The Answer Sheet: texas


Posted at 12:01 PM ET, 05/11/2013

High school student tells off his teacher -- viral video
By Valerie Strauss
The following 90-second video was secretly recorded by a student at Duncanville High School in Texas as another student, Jeff Bliss, was telling off his world history teacher about the way she was teaching.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:01 PM ET, 05/11/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  In Texas, Teachers

Posted at 03:42 PM ET, 10/24/2012

What if Texas cheerleaders wave banners with Koran verses?
By Valerie Strauss
A Texas judge rules that cheerleaders at a public high school can display at football games banners with Bible verses. What if the banners were emblazoned with quotes from a Wiccan text?

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:42 PM ET, 10/24/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Constitution, Freedom of Speech, Texas Cheerleaders

Posted at 10:40 AM ET, 12/08/2010

Schools eligible for 2011 John Lennon Scholarship
By Valerie Strauss
The John Lennon Scholarship Program created by Yoko Ono is now accepting applicants from a certain group of schools. Here they are.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:40 AM ET, 12/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  College Costs | Tags:  Appalachian State University, Bard College, Belmont University, Berklee College of Music, Birmingham-Southern College, Brown University, California State University Northridge, Carnegie Mellon University, Catawba College, City College of New York, Clark Atlanta University, Colorado State University, Columbia College (Chicago), DePaul University, Drexel University, Elmhurst College, Emory University, Florida State University, Full Sail, Georgia State University, Harvard University, Hunter College, Indiana University, Ithaca College, Lehigh University, Loyola University (New Orleans), Michigan State University, Middle Tennessee S. University, Millikin University, New England Conservatory, New York University, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, Purchase College (SUNY), UCLA, University of Alabama, University of California Los Angeles, University of Cincinnati, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Florida, University of Houston, University of Idaho, University of Memphis, University of Miami, University of Michigan, University of North Alabama, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of North Texas, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, Wilkes Community College, Yale University, john lennon, john lennon scholarships, menc, national association for music education, yoko ono

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/27/2010

7 Class size myths -- and the truth
By Valerie Strauss
Across the country, class sizes are increasing at unprecedented rates. Budget pressures are weighing on school districts, but there has also been a fierce attack on the value of class size reduction. Here are the most common myths about class size (No 1: It is an unproven, ineffective reform) along with the facts.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/27/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Class size, Class size | Tags:  class size, class size matters, class size reduction, education department, florida class size, leonie haimson, school reform, texas class size

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/22/2010

Court: Cheerleader had no 1st Amendment right to refuse to cheer for alleged assailant
By Valerie Strauss
This really happened: A federal appeals court ruled that a former Silsbee, Texas, high school cheerleader did not have a First Amendment right to refuse to cheer for a basketball player who she had accused of sexually assaulting her and who later pleaded guilty to simple assault.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/22/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers | Tags:  cheerleader, dismissed from team, first amendment rights, sexual assault, texas cheerleader, texas court

Posted at 03:15 PM ET, 09/24/2010

Texas education board: Textbooks favor Islam over Christianity
By Valerie Strauss
The Texas Board of Education adopts a controversial resolution today that accuses textbook publishers of favoring Islam over Christianity and tells them to stop it. Never mind that the books the board cited as examples of bias were phased out of Texas classrooms long ago.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:15 PM ET, 09/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History, History | Tags:  islam resolution, mosque and ground zero, religion resolution and texas, resolution, texas, texas and islam, texas and textbooks, texas board of education, texas resolution, textbook resolution, textbooks and islam

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/16/2010

Are Texas's social studies standards really so bad?
By Valerie Strauss
Texas has now officially adopted highly controversial new social studies standards. Here's a different view of the standards and the process by which they were approved.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 09/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  rewriting history, texas rewrites history, texas social studies standards, texas standards

Posted at 03:51 PM ET, 09/15/2010

Texas considers how Islam is portrayed in textbooks
By Valerie Strauss
The Texas Board of Education finally adopted its social studies standards a few weeks ago, seeming to put an end to the a huge controversy that erupted when critics accused religious fundamentalists of rewriting American history. Now, apparently, it is taking up a new issue: How students should learn about Islam.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:51 PM ET, 09/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  social studies standards, texas and islam, texas and social studies, texas and standards, texas board of education, texas islam rule, texas school board

