Texas schools should be proud of progress

The question remains. Why can't we have an accountability system that doesn't place the burden of so much of the change on the children themselves when the playing field is an unlevel one?
Angela

Sandy Kress: Texas schools should be proud of progress

05:19 PM CDT on Sunday, October 23, 2005

The news concerning Texas students is very positive, according to statistics released this week by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which charts performance by fourth- and eighth-grade students nationwide in reading and math.

Texas is one of only three states that made significant gains in fourth-grade math, fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math. White, black and Hispanic students in our state are performing better than their peers nationally in each subject and in each grade.

As an active participant in Texas school reform since 1990, I'd point to three reasons for this strong showing:

•The leadership at the state education agency and Board of Education, with the support of the governor, raised the bar steadily over the past four years regarding expectations for students on the annual state assessments. Legislative leaders endorsed this increased rigor, both in terms of consistent policy and targeted resources.

•Texas educators, local officials, parents and students met the challenge by working harder and smarter, thus lifting student performance. Some naysayers resisted accountability, saying it wouldn't work. Others pleaded to move more slowly. Happily, most Texans paid them no heed, and, as a result, we are all the beneficiaries of this good news.

•The Texas Reading Initiative, promoted by former Gov. George W. Bush with bipartisan support from the Legislature, is working. Texas was one of only eight states to see real progress in fourth-grade reading results.

Yet even with this good news of improvement, we must face the sober reality that we are still far from our goal of fully preparing all students and leaving "no child behind." For example, 31 percent of our eighth-graders are below basic standards in math, and 28 percent of our eighth-graders are below basic in reading. These youngsters are prone to drop out of school or to do so poorly in high school that they face a bleak future.

We must do more, and we must do better. First, we must vigorously implement the Student Success Initiative to assure that all students complete the eighth-grade ready for a rigorous high school education. By succeeding here and taking other key steps, we can drastically reduce dropouts. And then, by adding higher-level work and expectations in high school, we can better assure that high school graduates are prepared for quality jobs or higher education.

Further, we must no longer allow schools to fail year after year without fundamental restructuring or takeover. Schools – and teachers – that bring about substantial growth in achievement for their students, particularly the disadvantaged, must be rewarded. Taxpayers, educators and the public must have a better and keener sense of how public dollars are spent in education so that what works gets more funding and what doesn't work gets less or no funding.

We must devote more resources to improving teachers' skills and knowledge and utilizing intervention strategies that are proven by research and experience to be effective at boosting students' performance.

The climb is not over. There's a long way to the top, and we must think and work hard to get there. But today, let's take a moment to celebrate how and why we've come this far. The lessons that we have learned and the satisfaction that has been earned from productive work are the best resources we have to finish the climb.


Sandy Kress, former education adviser to President Bush, headed the committee that proposed Texas' educational accountability system in 1993. His e-mail address is skress@akingump.com.