Texas gets C-plus in annual report on public school performance

[Harold Schiffman]

Texas gets C-plus in annual report on public school performance

By SHIRLEY JINKINSsyjinkins at star-telegram.com
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TexasEducation Weekannual reportEnglish-languageTexas Education Agency
No Child Left Behind

Texas educational performance and policies have earned the state a
passing grade in the annual Education Week report released today. The
state earned a C-plus overall, while the nation as a whole earned a C.

Education Week, a national education newspaper, and the Editorial
Projects in Education Research Center track the public school
performance and policy-making of the country and states in an annual
report called Quality Counts.

English-language learners and their progress were the special focus of
this year's EPE report; Texas had mixed results along with the rest of
the country. The report said that student population numbers for this
segment have risen to 5.1 million in U.S. schools, and that one
quarter of them are not making progress toward English-language
proficiency. The report used figures from 2005-06 in its analysis.

The Texas Education Agency's 2007-08 figures show 775,645
English-language learners in public schools, nearly 17 percent of
enrollment.

States vary widely in their approaches and successes with these
students, the EPE report said, along with practices for identifying
and assessing English-language learners' programs and funding, teacher
preparation, student performance and accountability.

"There's no state that's really knocking it out of the ballpark in all
areas," Christopher Swanson, director of the EPE Research Center, said
in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. "We feel this is a
close look at who English-language learners are, and the challenges of
educating students in proficiency of the language at the same time
that they're being held accountable for No Child Left Behind
[academic] standards."

According to the overall performance indicators involving all
students, Texas does a good job of advancing students from one grade
level to the next (a B, compared with the nation's C) and holding
schools to standards, assessments and accountability (a B-plus
compared with the nation's B).

The state is average in student outcomes — called Chance for Success
in the survey — with a C. The nation scored slightly higher at C-plus.
Teaching profession issues were the same for both Texas and the U.S.,
a C.

Texas was passing in student achievement in kindergarten through 12th
grade, with a C; but the nation posted a D-plus in the crucial area.

When it came to school finance issues, though, Texas managed only a
D-plus, while the nation earned a C-plus.

Online: Read the report at www.edweek.org/go/qc09

http://www.star-telegram.com/855/story/1129712.html
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