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As you head back to the classrooms with a fresh outlook and a new crop of students, please take a minute to look at this sampling of successes in the public schools. Let it serve as a reminder of the important job you do every day. TCTA is proud to count you among its members.


Education Week says:
Texas is one of two states that has significantly improved student performance over the past decade.


Texas ranks ninth in the country for its efforts to smooth transitions from early childhood to K-12 to post-secondary education and the workforce.

Texas is one of only three states that require a college-preparatory curriculum as a condition of high school graduation, and was the first state to adopt a college-ready curriculum as its default for all students.
(Quality Counts 2009)

According to the National Center for Education Statistics:
Texas was one of four states that narrowed the achievement gap between black and white students in 8th grade mathematics performance on the National Assessment of Education Progress between 1990 and 2007. Additionally, Texas was one of 15 states since 1992 to narrow the math achievement gap between these student groups at 4th grade. Texas is one of only 13 states that saw an increase in NAEP reading scores for both black and white students at the 4th grade level.


Texas 8th grade students earned higher scores on the 2007 NAEP writing exam than their peers nationally.

From the Texas Education Agency:
In 2009, passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) increased for virtually every subject and at every grade, which led to substantial increases in the number of “exemplary” schools and districts under the accountability ratings system.


Highlights of 2009 TAKS results include:
• 93 percent of 3rd grade students, 91 percent of 6th grade students, and 94 percent of 8th grade students passed the reading/English language arts test
• 91 percent of 4th grade students passed the English and Spanish writing test
• 93 percent of 7th grade students passed the writing test
• 92 percent of 8th grade students passed the social studies test
• 97 percent of 11th grade students passed the social studies test and 92 percent passed the ELA test


For the third year in a row, Texas public school graduates increased their ACT composite score in 2008, setting a new state record with an all-time high average of 20.7, even while the national average score dropped.

Who else said what...
According to the College Board, 27.5 percent of Texas students in the class of 2008 took at least one Advanced Placement exam while in high school, compared to 25 percent for the nation. The number of Texas students taking AP classes has increased 61 percent since 2001.


Texas does a lot with a little - ranking 44th in the nation in expenditures per student during the 2007 school year, and sixth in the nation in student population growth, with the largest percentage of growth seen among low income and minority children. In the 2006-07 school year, 55.5 percent of all Texas students were considered economically disadvantaged. (U.S. Census Bureau)


Noteworthy accomplishments
The Brownsville ISD won the 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education prize in the country awarded annually to the most improved school district. The award honors urban school districts demonstrating the strongest student achievement and improvement in America while narrowing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups. The Brownsville ISD received $1 million in college scholarships.


Cypress-Fairbanks ISD had the highest graduation rate among large school districts in the country for the class of 2006 (80.7 percent).

Posted: 08/24/09