Extra Credit

Free TAKS tutoring to help seniors graduate starts June 10

High school seniors who still need to pass one or two TAKS tests to graduate can get free tutoring this summer.

The Fort Worth Can Academy is offering the tutoring to any student at any school that failed one or two portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills standardized test, preventing the from graduating this spring.

The four-week Operation Success program is scheduled for June 10 through July 3, Mondays through Thursdays at the location at 4301 Campus Drive in Fort Worth. A free meal will also be provided.

For more information: 214-944-1960

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth senior wins new car in Words for Wheels essay contest

A senior at South Hills High School in Fort Worth won a new Honda Civic LX by penning the best essay in the annual Words for Wheels contest.

BreAvery Simpson got the keys to the vehicle on April 29 at a ceremony at Frank Kent Honda. He chose a red one.

Read his essay here.

More than 200 students wrote 1,000 word essays on the role of technology in society and how they plan to use technology in the future to promote and help Fort Worth.

BreAvery's essay "My Vision for an Innovative Future" was judged the top one by a panel that included Frank Kent Honda owners Will Churchill and Corrie Watson. (r: Will Churchill hands car keys to BreAvery Simpson/photo from Mike Zukerman, FWISD)

The cost of the car's taxes, title and license were covered by the Educational Employees Credit Union (EECU). BreAvery and two runners up received a $250 savings account.

From a news release: "Last year’s winner Robyn Sims says winning the Honda Civic changed her life tremendously.

“The car has allowed me to work in Fort Worth and commute to Denton where I go to school,” said Sims. “This would not have been possible had I not won the essay contest!”

Mayor (Betsy) Price and Superintendent (Walter) Dansby agreed the contest is a reflection of the city’s commitment to inspire the youth with leadership and community service opportunities. 

“Words for Wheels is an exciting opportunity for kids to share their ideas around emerging technology and showcase their writing skills — something that is vitally important for their future success,” said Mayor Price. “We thank all of the partners involved, especially Frank Kent Honda for their support for education. These partnerships are building a better city and a better tomorrow for all of us.”

Here's a link to more Fort Worth ISD pictures from the event. 

Jessamy Brown 

Fort Worth students show "encouraging gains" in early STAAR results

Fifth and eighth grade students in the Fort Worth school district made "encouraging gains" on this year's standardized tests, administrators announced.

Preliminary results show an increase in the percentage of students who passed the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Skills (STAAR) tests in math and reading. But scores for Asian students as a whole dropped. The tests were given earlier this month.

This week, third, fourth, sixth and seventh graders took the reading and math tests. Fifth graders took the science test and eighth graders took the science and social studies tests.

On the math test, fifth graders improved their passing rate by seven percentage points. Last year, as fourth graders, 59 percent of those students passed the test. This year, as fifth graders, 66 percent of students passed. African American students showed double digit gains, improving from 40 to 50 percent.

On the reading test, fifth graders improved four percentage points, from 63 to 67 percent passing. And students who took the reading test in Spanish improved nine percentage points, from 68 to 77 percent.

For eighth graders, students jumped 13 percentage points in math, from 58 percent passing as seventh graders to 71 percent passing this year. Gains were even greater for Hispanic students, who jumped from 60 percent passing to 75 percent, a 15 point boost. African American students, too, jumped 15 percentage points, from 41 percent passing to 56 percent.

On the reading test, eighth graders improved four points, from 66 percent to 70 percent passing. Hispanic students had a seven point gain, from 65 to 72 percent passing.

"These preliminary numbers are telling us that we are on track in narrowing the achievement gap among our students," Superintendent Walter Dansby said in a statement. "We are studying the successes as well as those opportunities for improvement during re-test."

The district is studying the results to determine why there were some drops in passing rates for Asian students. For instance, fifth grade math scores dropped nine points from 90 to 81 percent. And eighth grade reading scores dropped 15 points, from 56 to 41 percent. 

