Testimony before the House Committee…

STAAR Performance Labels: Is ‘Approaches’ On or Below Grade Level?

Introduction: STAAR performance labels offer helpful information to parents and policymakers because they indicate students’ success and are also an early-warning sign that students need more support. The STAAR performance labels are: Masters, Meets, Approaches, Does Not Meet. Each label offers an indication of how a child is performing in three categories: a child’s likelihood...

The Last, Best Hope: A New Texas University Looks to Restore Genuine Higher Education

As someone who has spent most of his life working in  American universities, my subsequent writing about it in these pages has been for the most part negative. And not without reason: My on-campus experience, coupled with my research, has led me to agree with the assertion that constitutes the subtitle of  Allan Bloom’s “The...

Austin Taxpayers are Paying for Pride

Central Texas taxpayers may be funding far-left political causes, whether they like it or not. Earlier this month, officials at Austin ISD, a large-but-shrinking public school district in Texas’ capital city, invited staff, students, and families “to represent Austin ISD in the annual Austin Pride Parade.” And to help get revelers to and from the...