The TEA’s Long-Range Plan for Technology – Is it still Feasible in today’s Economic Climate?

In 2006 The Texas Education Agency (TEA) published their “Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020,” which they presented to the 80^th Legislature. The Plan was designed to raise overall performance by students using 21^st century technologies, increase involvement by parents, improve teacher performance through technology-focused professional development, and promote a more effective and efficient use of fiscal resources. According to the report, “Texas must consider extending the traditional boundaries of the school year, scholastic age, and geographic location, and the state must provide both the technology and human infrastructure to facilitate, support and maintain information.”

The Plan is broken into three phases: the first began in 2006 and ended in 2010, the second started in 2011 and last until 2015, and the final phase ends in 2020.

We just began Phase 2 - so, how did your district do at meeting the TEA’s expectations? The expectations listed below were pulled directly from the 2006 report (download it here).

· Continue to refine and align curriculum content standards to reflect current research and meet the needs of the 21st Century workplace and higher education

· Continue to provide quality instructional materials, aligned to content standards, and delivered in print and digital formats to meet the needs of all students

· Continue to align assessment instruments to content standards and measure student progress

· Provide equitable access to technology tools for students and teachers, such as student and teacher workstations, productivity tools, online resources, interactive whiteboards, projection systems, and printers

· Provide on-going quality professional development for educators to ensure proficiency in using technology tools to personalize instruction and in using data effectively to inform instructional practice

· Provide opportunities for teachers to implement new strategies for enhancing teaching an learning through the use of quality instructional resources and technology tools

· Provide adequate connectivity in schools and classrooms to ensure effective use of technology resources

· Provide necessary technical support to ensure availability and reliability of technology resources

· Increase the Technology Allotment to at least $50 per student per year and fund from the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund

According to the 2010 Progress Report (download it here) presented to the 82^nd Legislature, we did well overall, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. And we are only in the beginning stage of Phase 2. In light of expected budget cuts, how will we reach the expectations laid out in the Plan? What are you doing in your district to reach the goals of the Plan in light of sever budget cuts? Is Technology at the top of your priorities list, or do other areas take precedence? Does the TEA need to reevaluate its plan to be more realistic with today’s financial realty?

HB 400 – What Does it Mean to You?

The Federal Government is not the only one under the microscope right now. While we hear about potential government shutdowns and stalemates in Washington, here in Texas we are waiting to hear from Austin about our own budget crisis. The 82^nd Legislature is in full swing, and the House is actively discussing a number of bills around the State’s budget. Texas ASCD, obviously, is most concerned with what is going to happen to funding for public education. We want to start a discussion to hear what you think about what is going to happen and how it will affect you and your districts.

The House Public Education Committee approved House Bill (HB) 400 by Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands) on April 5, 2011. The vote to approve the bill was 6-4 along party lines.

Some of the provisions in HB 400 include:

• Eliminating the minimum salary schedule for teachers, nurses, counselors, and librarians
• Requiring districts to develop new salary systems based on factors such as student test scores and teacher evaluations
• Eliminating the 22:1 student-to-teacher class-size limit and replacing it with a 22:1 district-wide average and a hard cap of 25 students per classroom
• Reducing teacher contract and due process rights
• Eliminating in-service days and Professional Development from district calendars
• Allowing districts to furlough employees

HB 2484 by Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston), which would change the property tax and school funding system fix put in to place in 2006, was also brought to the floor. The 2006 fix reduced school district maintenance and operations property taxes by one-third. It requires that state funding be used to pay for the property tax reduction before using it for education funding. HB 2484 would make it so that current education formulas are fully funded and left over funds can be used to reduce property taxes. The bill was left pending.

What do you think about HB 400 and HB 2484? What other issues up for debate during this legislative session has you talking at the water cooler, at the dinner table, and to your friends after working hours? Chime in – let’s get the conversation rolling!

Texas School Honored!

ASCD has honored a Texas school for their Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award. On March 8th, in Humble, Texas, Quest Early College High School received this award. The award goes to one school that takes action on ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative. The school, which receives the award, moves past the academic focus and works on learners who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged through learning, teaching and community engagement.

