19 (LV): O'Rourke 47, Cruz 45Polling Texas 2016
Beatty, Jun 22: Trump 37, Clinton 30
UT/TTP, Jun 27: Trump 41, Clinton 33
KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
PPP, Aug 16: Trump 44, Clinton 38
WaPo-SurveyMonkey, Sep 6: Clinton 46, Trump 45
ECPS, Sep 14: Trump 42, Clinton 36
Texas Lyceum, Sep 15: Trump 39, Clinton 32
YouGov, Oct 3: Trump 50,1, Clinton 41.5
KTVT/Dixie, Oct 5: Trump 45, Clinton 38
WFAA/SurveyUSA, Oct 14: Trump 47, Clinton 43
UH Hobby Center, Oct 17: Trump 41, Clinton 38
WaPo/SurveyMonkey, Oct 17: Trump 48, Clinton 46
CBS/YouGov, Oct 23: Trump 46, Clinton 43
Crosswind/Statesman, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 38
UT/TT, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 42
KTVT/Dixie Strategies, Nov 2: Trump 52, Clinton 39
NBC/WSJ/Marist, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 40
ECPS, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 34
YouGov, Nov 5: Trump 50.3, Clinton 42.4Polling Texas 2014
UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
PPP, Nov 2013: Abbott 50, Davis 35
UT/TT, Feb 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 36
ECPS, Mar 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 42
Rasmussen, Mar 2014: Abbott 53, Davis 41
PPP, Apr 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 37
UT/TT, June 2014:Abbott 44, Davis 32
YouGov, July 2014: Abbott 50, Davis 34
Rasmussen, Aug 2014: Abbott 48, Davis 40
YouGov, Sep 2014: Abbott 56, Davis 38
Lyceum, Oct 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 40
Rasmussen, Oct 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 40
KHOU, Oct 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 32
UT/TT, Oct 2014: Abbott 54, Davis 38
YouGov, Oct 2014: Abbott 57, Davis 37Polling Texas 2012
PPP April 26: Romney 50, Obama 43
UT/TT May 22: Romney 46, Obama 38 (RV) - Romney 55, Obama 35 (LV)
WPAOR Sep 13: Romney 55, Obama 40
YouGov Sep 24: Romney 52, Obama 41
Lyceum Oct 2: Romney 58, Obama 39
YouGov Oct 17: Romney 55, Obama 41
UT/TT Oct 29: Romney 55, Obama 39
Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
YouGov Nov 3: Romney 57, Obama 38-
Recent Posts
- More on the Paxton deal
- Hardy Toll Road connector approved
- Dispatches from Dallas, March 29 edition
- Fifth Circuit leaves SB4 block in place
- Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Troy Nehls
- Texas blog roundup for the week of March 25
- Paxton gets his deal
- SCOTUS seems likely to dump the mifepristone ban case
- Secretaries of State and AI
Recent Comments
- Meme on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- David Fagan on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Jack R on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Meme on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- David Fagan on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
Tags
- Annise Parker
- Attorney General
- blog roundup
- budget
- Commissioners Court
- Congress
- coronavirus
- Dan Patrick
- Democratic primary
- Donald Trump
- Election 2009
- Election 2010
- Election 2012
- Election 2014
- Election 2015
- Election 2016
- Election 2018
- Election 2020
- Election 2022
- Governor
- Greg Abbott
- Harris County
- HISD
- Houston
- Houston City Council
- interviews
- judicial races
- Ken Paxton
- lawsuit
- linkdump
- Mayor
- polls
- President
- redistricting
- Rick Perry
- runoff
- schools
- SCOTUS
- Senate
- Sylvester Turner
- Texas
- The Lege
- TPA
- turnout
- videos
Blogroll
- ‘stina is a shiny special one
- 2 On The Beat
- A Perfectly Cromulent Blog
