Extra Credit

Fort Worth ISD, AECOM win award for bond management program

The Fort Worth school district and a bond management firm have been given an award recognizing development excellence in North Texas.

The Celebrating Leadership in Development Excellence Awards program, according to a district news release, encourages "innovating development projects and practices that will help accommodate expected growth and ensure a sustainable North Texas for generations to come." 

The award is to the school district and AECOM, which manages the school district's 2007 Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

In the bond referendum, voters gave the go-ahead for a $593.6 million bond package that included $551.9 million to construct campuses and additions and perform renovations to existing schools and athletic facilities.

Fort Worth schools Superintendent Walter Dansby (r) said in a statement: "In the years since voters approved the 2007 bond referendum we've built new schools, renovated facilities and technologically transformed classrooms all across the district. And with our AECOM partner we have been able to do it all on time, under budget and within strict guidelines for safety, sustainability and accountability."

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth ISDs free mobile app ready to download from Apple and Google stores

UPDATE 3/27/13 

To find the mobile app:
It is a free download for smart phones and tablets on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. Users can search for “Fort Worth ISD” to find the app, located in the education category. Developed by Parlant Technology Inc., the app has a red icon with a white apple.

The app has been downloaded 690 times since January, including 456 times since it was announced on Monday, officials said Wednesday afternoon.

ORIGINAL POST

A smart phone app with news and student information about Fort Worth schools is ready, officials announced in a Monday news release.

Users can download the app for free from the Apple App Store for iPhone users and the Google Play Store for Android users.

The app is available in 70 languages and folks can access the district's social media sites and lunch money accounts, make a report to the safety and security office, find school phone numbers and check sports scores. The district will also use the app for school and district updates and news and will send voice messages to parents, who can access them when it is convenient, rather than being interrupted by a phone call, said Clint Bond, director of external and emergency communications.

Here's a January Star-Telegram article about the app.

"We are extremely excited to be deploying this mobile app," Walter Dansby, Fort Worth schools superintendent, said in a Monday news release. "It's so important that we can communicate effectively when there is an emergency. But it is even more important that we can communicate with our parents about the progress of their children in school. Our new mobile app puts the facts right into the hands of people who need it the most ... our parents."

Jessamy Brown

New building eyed for Fort Worth ISDs Young Women's Leadership Academy

The girls at the Young Women's Leadership Academy may be moving to new digs on Eighth Street in Fort Worth.

The Fort Worth school board in January agreed to purchase the Tarrant County Education Center building at 401 E. 8th St.

On Tuesday, trustees are to consider using $5.8 million from funds left over from the Capital Improvement Program to pay for renovations to the building.

The deal still must still be considered by the Tarrant County Commissioner's Court, which is expected to take up the matter at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 26, a school district spokeswoman said. If both parties approve, officials hope to be done with renovations and ready to move into the new building in time for the fall 2013 semester.

The academy has outgrown its current space, Fort Worth schools spokesman Clint Bond said.

The school opened in August 2010 in a converted building on West Magnolia Avenue that served as the school district's adult education center. Officials are adding one grade per year. This year, there are students in grades seven through 10.

Jessamy Brown

 

 

PBS' Independent Lens to spotlight Texas education board fight over textbooks

UPDATE

"The Revisionaries" documentary is available for viewing online at the PBS Video website through Feb. 27.

On KERA, here are showtimes to watch or record:

• Today: 10 p.m.
• Wednesday: 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 7 p.m.
• Thursday: 12 a.m., 2 a.m.
• Saturday: 11 a.m.

ORIGIONAL POST

The Texas board of education's rancorous debate over textbook standards will be the focus of a TV documentary on PBS this week. Check out the preview:

Watch Witness a Texas Showdown Over Teaching Standards on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

 

In North Texas, KERA-13 has scheduled the episode of Independent Lens to first air at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night. (By the way, the state school board meets in Austin on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Here's the agenda).

A key player in The Revisionaries is former board president Don McLeroy, described as a "dentist, Sunday school teacher, and avowed young-earth creationist" and the 15-member state board's adoption of new science and history curriculum standards in 2010.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy weighs in here.

