How did your North Texas school rank this year? See Children at Risk’s annual report .   view article

BOSTON (AP) — When Massachusetts voters decided to ditch the state’s standardized tests as a high school graduation requirement on Election Day, they joined a trend that has steadily chipped away at the use of high-stakes tests over the past two decades. view article

Special education teams across Fort Bend ISD have completed over 2,000 overdue evaluations and re-evaluations this school year, and look to complete thousands more by the start of the 2025-26 school year, officials said at the Jan. 29 board meeting. The completion of these evaluations comes after the district was found in federal noncompliance for the 2023-24 school year based on the number of overdue reevaluations, Community Impact reported. However, district officials announced in August they were no longer in noncompliance status. view article

Dallas ISD middle schoolers have made impressive gains in reading comprehension over the last few years, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores show. But a broader lens reveals that students across the United States are struggling to make up ground on pandemic-induced learning gaps. view article

New results from a national exam find that America’s children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math   view article

DALLAS — Gov. Greg Abbott called for criminal and civil investigations into Irving Independent School District after a hidden-camera video showed a school administrator discussing transgender students playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity despite the state’s ban. view article

Results are in for the nationwide academic progress test known as the Nation's Report Card, and Houston ISD students showed slight growth compared to 2022 and are still trailing behind their pre-pandemic scores. The biennial exam tests fourth- and eighth-graders on their math and reading skills and is used as a tool to track students' proficiency over time, dating back to the 1990s. HISD students seem to slowly be returning back to pre-pandemic levels, but are still trailing behind Texas’ averages. view article

Around 10:30 a.m., Sup. Miles held a news conference at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center to address key takeaways from the NAEP results as well as answer any questions. Also known as The Nation’s Report Card, HISD describes the NAEP as having the ability to provide meaningful results to improve education policy and practice since 1969. view article

More than half of all fourth- and eighth-graders in the Fort Worth Independent School District are below basic proficiency in reading, according to nationwide test scores released Wednesday morning, Jan. 29. The district isn’t alone: Record numbers of students scored below basic in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, meaning they haven’t even partially mastered the skills they need to be proficient readers. Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article299329919.html#storylink=cpy view article

Manor Middle School is struggling. Here's why Third Future has applied to run the campus.   view article

Houston ISD has reduced the number of substitute teachers by more than 10% as the district takes a "proactive approach" to analyze substitute teacher requests and hiring for campuses. view article

Houston ISD has reduced the number of substitute teachers by more than 10% as the district takes a "proactive approach" to analyze substitute teacher requests and hiring for campuses. view article

Four polished plaques hang behind Jeff Burke’s desk. Emblazoned with a red Texas star, they capture the Splendora Independent School District’s vision and mission: “Cultivating exceptional people.” An identical plaque greets students at the entrance of each of Splendora ISD’s six campuses, a daily reminder of its approach to recognizing student success. “There’s a reason it doesn’t say ‘cultivating exceptional test takers,’ ” said Burke, the superintendent.  view article

Bible infused curriculum is what one San Antonio School District is considering. In a meeting Wednesday school board members approved the potential purchase of the Bluebonnet Curriculum which is widely criticized for being centered on teachings of the Christian Bible. This curriculum was passed by the Texas Board of Education in November of last year has been criticized as leaning toward Christianity in its teachings. view article

A sweeping new evaluation system would grade Houston ISD teachers based on their students' test scores, classroom observations, and "planning and professionalism," according to a draft proposal released by the district Thursday. Student evaluations would not be included, following feedback rounds earlier in the academic year. view article

Austin ISD is looking for new ways to address the spike in requests for special education evaluations within the school district. According to KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, district data shows that over the past three years, the number of requests for special education evaluations have increased by an average of 900 each year. view article

Aldine ISD proudly announces its 2025 CTE District of Distinction selection by the Career and Technical Association of Texas (CTAT). CTAT introduced the District of Distinction program in 2024 to recognize Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that meet exacting standards. This prestigious designation is open to all districts that meet the stringent guidelines set by the CTAT Board and executive committee. Brooke Martin, AISD executive director of CTE, expressed her appreciation for the recognition, stating, “We are honored to be awarded as a Career & Technical Association of Texas (CTAT) CTE District of Distinction. This recognition is a testament to the hard work of our entire CTE team and community. We are proud to be among the districts leading the way in providing transformative educational experiences. Our future-focused CTE opportunities across the district, including our P-TECH programs at Avalos and Carver, our CTE programs at Blanson, and the HEAL program at Nimitz, prepare our students for success after high school.” view article