The application process for this award was based on 5 tenets:

1. Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.
2. Each student learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults.
3. Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community.
4. Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults.
5. Each graduate is challenged academically and prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in a global environment.

Quest Early College High School is a little different from your normal high school. “Imagine a school where you attend college while you are still in high school. Imagine a school where your dreams of tomorrow are started today...Quest Early College High School...We are hope; we are dreams; we are the future now.
In partnership with Lone Star College-Kingwood, Quest Early College High School is a small school located at Summer Creek High School where qualified students can earn both a high school diploma and an Associate's degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor's degree -- for FREE.” You can find this description and more information on the schools website: http://www.humbleisd.net/22712061012425530/site/default.asp.

Some of the activities Quest Early College High School provides for their students is a service learning program, where they spend 2-hours every Friday working with community partners; another program is their family groups and also they have a National Honor Society. Upon entering the Quest school, each student is placed in one of the 10 “family” groups. These groups participate in a wide-range of activities from team building to sports to academic advancement. These are just a few of the new ideas that this high school is implementing.

For more information on the award and ceremony, check out this month’s Leadership.

We would like to invite you to join us in congratulating Quest Early College High School in receiving this great award!

Please feel free to respond to the questions below:
1. Does your school work on the Whole Child Initiative?
2. What kind of unique programs does your school or district provide?

What is to come of Texas Education?

There has been a lot of concern these past couple of weeks about education in Texas. This past week it came to a head when TASA and TASB held a news conference during the TASA Midwinter Conference. The big push is to put education first and make it a priority this year during the legislative session.

Over half of the Texas school districts have committed to the Make Public Education a Priority pledge. The pledge is a chance to give legislators insight into the different districts. It talks about the funding cuts, what the cuts will mean to that particular district, what the district has done in the past and what the district plans to do in the future with school funding. This information will help legislators have first hand knowledge of what the funding cuts are doing to each district.

During the news conference last week, the blame for the budget cuts was put on the 2006 legislative session, when legislators altered the state code by reducing property taxes and revised business franchised taxes. The complaint is that business franchised taxes could not offset the property taxes, creating a smaller pool of money for schools.

Representative Rob Eissler, who is the House Public Education Committee Chair, met with superintendents last week. He said the budget shortfall may not be as bad as previously mentioned. He is hopeful for federal money that Governor Perry had passed up on last year. Representative Eissler is also in support of additional changes that will help educators, such as changing the cap of 22 students to one teacher in kindergarten through 4^th grade classrooms; giving districts the ability to reduce pay for teachers to avoid layoffs, and to stop unfunded mandates for districts.

There will be changes to Texas education made during this legislative session. Stay tuned to see how they will affect you and your district.

Please feel free to answer the questions below:

1. What is your district’s plan to cut its budget?

2. How will your position be affected by the decisions that are being made in the 2011 Legislative Session?

How many children could you educate?

Budget cuts, budget cuts, budget cuts is all we are hearing in preparation for the 82nd Legislative Session here in Texas. What does this mean to you and your districts?

The 82nd Legislative Session convened on Tuesday, January 11th. One issue that has been brought to many people’s attention is the proposed increase of the student to teacher ratio in each classroom. In 1984, the law was passed that in each classroom there would be a 22:1 ratio of students to teachers. In the 80’s there was much talk about having fewer students per teacher in each classroom. In some states, they were keeping the number of students the same but increasing the number of teachers (example: 30:2) per classroom. Now, due to the budget crunches here in Texas, people are talking about more students in classrooms K-4, thus eliminating teachers and saving money in their district’s budgets. Some educators are concerned with a larger number of students in the lower grade levels, sighting that this time is crucial in a young child’s life when they are learning the basics. Some lawmakers want to see the 22:1 ratio take the shape of more of an average number per district. They say some teachers maybe able to handle more students in their classrooms, where as others may not.

What are your views on this issue? Should the whole state have a student to teacher-regulated ratio? Should each principal know his/her teachers and be able to determine the number of students that would best benefit in each classroom?

KTRK-TV in Houston, posted their newscast at http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7881833, if you would like to view it.

This week in ASCD’s Smartbrief was an article from MercuryNews.com, on how larger class sizes in California are affecting students. If you would like to read this article, please click here: http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_17050096?nclick_check=1.