- AintNoBadDude
- alicublog
- Amygdala
- ArchPundit
- AS THE COURT TURNS
- Asian American Action Fund
- Austin Contrarian
- B and B
- Bald Heretic
- Baseball Musings
- Bay Area Houston
- BEYONDbones
- Big Pink Cookie
- Blog con Queso
- bloggin’ all things brownsville
- Blue Bloggin'
- BlueBloggin
- Booman Tribune
- Boots on the Bayou
- Boyd’s Blog
- Brains and Eggs
- Burkablog
- Burnt Orange Report
- BY THE BAYOU
- calle viena
- Campos Communications
- Capitol Annex
- Christine Quinones
- ConFrijoles
- Coyote Mercury
- Daily Kos
- DARE to LIVE in Farmers Branch
- David Ortez
- debutaunt.com
- Defending People
- Dig Deeper Texas
- Digby
- Dog Canyon
- Don Large Political Report
- DosCentavos.net
- DreamHost Blog
- Easter Lemming Liberal News
- Eschaton
- Eye on Williamson
- Ezra Klein
- FalkenBlog
- FiveThirtyEight
- Forrest For the Trees
- Frothing at the Mouth
- Greg’s Opinion
- Grits for Breakfast
- H-Town Chow Down
- Hair Balls
- Half Empty
- Hey Elise
- Home in the Heights
- Hopefully So
- Houston Calling
- Houston Politics
- Houston Strategies
- Houston’s Clear Thinkers
- Houstonist
- Houtopia
- Idiotprogrammer
- In The Pink Texas
- INSOLVENT REPUBLIC OF BLOGISTAN
- Insomniactive
- Intermodality
- Isiah Carey
- Jeff Balke
- Juanita Jean
- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
- Kevin Drum
- Kuff’s World
- Latinos For Texas Blog
- Laurie Kendrick
- Letters from Texas
- Lewisville Texan
- Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
- Linkmeister
- Local Texans
- Lone Star Times
- Lost… and Gone Forever
- m e a n r a c h e l
- M1EK’s Bake-Sale of Bile
- Marc’s Miscellany
- Mark Evanier
- Matthew Yglesias
- McBlogger
- Mean Green Cougar Red
- MeMo
- Mike McGuff
- Miya Shay
- MOMocrats
- musings
- My Houston Family Lawyer
- MyDD
- Nail-Tinted Glasses
- neoHOUSTON
- Newsrack Blog
- nonsequiteuse
- North Texas Liberal
- Oliver Willis
- On the Move
- Ones and Zeros East
- Owls
- Page Break
- Pandagon
- Peter Sagal
- Poli-Tex
- PoliTex
- Political Animal
- Postcards
- Prof13
- Purple Texas
- racymind
- Ramblings of an HHSC Employee amidst chaos
- Rantings from 35,000 feet
- rc3.org
- Rep. Mike Villarreal
- Rhetoric & Rhythm
- Richmondrail.org
- Rick Perry vs The World
- Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog
- Same Blog, Different Day
- SciGuy
- Sisyphus Shrugged
- slacktivist
- Slightly Rough
- Snarkout
- South Texas Chisme
- Suburban Guerrilla
- Swamplot
- Swing State Project
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- Talking Points Memo
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- TBogg
- TechBlog
- Texans Against Hunger
- TexansChick
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Liberal
- Texas Musings
- Texas on the Potomac
- Texas Politics
- Texas Vox
- Texas Watchdog
- the bill clerk
- The Bloggess
- THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS
- The Caucus Blog
- The Comics Curmudgeon
- The Contrarian
- The Dark Star Gazette
- The Futility Infielder
- The Great God Pan Is Dead
- The Heights Life
- The Lunch Tray
- The Poor Man Institute
- The Sanctuary
- The Sideshow
- The Texas Blue
- The Texas Tribune
- The Thicket at State Legislatures
- There… Already
- They are Building a Wal-Mart on My Street
- This Blog Is Full Of Crap
- Thomason Tracts
- Three Wise Men
- TRAIL BLAZERS
- TruthHugger
- Tubular
- Tx Capitol Report
- Uncertain Principles
- Unqualified Offerings
- Vigilant, the Common Cause Texas Blog
- Wait, Wait, Don't Blog Me!
- Walker Report
- Wampum
- What She Really Thinks
- What Would Jack Do?