The South San Antonio Independent School District board has unanimously approved a controversial, but financially incentivized, curriculum that has drawn criticism for its heavy use of biblical material. view article

The South San Antonio Independent School District board has unanimously approved a controversial, but financially incentivized, curriculum that has drawn criticism for its heavy use of biblical material. view article

The El Paso School District Board received a preliminary report from its long-awaited equity audit, revealing significant disparities in funding and disciplinary actions within the district. The audit, conducted by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC), began in February of 2024 following a 2020 lawsuit alleging neglect of poor, Hispanic neighborhoods. view article

Sonia Villalobos is helping second graders who have struggled with reading, improve, and better understand how the English language works. "We need to add a capital letter in the first letter of the name," said one student in the class. It's one of the hardest jobs in Fort Worth ISD where students are passing to the next grade level and still struggling with reading comprehension. view article

The Fort Worth Independent School District and city leaders passed a literacy resolution Tuesday night to make sure more students can read at grade level. img-3203-1.jpg CBS News Texas District leaders and city leaders, including Mayor Mattie Parker, announced a "new, intense focus on failure to read at grade level" at a news conference before the board meeting. view article

The Career and Technical Association of Texas named City View ISD as a Career and Technical Education District of Distinction. The honor is given to districts that excel in preparing students for a future in technical skills and education. view article

Trustee Tobi Jackson doesn’t see the reading crisis plaguing Fort Worth ISD as solely an educational challenge. “It is truly a civic crisis,” Jackson said during a Jan. 21 news conference, noting the impact literacy has on poverty and crime and other societal issues that affect a community. view article

No failing schools. Increases by nearly 20 percentage points in third-grade reading and math proficiency. Reduced chronic absenteeism and increased public engagement. All by 2029. Those are some of the 24 goals outlined in Fort Worth ISD’s new strategic plan, which the school board discussed — and unanimously approved — during its Jan. 21 meeting. The plan aims to reshape the district’s approach to student achievement, family engagement, employee retention and operational efficiency for the next four years, according to the draft. view article

Local teacher Jamie Hernandez was brought to tears as her name was called out during a large school celebration, to accept the KENS 5 EXCEL Award with a $2,000 check from KENS 5 partner Credit Human. As an EMT instructor, Hernandez oversees 140 students, freshmen to seniors in her program. Many of her students are ready to work in the medical field by the time they're done with high school. view article

The measure would halt programs with debt-to-earnings ratios of over 125 percent.   view article

The purpose of this communication is to inform school districts and open-enrollment charter schools (school systems) about the publication of the proposed Accountability System Manual for 2025 Accountability Ratings and amendment to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan.  view article

No one likes to talk about “accountability.” It’s become kind of a dirty word. view article

Texas legislators blasted the district’s superintendent, who blamed the Bible removals on a law prohibiting sexually explicit content.   view article

The Austin school district has not met minimum state exam standards for students with disabilities in the past four years, according to an independent review of the district’s special education programs. Stetson and Associates, a consulting firm, conducted a review of the Austin school district’s services for students with disabilities starting during the 2019-20 academic year, although the evaluation was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a change in leadership at the district. view article

A Valley school district is working to convince parents that it’s safe for their kids to be in school. Officials at the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District say they’re working hard to help families feel more comfortable about students being back in the classroom. view article

The Waco Independent School District and its charter school partner, Transformation Waco, could see more than half of their students start the school year Sept. 8 via remote instruction, according to registration numbers provided by both entities. view article

Dallas ISD is in a precarious position when it comes to grading. About 86 percent of its student body is classified as economically disadvantaged, more than 25 percent higher than the state’s average. Its population of limited English speakers is almost half, more than double the state’s. There are significant challenges when it comes to making sure all of its students are receiving adequate learning despite the disruption from the pandemic. More than 12,000 hot spots were purchased for students who lacked access to internet. All of these things affect grading, especially when these kids don’t have a school to go to. view article

Lloyd Potter, researcher and director of UTSA’s Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research, is supporting local Head Start and Early Head Start programs toward being more effective. Potter has worked with the City of San Antonio’s Department of Human Services Early Head Start-Child Care and Head Start Programs, and with local nonprofit San Antonio AVANCE Inc. to better assess their programs to provide information about how they are meeting the needs of the children and families they serve. view article