Spokesman Clint Bond said that it could be due to an influx of students who are still learning English.

The school district point out that the district launched block scheduling for middle schools this year, which provides an extra eight weeks worth of instruction time. Also, the district created learning networks, teams of educators who support teachers and administrators on campuses.

Jessamy Brown

 

When is my kid taking the STAAR test?

Testing under the state's standardized exam program known as STAAR starts this week and school districts are taking to social media to remind parents. 

Last week, the Fort Worth school district posted on its website a list of tips to help children prepare for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests and the program's End-of-Course tests for high school students (EOCs).

Children should get a good night's sleep and eat a good breakfast.

This morning, Fort Worth ISD tweeted: "EOC and STAAR tests this week. Take your time and think. You can do this."

High school freshmen and sophomores will take STAAR end-of-course tests in certain subjects. Juniors and seniors are still tested under the Texas Assessments of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) program.

Here's the STAAR 2013 schedule as posted by the Texas Education Agency:

Monday: High school English 1 and 3 writing

Tuesday: High school English 1 and 3 reading; grades 4 and 7 writing day 1; grades 5 and 8 math

Wednesday: High school English 2 writing; grades 4 and 7 writing day 2; grades 5 and 8 reading

Thursday: High school English 2 reading

April 23: Grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 math

April 24: Grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 reading; grades 5 and 8 science

April 25: Grade 8 social studies

May 6 to 17: High school end of course tests

Jessamy Brown

 

 

Mansfield ISD student, 8, is youngest competitor at Wednesday's regional spelling bee

Eight-year-old Kailey Choi, the youngest winner of a Mansfield school district spelling bee, will compete in the regional bee at TCU on Wednesday.

Kailey, a third grader, correctly spelled some tough words during the district event last month, including influenza, ominous, refugee, arsenal, piccolo and monotonous.

She topped runner up Jeremy Pham, a fifth grader, who misspelled etymology in the 24th round of competition. Her winning word was exuberant.

(R: Kailey Choi wins Mansfield spelling bee/MISD)

Here's a video of the Mansfield district competition:

ORIGINAL POST

How do you spell V-I-C-T-O-R-Y?

Twenty-five students from North Texas --including one who is just eight-years-old -- will square off on Wednesday at the annual regional spelling bee.

The winner will advance to the national Scripps National Spelling Bee, scheduled for May 28 to 30 near Washington, D.C.

Students from 457 schools participated in the TCU College of Education Spelling Bee, sponsored by the College of Education's Center for Urban Education and the Star-Telegram. The 25 students qualified for the regional bee by winning their campus bee and then their district or area bee, said Jan Lacina, associate dean at the TCU college of education.

In addition to the expenses-paid trip to the finals, the regional winner gets a trophy, dictionary and the chance to audit a TCU course.

Two students who competed in previous regional contests are returning on Wednesday and the youngest contestant is Kailey Choi, a third grader at Anderson Elementary School in the Mansfield school district.

Last year's winner, Mark De Los Santos, is not eligible to compete again because he is in ninth grade. He advanced to the sixth round of the national spelling bee semi-finals but did not spell himation correctly.

The regional bee is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon at the TCU Brown Lupton University Union, 2901 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth.

Jessamy Brown

 

Fort Worth seniors can write their way to new wheels in annual Frank Kent Honda contest

A Fort Worth school district senior will have the chance to use their ability to turn a phrase into the turn of the wheel of a new car.

In the second annual Words for Wheels essay contest, students are writing up to 1,000 words on this topic: "In the future, how do you plan on using technology to promote and help your community?" The pieces will be judged on originality, clarity of message and presentation, according to a news release from Frank Kent Honda.

Starting this week, students will get a chance to check out the model as it makes stops at various Fort Worth high schools.

The contest is a partnership between Frank Kent Honda, Fort Worth schools and the City of Fort Worth. Graduating seniors have the chance to win a 2013 Honda Civic LX coupe or sedan - and they can pick the color. The EECU will cover the cost of tax, title and license fees on the vehicle.

