The State Board of Education is accepting nominations for
the Student Heroes award, which recognizes public school students who voluntarily
perform a service that benefits their school or community. The nomination
deadline is March 9.
Volunteer projects of past recipients include mentoring struggling
students, creating a program that provides essential supplies to children in
foster care, providing stuffed animals to sick children, hosting birthday
parties for students living at homeless shelters, establishing a school
drumline, providing a support group for emotionally fragile students and
voluntarily coaching a cheer squad that performs at Special Olympics events.
Fifteen students – one per board district – will be selected
as a Student Hero. Each award recipient will receive a plaque, which is
typically presented during a school awards ceremony.
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The Texas Education Agency (TEA) needs
volunteers and nominees to review English and Spanish language arts and reading
instructional materials.
In April 2017, the State Board of Education (SBOE)
called for instructional materials aligned to the new kindergarten through
grade 8 language arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. The materials will
be reviewed during the summer of 2018 and available for use in classrooms in
the 2019–20 school year.
Teachers, administrators,
parents, business community members, and others with appropriate content
knowledge are all welcome. Nomination/volunteer forms are available on the TEA website.
 About 800 educators came together to attend the Learning Roundtable: Recruiting, Preparing
and Retaining Top Teachers, sponsored by the State Board of Education and
the State Board for Educator Certification.
The conference examined topics such as “grow your own”
teacher recruitment programs and ways to support experienced teachers.
Employing highly-effective teachers is one of the most
crucial issues facing Texas districts. Texas districts employ about 352,756
teachers. With a typical annual enrollment increase of about 70,000 and 16
percent annual turnover rate teachers leave the profession through
retirements or resignations. Retaining strong teachers is a
constant issue for most districts.
Videos of the Learning Roundtable presentations, as well as
the presenters’ presentations, are available online at https://tea.texas.gov/TeacherRoundtable/.aspx.
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A summary of actions taken at the Feb. 2 State Board of Education general meeting is now posted.
The State Board of Education at its February meeting
recognized five mathematics teachers and five science teachers as state
finalists for the 2017 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and
Science Teaching.
This award is the highest recognition that a kindergarten
through grade 12 mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding
teaching in the United States.
 (From left to right) Math honorees and TEA coordinators: Mark Rogers (Meridian World School, Round Rock, TX) James Slack (TEA) Nicole Bennett (Amarillo ISD, Amarillo, TX) Jean Streepey (Highland Park ISD, Dallas, TX) Megan Gabriel (Denton ISD, Denton, TX) Lauren Hawkins (Richardson ISD, Richardson, TX) Jo Ann Bilderback (TEA) Carrie Alexander (TEA)
 (From left to right) Science honorees and TEA coordinators:Irene Pickhardt (TEA) Luis Salinas (TEA) Laura Frost (Ft. Worth ISD, Ft. Worth, TX) Terry Snow (Aledo ISD, Aledo, TX) Kara Swindell (Lubbock ISD, Lubbock, TX) Lollie Garay (Redd School, Houston, TX) Kay Fincher (Amarillo ISD, Amarillo, TX) Jo Ann Bilderback (TEA) Liz Baker (TEA)
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The State Board of Education hosted a luncheon in honor of
the 2017 Blue Ribbon Schools award recipients during the TASA Midwinter
Conference. Twenty-six Texas public schools won this prestigious honor. The
board will also consider a resolution in honor of these schools at its April
meeting.
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Feb. 28 – Long-Range Plan Community
Conversation, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Region 16 Education Service Center’s Panhandle
Conference Center, 5800 Bell St., Amarillo
March 2 –
State Board for Educator Certification meeting, 8:30 a.m., Travis State Office
Building, 1701 N. Congress Ave., Austin, Room 1-104
March 2 – The Long-Range Plan survey closes at 5 p.m.
March 7 – The
Texas Commission on Public School Finance meets, Travis State Office Building,
1701 N. Congress Ave., Austin, Room 1-104
March 9 – Deadline for Student Heroes nominations
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