Accountability Counts
What to know: Texas students have improved their reading scores, but lost ground with math, new STAAR results show.
The TPPF take: While no test is perfect, we must continue to monitor our students’ progress.
“’What gets measured, gets fixed’ is the foundation of a strong accountability system, and it’s exactly why Texas implemented the A–F rating model,” says TPPF’s Jorge Borrego. “These ratings give parents, educators, and lawmakers a clear, simple way to understand how schools are doing where it matters most: making sure students can read, write, and do math on grade level and ensuring graduates are prepared for life after high school.”
For more on measuring progress, click here.
Phone Bans
What to know: Studies show that keeping smartphones out of classrooms has some positive effects, though it’s not a cure-all.
The TPPF take: Texas has a new law that can limit the harm done to children by Big Tech.
“The sad reality of the digital age is that moms and dads have been left on their own to fend off a tech-induced health crisis, contending against the allure of products engineered by the most powerful corporations in history to be maximally addictive to kids,” says TPPF’s David Dunmoyer. “That’s why Texas came up with a solution: the App Store Accountability Act, which enlists the app store providers, like Google and Apple, to help parents nip these issues in the bud.”
For more on Big Tech, click here.
Looks Like Choice!
What to know: San Antonio’s Northside ISD has opened its campuses to students who don’t live in the district’s attendance zones. It’s a response to declining enrollment.
The TPPF take: All Texas school districts should embrace open enrollment.
“Just because parents want public education doesn’t mean that parents want the specific public school their school district assigns them,” says former TPPF intern Garion Frankel, writing in The Cannon Online. “Although districts in Texas choose their enrollment policies, many prohibit non-resident students from entering the district, or even prevent students from transferring from one school within the district to another.”
For more on open enrollment, click here.