The deadline is March 17. The winner will be presented with the car at the Fort Worth-based dealership on April 29. The contest was created by Frank Kent Honda co-owners Will Churchill and Corrie Watson, graduates of Arlington Heights High School.

Jessamy Brown

Ninth grade passing rates on STAAR tests rise after second attempt

UPDATE:

Ninth graders who failed the STAAR end-of-course standardized tests in their initial go around did better during retakes, the Texas Education Agency announced.

Here's a link to an Associated Press report.

An excerpt: "Students who retook those tests as 10th-graders this year saw their scores in all subject areas improve dramatically, according to Education Commissioner Michael Williams.

The English I writing passing rate jumped from 54.4 percent last spring to 72.6 percent after retesting. English I reading jumped from 67.7 percent to 81.2 percent; world geography climbed to 84.8 percent from 79.7 percent; and 91 percent of students passed biology exams, up from 86.4 percent."

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/01/29/4584930/twice-is-a-charm-ninth-graders.html#storylink=cpy

And here's Tuesday's news release from the Texas Education Agency.

ORIGINAL POST:

The majority of Texas students who took the state’s new standardized exams last year passed it, results show.

Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams released results Tuesday from elementary and middle schoolers who took the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests in spring 2012.

In a news release, Williams said the passing rates for most of the tests were 70 percent or higher. Third and fourth graders posted passing rates of 68 percent on the math test.

And eighth graders posted a 59 percent passing rate on the social studies test. Education officials attributed that to new curriculum content and use of more primary sources in test questions. Eighth graders posted the highest passing percentage on the tests, with 80 percent passing the reading exam.

The new tests are designed to be harder than the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exam. That program is being phased out. (r: 9th grader works in STAAR end of course remedial class in June 2012. ST/Ron Jenkins)

Students took STAAR tests in the same subjects that were tested on the TAKS. For grades 3 through 8, students must take tests in math and reading. Students are also tested in writing at grades 4 and 7, science at grades 5 and 8, and social studies at grade 8.

“I recognize there has been a lot of anxiety surrounding STAAR tests, but I believe these are encouraging passing rates for the first year of a new more rigorous test,” Williams said in a statement. “Clearly, we still have work to do, but I remain optimistic that passing rates will rise this spring in the second administration of the STAAR, just as they have traditionally done in the second year of a new testing program.”

Several greater Tarrant County school districts, including Fort Worth, Mansfield, Arlington and Grapevine-Colleyville, did not release scores for their students on Tuesday. Some officials said administrators want to share the scores with school trustees before releasing the data.

Fort Worth schools officials received the last of their scores from the state on Saturday, said Clint Bond, a spokesman.

“They haven’t been reviewed or analyzed. We just got some of them. The superintendent hasn’t seen them and the board hasn’t seen them,” Bond said.

This year, exam results will be used to create accountability performance ratings for school districts and campuses. No ratings were issued in 2012 as the state made the transition to the new test.

High school students must get a passing average on 15 end-of-course STAAR tests to graduate. There are three exams each in math, science, social studies, reading and writing. This year, ninth and 10th graders took the tests. Other students continue to take the TAKS. Williams has suspended a requirement that the scores count as 15 percent of the course grade.

Jessamy Brown

Librarians at Tanglewood Elementary win blog of the year

The "TangaLibrary" library blog at Tanglewood Elementary School in Fort Worth has been named elementary blog of the year by the Texas Association of School Librarians.

Check it out, here.

Librarian Kay Nader and library clerk Danna Webber were honored at the Fort Worth school board meeting on Tuesday. They were introduced by campus principal Victorius Eugenio.

Jessamy Brown

Record number of Texas students taking the ACT test

Texas students took the ACT college admisions test in record numbers this year and the number of Hispanic students taking the test has doubled in five years, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Scores for Texas and nationwide were released today. The composite score for Texas students was 20.8 out of 36. Nationwide the composite score was 21.1. Read more about Texas scores here and here for nationwide details.

