The July meeting of TDWCC will focus on the state of the State Board of Education (SBOE).
Here are some websites with good information:
www.tea.state.tx.us
Click on State Board of Education
Check out: Members
Duties
District Maps
TEA Organization Chart
www.house.state.tx.us/committees
Click on Public Education for a membership list
www.senate.state.tx.us
Click on Committees in the center of the screen for a membership list
www.tctela.org
Click on the TEKS Alignment for an update of recent events by
the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts
Citizens and teachers from all over the state are strongly opposed to the actions of the State Board of Education on May 23 concerning revisions to the state’s English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) curriculum standards.
The Houston Area League of Women Voters explained the actions of the SBOE and why there is such opposition to it in an Op-Ed piece, quoted at length here:
By a vote of 9 to 6 the board approved its own late-hour version and rejected a highly research-based draft written by Texas teachers who were appointed to write the document by the Texas Education Agency. The ELAR is part of the state’s standardized curriculum, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
After 2 ½ years of work, the Texas teacher-writing group presented its draft of the standards to the SBOE in February. That draft was then reviewed by a team of appointed “experts” revised and posted on the Texas Register for public comment April 18, 2008. Additionally, the Teacher writing-groups sought input from across the state, meeting in many schools and educational service centers. Within two weeks these volunteer teacher groups around the state responded to the Texas Register draft. By the first of May the appointed teacher-writing group, under the direction of a nonprofit education consultancy based in Washington D.C. called StandardsWork and hired by the SBOE, presented the aligned draft to the Texas Education Agency. The teacher changes and suggestions included reading comprehension, writing cohesive pieces, alignment of all the standards across the grades, and a thoughtful regard for how skills can be measured. One example from the teachers was to remove the word “identify” and replace it with words like “discuss,” or “apply” or “use.” It does no good to identify a particular skill if students can’t apply that skill, use it in the proper context and discuss or support why they used it.
[On May 23, 2008] nine of the fifteen on the State Board of Education voted to discount all this professional time and advice. Instead they went back to the original document in the Texas Register with a few changes made by StandardsWork in April and then made their own changes at the last minute “cutting and pasting” together ideas they championed, causing a confusing, disjointed document that currently omits reading comprehension.
The State Board of Education group of nine ignored thousands of comments from the public response to the Texas Register; they ignored the National Standards established by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English; they ignored research from the National Reading Panel; they ignored pleas from our Texas bilingual community, and from the groups that represent children with special needs. The real travesty is that they disregarded the professionalism of the teachers and never even thought about the tremendous diversity that is the strength of Texas – our children.
A fragmented document such as this one which omits reading comprehension and cohesive writing, will greatly handicap our children competing for colleges and jobs in the 21st century. What employer would want an employee who had never learned to read and comprehend or write in a logical, cohesive way? These are two components the SBOE failed in the document they pieced together.
Before the standards are sent to textbook publishers and made public, we hope they will rethink their lack of concern for Texas children and the teachers who work with children, knowing how those children learn best. This is a document that will remain public for ten years and impact curriculum, materials and assessments.
The League of Women Voters believes that responsible government should be responsive to the will of the people. This democratic value clearly has not been upheld this past week by the group of nine on the State Board of Education who ignored the recommendations of the teachers of Texas and the thousands of responses to them regarding the English Language Arts and Reading Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, our Texas standards for English and reading.
Margaret Hill
League of Women Voters Houston Area
Education Chairperson, hillp@uhcl.edu
TDWCC will hear more from educators fighting for better education for Texas children. Our next battle will be over science textbooks!
