In this letter to school districts, TEA Commissioner Robert Scott clarified recent changes to state law that require districts to allow teachers to assign grades less than a 50 to students on assignments.  He extended his interpretation to include that districts must allow teachers to assign a grade less than 50% for grading periods.  However, in this news article out of Abilene, we learn that some districts have been slow to change previous policies, which were common around the state, that would automatically change any grades less than a 50% to a 50% on report cards.  The reasoning was that such low grades would make it impossible for students to pass a course, and would leave them with no motivation to improve, and possibly lead to dropping out of school. Commissioner Scott's letter also mentioned the fact that districts "may allow a student a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade."

As a teacher, it can almost be satisfying to leave that 28% on a report card for students that have done next to nothing in a class.  However, you may have to ask yourself in that case, what is the 72% of the curriculum that the student doesn't know.  Grading policies seem to change with the wind, and nobody seems to know exactly what is best.   

 That being said - what is your policy?  How do you feel about having a minimum grade on report cards and assignments?  Should students be given the opportunity to correct/make-up any work that they failed?   

All but two states have signed agreements to adopt national standards for English and math. But Texas has decided it would probably be too costly to change now, and besides, we already have standards anyway. You can read details here  about the standards and Texas' (and Alaska's) responses as to why they aren't quite on board.

To me, why wouldn't we want national standards? Think of all of the curriculum resources, textbooks, test prep guides, and more that are out there for each and every state. If we all share the same standards, we could put all of our heads and money together to create the best curricula resources possible.  Imagine how nice it would be if students that moved from out of state were right on track?  National standards just seem like one of the best ideas to hit education in decades, and it is sad that Texas may be stubborn and leave our students out. 

 The proposed standards as they currently are written can be found here.

In case you didn't know, the Social Studies standards are about to change.  In the coming weeks, the Texas Education Agency should release proposed changes which will be followed by a several month comment and review period before final changes are adopted in the Spring.  To check on progress of the proposed changes, check out http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=3643 for the latest information.  We'll also keep you updated here on the blog.  

 The most interested aspect of this progress revolves around which important figures and events should be included or left out in our history and social studies classes.  The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports the following list that as of now, won't be taught in Texas' classrooms. 

Michael Dell 

Any surprises? 

In this Austin American Statesman Article we read about University of Texas research that shows that the average tenure of a principal is less than five years.  It is even shorter in low-income area schools!  A few highlights of the research include that principals seem to stay longer in elementary schools and higher performing schools than secondary schools and lower performing schools.  

 One reason principal retention should be a concern is the research that shows how much slower and more difficult change and reform is when leadership regularly changes.  How long has your principal been at your school?  It used to be that a principal may stay at a school for years and years.  What do you think about this?

This post is inspired from a post from one of my favorite teacher blogs out there: http://bettyb.teacherlingo.com/archive/2009/09/25/how-necessary-is-homework.aspx. Betty is not much of a believer in giving homework to students.  I have a hard time giving homework that is easy enough for students to do without much help from others but challenging enough to make it worth their time.  I want to help build a strong work ethic in my students, but also want them to have time for family and hobbies - it is definitely a difficult balance.  How much homework do you give?  What are your opinions?