- Whitless Humorings
- WP Support Forum
- Zippidy Doo Da
Utilities
Categories
Archives
Polling Texas 2016
Beatty, Jun 22: Trump 37, Clinton 30
UT/TTP, Jun 27: Trump 41, Clinton 33
KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
PPP, Aug 16: Trump 44, Clinton 38
WaPo-SurveyMonkey, Sep 6: Clinton 46, Trump 45
ECPS, Sep 14: Trump 42, Clinton 36
Texas Lyceum, Sep 15: Trump 39, Clinton 32
YouGov, Oct 3: Trump 50,1, Clinton 41.5
KTVT/Dixie, Oct 5: Trump 45, Clinton 38
WFAA/SurveyUSA, Oct 14: Trump 47, Clinton 43
UH Hobby Center, Oct 17: Trump 41, Clinton 38
WaPo/SurveyMonkey, Oct 17: Trump 48, Clinton 46
CBS/YouGov, Oct 23: Trump 46, Clinton 43
Crosswind/Statesman, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 38
UT/TT, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 42
KTVT/Dixie Strategies, Nov 2: Trump 52, Clinton 39
NBC/WSJ/Marist, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 40
ECPS, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 34
YouGov, Nov 5: Trump 50,3, Clinton 42.4
Polling Texas 2014
UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
PPP, Nov 2013: Abbott 50, Davis 35
UT/TT, Feb 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 36
ECPS, Mar 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 42
Rasmussen, Mar 2014: Abbott 53, Davis 41
PPP, Apr 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 37
UT/TT, June 2014:Abbott 44, Davis 32
YouGov, July 2014: Abbott 50, Davis 34
Rasmussen, Aug 2014: Abbott 48, Davis 40
YouGov, Sep 2014: Abbott 56, Davis 38
Lyceum, Oct 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 40
Rasmussen, Oct 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 40
KHOU, Oct 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 32
UT/TT, Oct 2014: Abbott 54, Davis 38
YouGov, Oct 2014: Abbott 57, Davis 37
Polling Texas 2012
PPP April 26: Romney 50, Obama 43
UT/TT May 22: Romney 46, Obama 38 (RV) - Romney 55, Obama 35 (LV)
WPAOR Sep 13: Romney 55, Obama 40
YouGov Sep 24: Romney 52, Obama 41
Lyceum Oct 2: Romney 58, Obama 39
YouGov Oct 17: Romney 55, Obama 41
UT/TT Oct 29: Romney 55, Obama 39
Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
YouGov Nov 3: Romney 57, Obama 38
My Linkage
Recent Comments
- Meme on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- David Fagan on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Jack R on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Meme on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- David Fagan on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- More on the Paxton deal | Off the Kuff on Paxton gets his deal
- Hardy Toll Road connector approved | Off the Kuff on The Hardy Toll Road Connector is back
- Dispatches from Dallas, March 29 edition | Off the Kuff on Paxton gets his deal
- Foolou on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Meme on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Meme on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- D on We return to the question of “how will we pay for the firefighter agreement” question
- D on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Cris on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- Jo on Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
-
Recent Posts
- More on the Paxton deal
- Hardy Toll Road connector approved
- Dispatches from Dallas, March 29 edition
- Fifth Circuit leaves SB4 block in place
- Controller Hollins puts firefighter settlement tab at up to $1.3 billion
- House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Troy Nehls
- Texas blog roundup for the week of March 25
- Paxton gets his deal
- SCOTUS seems likely to dump the mifepristone ban case
- Secretaries of State and AI
- PFLAG wins injunction against Paxton’s intrusive data requests
- Some AstroWorld defendants try to get out
- Hope we have enough water this summer
- Mexico asks Fifth Circuit to keep blocking SB4
- The ITC fire five years later
Tags
- Annise Parker
- Attorney General
- blog roundup
- budget
- Commissioners Court
- Congress
- coronavirus
- Dan Patrick