Feel free to answer the questions below:
1. What budget cuts is your district talking about for the next budgeting year?
2. How do you feel about the proposed increase in student to teacher ratio?

STAAR – What do you think?

State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) the new assessment program for the state of Texas and one of the most talked about issues in Texas education. From our understanding the STAAR assessment testing will include the end-of course (EOC) testing as well. The new assessment will cover the same core subjects in grades 3-8 and EOC of STAAR’s will cover the core content areas at the high school level as the TAKS did. The high school EOC will be a series of 12 assessments. The EOC testing is going to slowly be phased into the graduation requirements. Students starting 9th grade in the 2011-2012 school year will be required to pass the assessment to graduate. For grades 3-8, STAAR’s testing will begin this year.

The STAAR assessment is different from the TAKS assessment in that the STAAR assessment will be aligned within a content area across courses. Information for the assessment will also be gathered from other states, national assessments and international assessments. It is proposed that the majority of the test cover what is learned that year in the classroom, so that they can better align what is taught and tested. The STAAR will focus on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Readiness standards taken from the TEKS will be emphasized. The following are the proposed readiness standards:

• Preparedness for the next grade or course.
• Support college and career readiness.
• Necessitate in-depth instruction.
• Address broad and deep ideas.

*This information is from Proposed New Assessment Model pdf found on the TEA website.

Not too much is confirmed about the STAAR testing. This month (December) a detailed plan with the transition from TAKS to STAAR will be posted on the TEA website by the Texas legislature.
For more information on the STAAR testing, please visit the TEA website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/.

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
1. How do you feel about the new STAAR testing?
2. Have you heard any more details about this assessment?
3. How do you think this new assessment will effect students and teachers?

Electronic Textbooks

What is your school/district doing about electronic textbooks? This past month at the Texas ASCD Annual Conference, it seemed like the buzz was around electronic textbooks both in sessions and in the exhibit hall. When you have come across electronic textbooks, has it just been in a portable document format (a PDF) or has the textbook been interactive? Is it really worth the money to go digital if you are just reading the same print on a screen instead of in a book? Shouldn’t these textbooks be offering more?

Digital (or Electronic) Textbooks as defined by Wikipedia is “… core textbooks for students, with which students can learn contents that are tailored to their abilities and interests. Digital textbooks offer various interactive functions, and provide the learner with a combination of textbooks, reference books, workbooks, dictionaries and multimedia contents such as video clips, animations, and virtual reality, both at school and at home, without the constraints of time and space. In other words, digital textbooks are alive and in motion, and as such are literally “living and moving” textbooks that construct and create the knowledge not only of individual learners, but also the community, and support and manage the teaching and learning activities of teachers and learners.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Textbook). There is a ton of different companies that offer electronic textbooks and after reading the definition above, why wouldn’t you start looking into this for your textbook option.

Colleges are also starting to jump on board with this idea of electronic textbooks. As you already know, a college student can spend up to $1,000 or more in one semester on textbooks. Bellevue College has won a federal grant for electronic textbooks. They have managed to lower the cost for students to $35 a semester that will include a netbook and classroom materials. Would your school and/or district be able to see the same savings? To read more about Bellevue College’s grant click here: http://www.seattlepi.com/sound/429066_sound105682338.html.

An article in Forbes Magazine states, “While some students may be using notebooks or their more portable cousins, netbooks, to read textbooks, some experts predict that within the next 10 years, most U.S. college students--and many high-school and elementary-school students as well--will probably be reading course materials on an electronic device instead of in a paper book. And, that will have a broad impact on students and teachers, not to mention the $9.9 billion textbook-publishing business.” The article titled, Electronic Textbooks? You Bet, also talks about the Apple iPad being a great alternative to the paper textbooks schools are currently using. To read more of this article, please visit: http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/05/electronic-textbooks-ipad-entrepreneurs-technology-wharton.html.

Electronic textbooks - we know they are in our future. Have you started to look into getting them for your school or district?

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
1. Are you currently using electronic textbooks?
2. What companies have you researched for electronic textbooks?
3. What is your take on electronic textbooks? Should we be getting them for our schools?