Posted at 04:29 PM ET, 07/14/2010

A weird accountability system in Texas
By Valerie Strauss
In the category of “data will set your school system free, unless, of course, the data In the In the category of “data will set your school system free, unless, of course, the data doesn’t doesn’t tell the literal truth, ” we have the Texas Projection Measure. It’s a tool that awards schools credit for students who have actually failed state-mandated tests but who are expected to pass sometime in the future

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:29 PM ET, 07/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Research, Research | Tags:  accountability measures and school, data driven reform, gerald bracey, texas accountability measures, texas education agency, texas projection measure

Posted at 02:35 PM ET, 06/23/2010

Texas judge rejects creationist master's degree
By Valerie Strauss
A federal judge has denied an effort by the Institute for Creation Research to issue masters degrees in science education from “a Biblical scientific creationist viewpoint,” instead siding with state officials who initially refused to allow the program to go forward.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:35 PM ET, 06/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Science | Tags:  creationism, creationism vs. evolution, creationist science, earth science institute and texas, institute for creation research, judge rejects creationist masters degree, judge sam sparks and ruling, texas and creationist institute, texas higher education coordinating board

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/16/2010

The story behind rise in Texas test scores
By Valerie Strauss
Good news: Texas schoolchildren performed better on the 2010 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills this year than they did last, according to preliminary results released this month. Bad news: It turns out that students could pass the test answering fewer questions correctly than in 2009.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 06/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Standardized Tests | Tags:  TAKS, TAKS results, Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, high-stakes testing and Texas, standardized test results, standardized tests

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/24/2010

Bad standards: Not just in Texas
By Valerie Strauss
Texas isn’t the only place with lousy social studies standards, though you might be forgiven for thinking so considering all the attention that Texas Board of Education has received in recent months as it adopted a new set of standards.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  Indiana textbooks, Oregon standards, Texas board of education, Texas social studies standards, Texas standards, history, social studies standards, standards, textbooks

Posted at 10:56 AM ET, 05/22/2010

California bill takes aim at new Texas standards
By Valerie Strauss
A bill introduced in California seeks to protect the country’s largest school system from the Texas Board of Education and its new social studies standards.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:56 AM ET, 05/22/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Texas social studies, Texas social studies standards, Texas standards, history, social studies standards, texas board of educaiton

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/21/2010

The worst Texas social studies standard?
By Valerie Strauss
I’ve been reading the social studies standards in Texas as well as the many proposed changes being pushed by religious conservatives on the Board of Education, and playing an entirely subjective game: Which is the most egregious twisting of history?

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  revising social studies standards, texas and standards, texas board of education, texas social studies standards, texas standards

Posted at 03:23 PM ET, 05/13/2010

Did Texas school board abuse its power?
By Valerie Strauss
With the Texas State Board of Education getting ready to adopt controversial new social studies standards, a new report accuses the panel of abusing its power and asks the state Legislature to intervene. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of...

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:23 PM ET, 05/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, history standards and texas, texas board of education, texas social studies standards

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/07/2010

Texas did not really rewrite history--Sewall
By Valerie Strauss
The director of the independent American Textbook Council says that the reports that came out of Texas about conservative changes to the social studies curriculum are wrong.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  T, Texas and history, Texas board of education, Texas conservatives, Texas curriculum, Texas social studies, Texas standards

Posted at 06:29 AM ET, 04/02/2010

James McPherson on Texas history curriculum
By Valerie Strauss
I asked award-winning historian James McPherson how much we should worry about the changes to social studies curriculum being made by conservatives in Texas. Here's what he said.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:29 AM ET, 04/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history curriculum, texas, textbooks

Posted at 10:20 AM ET, 03/17/2010

Texas and its history mess--deja vu all over again
By Valerie Strauss
Texas is under scrutiny for silly and historically inaccurate revisions that its state board of education made to its American history curriculum. But it's not the first time Texas has been in a mess with its history textbooks.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:20 AM ET, 03/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Texas history standards

Posted at 06:10 PM ET, 03/03/2010

Linking college academics to careers
By Valerie Strauss
But Rick Cherwitz. Too many students graduate without appreciating how their academic studies can affect their the potential contribution of academic knowledge to their future careers and to the broader goal of solving society problems. The answer is an entrepreneurial laboratory where students can discover how to make these connections.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:10 PM ET, 03/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Higher Education | Tags:  academic/community mentorship, higher education, university of texas at austin