- Democratic primary
- Donald Trump
- Election 2009
- Election 2010
- Election 2012
- Election 2014
- Election 2015
- Election 2016
- Election 2018
- Election 2020
- Election 2022
- Governor
- Greg Abbott
- Harris County
- HISD
- Houston
- Houston City Council
- interviews
- judicial races
- Ken Paxton
- lawsuit
- linkdump
- Mayor
- polls
- President
- redistricting
- Rick Perry
- runoff
- schools
- SCOTUS
- Senate
- Sylvester Turner
- Texas
- The Lege
- TPA
- turnout
- videos
Blogroll
- ‘stina is a shiny special one
- 2 On The Beat
- A Perfectly Cromulent Blog
- AintNoBadDude
- alicublog
- Amygdala
- ArchPundit
- AS THE COURT TURNS
- Asian American Action Fund
- Austin Contrarian
- B and B
- Bald Heretic
- Baseball Musings
- Bay Area Houston
- BEYONDbones
- Big Pink Cookie
- Blog con Queso
- bloggin’ all things brownsville
- Blue Bloggin'
- BlueBloggin
- Booman Tribune
- Boots on the Bayou
- Boyd’s Blog
- Brains and Eggs
- Burkablog
- Burnt Orange Report
- BY THE BAYOU
- calle viena
- Campos Communications
- Capitol Annex
- Christine Quinones
- ConFrijoles
- Coyote Mercury
- Daily Kos
- DARE to LIVE in Farmers Branch
- David Ortez
- debutaunt.com
- Defending People
- Dig Deeper Texas
- Digby
- Dog Canyon
- Don Large Political Report
- DosCentavos.net
- DreamHost Blog
- Easter Lemming Liberal News
- Eschaton
- Eye on Williamson
- Ezra Klein
- FalkenBlog
- FiveThirtyEight
- Forrest For the Trees
- Frothing at the Mouth
- Greg’s Opinion
- Grits for Breakfast
- H-Town Chow Down
- Hair Balls
- Half Empty
- Hey Elise
- Home in the Heights
- Hopefully So
- Houston Calling
- Houston Politics
- Houston Strategies
- Houston’s Clear Thinkers
- Houstonist
- Houtopia
- Idiotprogrammer
- In The Pink Texas
- INSOLVENT REPUBLIC OF BLOGISTAN
- Insomniactive
- Intermodality
- Isiah Carey
- Jeff Balke
- Juanita Jean
- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
- Kevin Drum
- Kuff’s World
- Latinos For Texas Blog
- Laurie Kendrick
- Letters from Texas
- Lewisville Texan
- Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
- Linkmeister
- Local Texans
- Lone Star Times
- Lost… and Gone Forever
- m e a n r a c h e l
- M1EK’s Bake-Sale of Bile
- Marc’s Miscellany
- Mark Evanier
- Matthew Yglesias
- McBlogger
- Mean Green Cougar Red
- MeMo
- Mike McGuff
- Miya Shay
- MOMocrats
- musings
- My Houston Family Lawyer
- MyDD
- Nail-Tinted Glasses
- neoHOUSTON
- Newsrack Blog
- nonsequiteuse
- North Texas Liberal
- Oliver Willis
- On the Move
- Ones and Zeros East
- Owls
- Page Break
- Pandagon
- Peter Sagal
- Poli-Tex
- PoliTex
- Political Animal
- Postcards
- Prof13
- Purple Texas
- racymind
- Ramblings of an HHSC Employee amidst chaos
- Rantings from 35,000 feet
- rc3.org
- Rep. Mike Villarreal
- Rhetoric & Rhythm
- Richmondrail.org
- Rick Perry vs The World
- Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog
- Same Blog, Different Day
- SciGuy
- Sisyphus Shrugged
- slacktivist
- Slightly Rough
- Snarkout
- South Texas Chisme
- Suburban Guerrilla
- Swamplot
- Swing State Project
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- Talking Points Memo
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- TBogg
- TechBlog
- Texans Against Hunger
- TexansChick
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Liberal
- Texas Musings
- Texas on the Potomac
- Texas Politics
- Texas Vox
- Texas Watchdog
- the bill clerk
- The Bloggess
- THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS
- The Caucus Blog
- The Comics Curmudgeon
- The Contrarian
- The Dark Star Gazette
- The Futility Infielder
- The Great God Pan Is Dead
- The Heights Life
- The Lunch Tray
- The Poor Man Institute
- The Sanctuary
- The Sideshow
- The Texas Blue
- The Texas Tribune
- The Thicket at State Legislatures
- There… Already
- They are Building a Wal-Mart on My Street
- This Blog Is Full Of Crap
- Thomason Tracts
- Three Wise Men
- TRAIL BLAZERS
- TruthHugger
- Tubular
- Tx Capitol Report
- Uncertain Principles
- Unqualified Offerings
- Vigilant, the Common Cause Texas Blog
- Wait, Wait, Don't Blog Me!