The show's backers say that the state board's action is important because decisions about Texas textbooks have a nationwide effect.

"Texas is one of the nation's largest textbook markets because it is one of the few where the state decides what books schools can buy rather than leaving it up to local districts, which means publishers that get their books approved can count on millions of dollars in sales. Further, publishers craft their standard textbooks based on the requirements of the biggest buyers. As a result, the Texas board has the power to shape the textbooks that children around the country read for years to come," according to a post on the PBS website.

But the extent of Texas' influence on publishing has been the subject of debate. The executive director of the Association of American Publishers' school division, Jay Diskey, told the Star-Telegram that the idea that Texas standards will be forced on other states is "really an urban myth in the year 2010."

Former Star-Telegram reporter Traci Shurley wrote on March 20, 2010: "Over the past 15 years, he said, most states have asked or required publishers to align textbooks with their own state standards. Also, digital publishing has allowed the industry to customize books, not only by state but also by district."

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth-based Region XI Service Center to offer technical help, board training to charter schools

The Fort Worth-based Region XI Education Service Center will host a phone and email support center to help charter schools around the state, the Texas Education Agency said Friday.

The TEA is working with the Region 11 center and Texas Charter Schools Association to launch the Texas Charter School Technical Assistance Network.

The Region 11 service center and charter school group were picked through a competitive application process. They with be paid about $500,000 for this year, a TEA spokeswoman said.

Here's how the TEA described the initiative:

"As part of the network, Region 11 will host a telephone and email support center to assist charters. It will work with new charter schools and those non-profit groups that have been awarded charters but have not yet opened their schools. It will provide on-site technical support, as well as training for board members and officers.

"TCSA will provide comprehensive support to all charter schools. It will provide training webinars on fiscal matters, academic issues and data analysis. The webinars will also be recorded so that the information can be reviewed as a refresher course or when new employees are hired. Additionally, the association will offer intensive budget training.

"TCSA and TEA will work together to provide orientation sessions for those interested in submitting a charter application and for those groups that have just been awarded a charter.  The association will also oversee recruitment and training for reviewers who score charter applications."

The state is limited to 215 open enrollment charters and there are 201 charter holders in Texas.

What's the Region XI education service center? Here's how it is described online:

One of 20 ESCs across the state, ESC Region XI provides professional development, technical assistance and management of educational programs to 77 public school districts and 35 charter schools in a 10 county area in North Central Texas.

Jessamy Brown

 

 

 

Keller ISD's Tech Chief Joe Griffin is participating in Dell/MIT Think Tank on technology in education

Keller ISD's Chief Technology Officer Joe Griffin is at Massachusetts Institute of Technology today to be part of a Dell/MIT Think Tank on technology innovations in education. 

Follow the discussion live: https://new.livestream.com/accounts/201054/innovateedu

and on Twitter: #DoMoreEDU and #EdNatMIT.

How do we prepare students for the 21st Century? 

-- Sandra Engelland

Fort Worth ISD's Facebook page up to 6,230 fans and counting

Folks with kids at Fort Worth schools are flocking to the school district's Facebook page today to post photos for back to school.

The 80,000-student school district has added more than 50 fans since officials sent out a mass phone message at about noon on Saturday reminding families that classes resume today. The message asked families to be sure to post or send in photos from the first day of school and to follow the district on Twitter.

"We've gotten a huge response to it," said district spokeswoman Barbara Griffith. "People are so proud of their kids."

From their page: "Good morning! Send us your photo that best illustrates the 'First Day of School' in the Fort Worth ISD. The photo that receives the most "likes" will win a basket of FWISD goodies. Submit your photos to facebook@fwisd.org along with a line explaining who or what is featured."

 

Here's where to get back to school information for Fort Worth ISD.

Jessamy Brown

 

Fort Worth school district convocation: "Success demands singleness of purpose"

UPDATE: The Fort Worth school district has noted a few more details about Superintendent Walter Dansby's Convocation 2012 video message.

Dansby quoted Vince Lombardi as saying that "Success demands singleness of purpose."

In addition to being posted on the district's website, the video also was on the District’s EdTV Channel (Charter Channel 30 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99), the school district said.

