|
The
State Board of Education will now require the use of machine-readable
curriculum standards when publishers create new high school reading language
arts instructional material. This is the first step towards requiring
interoperability. This process will create a state-approved standard framework that provides free, easily searchable information.
|
The
State Board of Education voted on April 13 to take steps to approve Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for an ethnic studies course focused on
Americans of Mexican descent and to use a course originated by the Houston
Independent School District as the basis for the standards.
This
action will lead to the development of the first state standards for a
high-school level ethnic studies course in Texas. All the members of the public who testified before the board in April supported the creation of the course.
|
|
 |
 |
|
The State Board of Education in April recognized Lufkin
Superintendent LaTonya Goffney as the Texas Superintendent of the Year and she passionately
reminded them of the lifechanging power of public education. “The
one thing that everyone needs to know is that there is power in education. There
was nothing about my past that would have predicted that I would be
superintendent or that I would receive this state recognition” Goffney said. "In
addition to the love of my grandmother, what made a difference was what
happened at my school."
|
Almost 11,500 Texans responded to a survey that asked them about the strengths, weaknesses and long-term hopes for the state's public schools. The results will be used to help craft a new Long-Range Plan for Public Education, which will set goals through the year 2030.
Teachers need to be passionate about what they do but today, they also
need help balancing the stresses of their personal and professional lives,
Texas Teacher of the Year Tara Bordeaux told the State Board of Education. Bordeaux, a media arts teacher at Lanier High School in the Austin Independent School District, was recognized by the board at its April meeting. |
|
 |
 |
|
If you walk the halls of any Texas public school, you are likely to see a volunteer. Thousands of adults volunteer each day and do everything from making copies to leading bond campaigns. Honor their service by nominating them for the State Board of Education's Heroes for Children award. Nominations are being accepted through May 25. |
 |
|
Student performances are featured at each State Board of Education meeting held during the school year. During the April board meeting, members heard from Ariel Warren, a student from the Lewisville Independent School District, who is the state winner of the Poetry Out Loud contest. The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) conducts the state recitation competition. Produced on a national scale by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the program provides scholarships to high school students and cash to purchase poetry books to winners’ school libraries. |
|