- Walker Report
- Wampum
- What She Really Thinks
- What Would Jack Do?
- Whitless Humorings
- WP Support Forum
- Zippidy Doo Da
Utilities
Tag Archives: standardized testing
School stuff
Just a basic roundup of education-related stories, since there’s so much going on. From the Trib, action in the House on testing in grade school. Elementary and middle school students currently take a total of 17 state exams before high … Continue reading
House passes major changes to testing and graduation requirements
This is a big deal. Texas public high school students would face far fewer high-stakes exams and gain more freedom in choosing courses under a major education bill approved by the state House on Tuesday. Hours of debate among lawmakers … Continue reading
Pauken for Governor
We have our first official non-fringe candidate for Governor next year. Saying he hoped to reunite the “Reagan coalition of social and economic conservatives,” former Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken confirmed to the Tribune that he will file to run … Continue reading
How much testing is too much?
There’s not a consensus on the right number of mandatory high school standardized exams, but a lot of people are saying that what we’re doing right now is too much. The number of high-stakes exams in Texas is the most … Continue reading
Here come the STAAR reform bills
Fire one: State Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, the newly appointed chairman of the House Public Education Committee, filed legislation Wednesday that would restructure the state’s high school graduation and student testing requirements. Aycock’s proposal, House Bill 5, would move … Continue reading
School finance system ruled unconstitutional
Surely no one is surprised by this. The system Texas uses to fund public schools violates the state’s constitution by not providing enough money and failing to distribute the money in a fair way, a judge ruled Monday in a … Continue reading
More STAAR changes proposed
Everyone’s least favorite standardized test is a fat target these days. State Sen. Kel Seliger, the Amarillo Republican who chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee, filed a bill Tuesday offering broad changes to student assessment and high school graduation requirements … Continue reading
Everybody hates the STAAR test now
In reading this story about the flood of legislation being filed to scale back or defer the STAAR tests, I am struck, but not surprised, by the genesis of this activity. The clamor for change may have more to do … Continue reading
Early extension for Grier
This was a surprise. The Houston school board gave Superintendent Terry Grier a big but not unanimous vote of confidence Thursday, extending his contract through 2016 and awarding him $115,000 in bonuses for the last year. The board voted 6-2 … Continue reading
TAB yields on testing
Retreat! Some of the strongest advocates for high-stakes testing, Texas business leaders now want to cut the number of exams students must pass to finish high school, the latest attempt to ease tougher graduation requirements that went into effect last … Continue reading
Some sanity on STAAR
This is a welcome development. A requirement that the state exams count toward 15 percent of a student’s course grade sparked a backlash last spring over the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, among parents whose ninth-graders … Continue reading
TAB does not intend to release its hostage
And why should they, if it’s a viable strategy? Representatives from the Texas Coalition for a Competitive Workforce, which includes major business groups and local chambers of commerce, said at a news conference that the assessment and accountability system known … Continue reading
Eight billion dollars
That’s how much is needed per year to make public education whole. Lynn Moak told state District Judge John Dietz that it will take more than $8 billion a year in additional money to get students on target to graduate … Continue reading
Pauken responds to Hammond
Tom Pauken responds to Bill Hammond on the subject of school accountability. Hammond encourages us to “stay the course” of the existing high-stakes testing system and “4×4” curriculum that have come to dominate public education in Texas. Implicit in this … Continue reading
Fort Bend ISD goes BYOD
Students in the Fort Bend Independent School District may now bring their own mobile device to class to connect to the school’s WiFi and be part of the curriculum. Fort Bend ISD’s policy allows students to use electronic devices to … Continue reading
Hammond pushes back on Pauken
After I read Patti Hart’s column about Tom Pauken and his anti-standardized testing quest, I noted the absence of a mention of uber-testing advocate Bill Hammond. Hammond has no trouble talking about Pauken, however. Tom Pauken, former chairman of the … Continue reading
Pauken on testing
Patricia Kilday Hart has a conversation with Texas Workforce Commission Chair Tom Pauken about testing and accountability in public schools. As a Texas Workforce Commissioner, Pauken has spent a lot of time studying whether our public school system prepares an … Continue reading
