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DISD Administration

Roll Call: Education Stories of Note 6.9.14

Early voting starts today for the DISD Place 6 runoff
By Eric Celeste |

1. The DMN has a really good overview of the concerns with the state’s STAAR tests, because it not only shows that poor kids aren’t improving, but asks a) why that is, and b) if that even matters because the tests themselves may not properly measure student advances. Like with some pre-K programs that don’t show results right away, I lean toward the idea that classroom instruction hasn’t caught up with the changes required by a new program. However, it would be foolish to ignore the many teachers and administrators (like Coppell’s superintendent, quoted in the story) who say the tests are fundamentally flawed.

2. Early voting starts today in the Place 6 runoff between Joyce Foreman and Bertha Whatley. The two largest teachers’ unions endorse Foreman, while the DMN endorses Whatley. I think Foreman is a status-quo candidate who talks about the achievement gap but doesn’t want to make the hard choices associated with closing it. As for Whatley, I think she is wrong to dismiss the home-rule movement; I think it’s an important disruption mechanism in a deeply flawed DISD structure. But the idea that Whatley is a tool of the white North Dallas is absurd. She is her own person, would come to her own conclusions, and has a big bag of Go Eff Yourselfs ready to hand out to people who want to define her as not black enough to protect minority interests in her district. She’s not a perfect candidate, but she’s by far the best choice in this race. Don’t take my word for it: Check out the candidate scorecards from Dallas Kids First.

3. Not unlike the mainstream media industry, textbook publishers are struggling with the conversion from print to digital.

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