The folks behind the endeavor used the school district's 2011-2012 Annual Report "as a compelling visual element and a storytelling guide. (See report here). Pages flipped open revealing the many ways the District is working toward Singleness of Purpose." (Star-Telegram photo by Bob Booth. Dansby addresses audience at a Feb. 2012 event.)

According to the school district, these include:

• "Gold Seal Programs of Choice - the most comprehensive re-design of secondary schools in the nation;
• "Learning Networks – with school leadership directors, liaisons from nearly every district department and content specialists assigned to specific schools;
• "Consistent bell schedules - adding up to several more weeks’ worth of instruction time."

ORIGINAL POST:

Teachers and staff members in Fort Worth ISD are launching their new school year today with a videotaped message from their leader rather than a mass back-to-school rally. Students return to classes on August 27.

Some school districts are moving away from having big gatherings in a central location with guest speakers, choosing instead to offer a video that employee can watch at their campuses.

Fort Worth schools superintendent Walter Dansby, who hosts to 15 minute video, said in a news release that the "virtual Convocation" gives employees the chance to use the extra time to set up their classrooms and prepare for the new school year.

In the video, Dansby discusses the concept of  "Singleness of Purpose."

"I've been pushing teamwork for years. Now I'm talking about greater collaboration and efficiency to prepare our kids for college and the 21st century workplace," he said.

Dansby also mentions that the school district has launched a search for a new student information system for managing student data, which he said "will be proven, user-friendly and it won't add any extra burden to your day."

Dansby noted that the district is using bond savings for projects including culinary arts program upgrades at four high schools.

Further, the district will have an "aggressive push" to sign up parents for the district's Parent Portal, a computer tool that gives parents access to information such as grades, homework assignments and attendance, he said.

Dansby wrapped up the video with these words: "It's a pleasure to welcome back the best teachers and staff in the nation. Let's all be respectful. Let's help one another and let's get back to work."

Jessamy Brown

Birdville auto repair students get fixer uppers for training

The gearheads in Birdville schools' automotive technology classes are getting to fine tune their skills on some fancy wheels.

A 1996 Cadillac Seville is being donated to the high school program at the Birdville Center of Technology and Advanced Learning in North Richland Hills. The car was taken to the campus in late December and it needs extensive repair work.

So the owner, Scott Schleper, is donating the car to help train students in diagnosis and repair. The donation, valued at $3,765, is being voted on by Birdville trustees at tonight's meeting.

Another car, a 2003 Pontiac Montana worth $6,047, was also donated to the program by Christopher Malvik, of Watagua.

Students in the program's shop, supervised by instructors, sometimes also take outside cars for repair. They don't do body work, but they can do oil changes, brake jobs and the like. Such paid work is warrantied for six months or 6,000 miles, according to their website.

A two-student team from the program took second place in the 2010 Ford/AAA Student  Auto Skills national finals.

Jessamy Brown

 

Arlington school trustees consider giving principals more autonomy

Giving principals more autonomy and getting more technology into the classroom are among the goals in a three-year strategic plan hammered out by school district officials last week.

Many details and timelines remain to be worked out, but the Friday-Saturday work session of the school board and administration -- the second in a month -- finished a draft of the district's first-ever long-range plan.

Officials want the plan to guide budget and services planning for three years, and then perhaps extend it to five years. Facility upgrades -- and financing for them -- will have a 10-year horizon.

"The beauty of this is that the board and administration are walking hand-in-hand together creating the plan and deciding how we're going to implement it," said Trustee Gloria Peña. "So everyone will know what we want. There will be no guessing."

Much of the discussion focused on the concept of MPE, managed performance/empowerment, an approach that seeks a balance between central control and freedom of decision at the campus level. Under that system, principals could become "mini CEOs," having more flexibility to direct funds and services based on the specific needs of their student population and community.

The funding could be used "for whatever that principal deems necessary to meeting the performance levels that we set," Trustee Tony Pompa said.

But a lot of work and planning is needed, said district spokeswoman Amy Casas.

"We need to determine what the accountability standards will be to gauge performance," she said. "It will take some time."

Read more here.

-Patrick M. Walker

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/05/3785608/arlington-trustees-may-give-principals.html#storylink=cpy