Focusing on reading
This sounds promising. When HISD Superintendent Terry Grier took charge three years ago, he quickly latched onto a troubling statistic: roughly 70,000 of the district’s students were not reading at grade level. Students who should have learned reading basics by … Continue reading
Some children left behind
Oops. Nearly half the public schools across Texas failed to meet tougher federal academic standards this year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday. The failures spiked sharply from last year, when a quarter of the state’s schools missed the mark. … Continue reading
TAB takes a hostage
Can’t say I’m surprised by this tactic. Leaders in the business community said Wednesday that they would not stand for increased funding for education if it came with any rollback of accountability standards in Texas public schools. “If we are … Continue reading
STAAR pushback
The House Public Ed committee gets an earful. Members of the House Public Education Committee on Tuesday questioned why the first batch of students who took the end-of-course exams scored so poorly. For example, 55 percent of ninth-graders met the … Continue reading
Not a great start for the STAAR tests
Whatever we think about standardized tests, we’ll need to do better than this. Thousands of Houston-area high school students failed the state’s new standardized exams and must retake them – or risk not graduating. Preliminary test results released by several … Continue reading
Are the end of course standards too low?
Beginning this year, high school students must pass new end of course exams in a variety of subjects in order to be able to graduate. These tests begin in the ninth grade and continue through the 12th. The standards will … Continue reading
Another story about parents and education cuts
I really want to believe that there’s an uprising in the works and that the Lege could be a very different place for the better next year, but I’m reserving judgment on that for now. Deep cuts in school funding … Continue reading
Are you smarter than a Texas high school student?
Well, why don’t you take this sample STAAR test and find out? It’s very much non-trivial. I got 11 out of 15 correct – I punted on the two physics questions and on the first World History question, though in … Continue reading
The “Moneyball” approach to public education
Via Lisa Falkenberg on Facebook, SBOE member Thomas Ratliff uses the philosophy from Moneyball to analyze the accountability system for Texas public schools. The book says, “One absolutely cannot tell, by watching, the difference between a .300 hitter and a … Continue reading
Make sure you measure everything
A lot of groups are measuring a lot of things related to the state’s cuts to public education funding, but there’s one big thing not mentioned in this story that needs to be accurately tracked as well. In March, the … Continue reading
Teacher evaluations
HISD is gearing up to implement a new teacher evaluation system, but not without a fight first. The Houston Federation of Teachers has launched what is expected to be a protracted battle to void the new evaluation. It starts with … Continue reading
HISD approves tougher teacher evaluation plan
I have some concerns about this. Teachers in the Houston Independent School District next year will face tougher job evaluations that grade them on their students’ test scores under a nationally watched plan that trustees approved Thursday. The 7-2 vote … Continue reading
Lege loosens graduation requirements
A sign of the times. The Texas House tentatively approved legislation Wednesday to make it easier for high school students to pass end-of-course exams, a move critics called “a substantial retreat” from school accountability. “This bill creates a clear, understandable … Continue reading
Should we do away with school police forces?
Grits makes the case. If public school budgets will be radically cut in Texas, a prospect which for the moment appears all but inevitable, which employees should be eliminated first? Judging from the ongoing debate, maybe campus cops. Jason Embry … Continue reading
Hochberg’s plan for less testing
A new bill filed by State Rep. Scott Hochberg that would exempt students who easily passed standardized tests one year from taking them the next, makes all kinds of sense. The bill, co-authored by Hochberg and freshman Rep. Dan Huberty, … Continue reading
Where’s the money for new textbooks coming from?
Nobody knows just yet. Neither legislative chamber’s base budget appropriates funds for any new textbooks. The primary concern in the short term is funding for science materials that reflect the 2009 curriculum changes made by the State Board of Education. … Continue reading
The state of HISD
HISD SUperintendent Terry Grier gave his state of the school district speech this week. Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier announced plans Thursday to toughen the district’s curriculum and to expand access to college-caliber courses despite tight financial times. Grier, in … Continue reading