Friday News Roundup

It’s Friday. Here’s your news roundup.

Texas Supreme Court Clears Way for State’s Education Agency to Take Over Houston ISD (The Texas Tribune)

A friend of mine used to say, “Over the past 50 years of school reform, there is one body that has remained untouched by change – the school board.”

Well, that might be changing.

News out of Houston this week suggests that the Texas Education Agency has had their path cleared by the Texas Supreme Court to replace Houston school board members over continued low academic scores.

According to The Texas Tribune, “Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath first moved to take over the district’s school board in 2019 in response to allegations of misconduct by trustees and years of low performance at Phillis Wheatley High School.”

“Houston ISD Superintendent Millard House II said in a press release [last week] that the district’s legal team is reviewing the court’s ruling. He also touted the school district’s recent improvements, including at Phillis Wheatley High School. The historic school received a passing grade last year from TEA – like a majority of the district’s schools – for the first time in nearly a decade, prompting a celebration at the school.”

Oh, the games we play.

Wheatley High School has never been “fixed” in the nearly 40 years I’ve watched student performance there. And there are other schools in Houston ISD just like Wheatley. And there are other schools just like those Houston ISD schools all across America.

Maybe it’s time to reform school boards?

Irked by Skyrocketing Costs, Fewer Americans See K-12 as Route to Higher Education (The 74)

The 74 online newsletter reported this week that,

“Over the past three years, the pandemic has transformed American society in ways that we’re still grappling with. Now you can add one more: It seems to have devastated Americans’ belief that K-12 education should prepare young people for college.”

“In a new survey released Tuesday by Populace, a Massachusetts-based think tank focused on public engagement, respondents ranked preparation for college or university nearly at the bottom of their priorities for schools: 47^th out of 57 overall.”

“As recently as 2019, prepping for college ranked No. 10 nationwide, just below learning ‘from exposure to different ideas and beliefs.’ That priority also dropped a bit, to No. 27.”

“Instead, the findings show, Americans now want something very different from K-12 education: a concentrated focus on ‘practical, tangible skills’ such as managing one’s personal finances, preparing meals and making appointments. Such outcomes now rank as Americans’ No. 1 educational priority.”

When I was in the public school system during the 1990’s and early 2000’s, getting everyone ready to go to college carried the day as the overall goal inside my district.

My, have times changed. Now, instead of college, we want our schools to focus on teaching kids how to balance check books, fix a spaghetti dinner, and keep a calendar.

I’m wasn’t ever totally convinced that every kid had to go to college, but it seems like our learning goals could be a bit loftier than goals involving check books, spaghetti, and a calendar.

How Does Writing Fit Into the “Science of Reading”? (EducationWeek)

EducationWeek online reported this week that,

“In one sense, the national conversation about what it will take to make sure all children become strong readers has been wildly successful: States are passing legislation supporting evidence-based teaching approaches, and school districts are rushing to supply training. Publishers are under pressure to drop older materials. And for the first time in years, an instructional issue – reading – is headlining education media coverage.”

“In the middle of all that, though, the focus on the ‘science of reading’ has elided its twin component in literacy instruction: writing.”

“Writing is intrinsically important for all students to learn – after all, it is the primary way beyond speech that humans communicate. But more than that, research suggest that teaching students to write in an integrated fashion with reading is not only efficient, but effective.”

The American curriculum, especially on the secondary level, has always been dominated by content, without emphasis on skill-building in reading, writing, and problem-solving. Because of this fact, kids without the requisite skills of reading, writing, and problem-solving, drown academically when faced with the voluminous content waiting for them around the 5^th grade.

Texas Legislature’s State Budget Proposals Leave More Than $50 Billion in State Funds Up for Grabs (The Texas Tribune)

We started this news roundup in Texas. Let’s end there.

It seems like Texas has a surplus of money state leadership is trying to figure out how to spend. $50 billion worth.

Here’s an idea.

Take some of that money and open a state-sponsored personalized learning lab, specifically to serve black, brown, and poor kids and their families. $50 billion could go a long way working with parents regarding their children’s expectations, identifying and training learning coaches, establishing learning cohorts of 20 young learners that are paired with well-trained learning coaches, and supporting the learning plans created between those learning coaches, their young learners, and their families.

Make a 10-year commitment to the lab, give parents the option if they would like to enter the personalized program or stay in their traditional school, and let’s see what happens in terms of reading, writing, problem-solving, and character development skills for those kids who choose to enter the program compared to those who don’t.

Sound like a good idea?

I’m not holding my breath.

Enjoy the weekend. Til Monday. SVB