For Texas, the composite score was unchanged from last year, although TEA officials pointed out in a news release that 8,611 more students took the test, bringing the total number of Texas students who took the test to 110,180 (the figure was 79,050 in 2008). The composite score for 2008 was 20.7.

The number of Hispanic students taking the exam has increased from 20,198 in 2008 to 40,827 for 2012. The number of Asian students who took the exam increased form 2,897 to 4,746 during the same time.

The folks who administer the ACT have posted a comparison between composite scores for all states. Mississippi had the lowest score, at 18.7, where 100 percent of graduating seniors took the exam. Massachusetts had the highest score at 24.1 and 23 percent of seniors took the exam. In Texas, 39 percent of seniors took the exam.

Here's a Texas Tribune report that notes that about 24 percent of students are ready for college.

"The Condition of College and Career Readiness Report for Texas is based on ACT scores, which students typically take so they can use the test to apply for college. Of the 39 percent of graduating seniors who took the ACT, 24 percent of the Class of 2012 met all four benchmarks in English, reading, mathematics and science. That percentage has been stagnant since 2010, and is just below the national average of 25 percent," the Texas Tribune reported.

Here is the breakdown of scores by subject:

Subject	Texas	USA
English
2011	19.6	20.6
2012	19.6	20.5

Math
2011	21.5	21.1
2012	21.4	21.1
Reading
2011	20.7	21.3
2012	20.8	21.3
Science
2011	20.8	20.9
2012	20.8	20.9
Composite
2011	20.8	21.1
2012	20.8	21.1

Jessamy Brown

Arlington student ties for 10th place at National Spelling Bee: "I did my best"

Arlington speller Mark De Los Santos made it to the sixth round of the semifinals at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday but was stopped by a word he didn't know: himation.   

 

Here's a video by Elise Brown, Medill News Service

"I had some intuition about the word," De Los Santos said afterward, but he guessed wrong on the first vowel, spelling it with an "e" instead of an "i."

"I felt a little bit disappointed" after hearing the bell signaling an error, he said, "but I was glad that I did my best."

Read more by Maria Recio in today's Star-Telegram.

Rea
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/05/31/3999947/arlington-speller-bows-out-in.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: 2:30 p.m.

Mark will win a $500 gift card for being in the semifinals. The champion will win a $30,000 cash prize, a trophy and other awards.

Here are some fun facts about the 278 students competing in this year's national contest:

• 69 percent of the 2012 contestants attend public schools
• 1 speller in the 2012 contest is six years old
• 30 percent of the 2012 contestants are in the eighth grade
• 51 percent of the 2012 contestants are girls, the rest are boys

UPDATE 1:25 p.m.

In a tweet from @ScrippsBee, Mark has been eliminated. He spelled "himation" incorrectly in round six of the National Spelling Bee.

That's a rectangular cloth draped over the left shoulder and worn in ancient Greece.

No Texas students appear to be in the championship finals tonight.

Original post:

National Harbour, Md. _ Arlington speller Mark De Los Santos advanced in the fourth round Thursday morning in the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee, correctly spelling "cochineal," a red dyestuff made of the dried bodies of small red insects.

De Los Santos, an eighth grader at Holy Rosary Catholic School, is one of three Texas spellers left in bee after the 4th round. Also still competing: Chetan Reddy of Plano and Abigail Spitzer of El Paso.

Today's semifinals, which are being televised on ESPN2 are being held from 9 a.m. to noon. The championship finals are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN tonight starting at 7 p.m. Track the spellers in this live map.

Check out a photo gallery on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's website from Wednesday's preliminary competition. And there are Associated Press photos posted from the event, too.

--Maria Recio, Star-Telegram Washington bureau chief. Via Jessamy Brown

Photo: Mark De Los Santos is No. 239 at the National Spelling Bee. Chuck Myers/MCT