The Commission on Public School Finance heard invited testimony regarding efficiency at the classroom, campus and district levels.

 

Opening Remarks

  • Approved the minutes from the first meeting
  • After discussion on subgroup meetings being open to the public, the chair determined that that issue will be left to the discretion on the subgroup to keep in accordance with the Open Meetings Act
  • After discussion on expanding the number of members in each working group the commission members voted to adopt an amendment expanding the number to 6 members at any working group with the understanding that if 7 members are present the meeting will need to be posted in accordance with the Open Meetings Act
  • After discussion over the ability to go beyond the provided guidelines/parameters the chair concluded that the report will be an independent report and as such the members have the ability go beyond the printed scope without duplicating work
  • A draft of the Commission’s report should be completed before the end of the summer
  • Next meetings will be March 19th and April 5th and will be for advocacy and public testimony. The length of time allowed for each witness will be dependent on the number of witnesses registered to testify

 

Efficiency at the Classroom Level

Cisco ISD and Pasadena ISD Presentation

Amy Dodson, Cisco ISD

  • Multiple definitions of blended learning
    • Integration of teaching and technology
  • Raising Blended Learners Program (RBL)
    • Started with a grant to determine how blended how blended learning could work in 5 demonstration sites
    • 10-month process
  • Cisco ISD
    • Under 1000 students
    • Rural district
  • Program initially used to elevate higher achieving students in math and science in particular
  • Found that blended learning helped lower achieving students as well
  • Design of Cisco Program
    • Data driven instruction- actionable data drives learning plan for students and identification of learning gaps
    • Student agency/engagement
    • Personalized learning experience
    • Rigor/Competency Progression
  • Seen rise in student engagement through blended learning
  • Relayed personal experiences with teachers and students regarding benefits of blended learning

 

Karen Hickman, Pasadena ISD

  • Pasadena ISD
    • 90% graduation rate
    • 54% enroll in college – 26% complete a degree
  • Hancock Elementary Success
    • 98% economically disadvantaged
    • Before blended learning, many students were not successful
    • After blended learning, one year later, student engagement is significantly elevated
  • Connect Program Design
    • Mentorship time
    • Real-world projects
    • Individualized pathways
  • Teachers can focus on what and how to teach material as opposed to how to intervene and incentivize students
  • Significant positive feedback from teachers regarding the Connect Program
  • Demonstrable positive things
    • Student engagement has risen
    • Teacher satisfaction has risen
    • Student attendance has risen
    • Classroom discipline issues have decreased
  • Relayed stories from principals, students, parents and teachers regarding blended learning success
  • Thanked the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Raise Your Hand Texas for financial support making growth of the program possible
  • Noted need for strong teachers and leaders for the success of blended learning programs
  • Still working on best practices for ELL students
  • Demand for this type of education has been significant across the district
  • Taylor- very excited about the potential of these types of programs, have seen 100% engagement in 8th grade classrooms where these programs are in effect. The key is the teacher and the necessary training for the teachers,
    • It is certainly about teachers, but it is about redesigning the learning environment in the classroom
  • Taylor- you are not on one to one with devices?
    • That is correct, almost none of our teachers are on one to one with devices
    • Every teacher has said they will never go back to a traditional classroom again
  • Taylor- while not having one to one devices there is one to one time with students which isn’t the case and very difficult to do in traditional classes
  • Williams- requested information for the “meets” and “mastery” levels regarding student performance levels. What is the needed capacity for your programs?
    • Will provide that information
    • Expanding the program to 3rd-8th
    • 12 elementary schools have requested program implementation
    • requires significant training and coaching in the first year of implementation of the program
  • Williams- can you have more students per teacher in this method, leading to options for additional pay for the teachers?
    • Have not seen data specifically regarding that, but the program is only 3 years old, maybe in the future
  • Bernal- it sounds like the success is dependent on having the correct teacher not only the technology?
    • Absolutely
  • Bernal- what is the investment necessary to implant a plan like this? And then scale this up?
    • Have had significant funding aid from outside sources to help with teacher and leadership training
    • Bonds have been passed for 8th-11th grade for having 1 to 1 device ratio for students
    • Additional training for IT staff is needed, workload is lessoned after the second year and third year
    • Many trainings involved with teaching teachers how to reimagine the classroom, but after that they become coaches to other teachers
    • There is a necessary investment in technology for the classroom
    • Reallocating funds is very important for smaller schools
    • Investment in permission to fail for teachers to figure out the best practices and approaches
  • Bernal- is a 1 to 1 device ratio necessary at the higher grades?
    • It is not required, depended on the teachers plan and design for the classroom
  • Conley-Johnson- requested a per student cost in terms of the investment. Is this too cost prohibitive to consider going district wide with? How has this changed the conversation with the community and bond election discussions? What are the opportunities to mix grades?
    • Roughly $300 per student every 3-4 years for 1 to 1 for technology in the classroom or roughly 3 million dollars per year
    • There are some transitional aspects in professional development but may not be specifically cost prohibitive
    • Internet access at home to economically disadvantaged student is very expensive but bond passed with 80% approval
    • One key is making the classroom open to the community to see what is happening
  • Brister- what happens in a blended class on a daily basis?
    • It depends on the teacher and the pace of the student
    • Dodson- Described specific example of one class beginning of the day with a whole class teaching and one on one teacher mentoring
    • Hickman- much more systematic for each classroom, described a typical day.
  • Brister- after implementation what are the costs? How much more or less would this system cost on a continual basis?
    • Unknown at this point
    • Hickman- Probably will not cost much more because of reallocation of funds (i.e. using instructional materials allotment for computers or software)
    • Dodson- Same thought process after initial cost has been occurred. Expect the program will be district wide within 3 years
  • Ellis- have you tried a “bring your own device” plan?
    • Hickman- did try, but it was a failure for such an economically disadvantaged district
    • Dodson- monitoring and security are huge issues with that plan

 

Efficiency at the Campus Level

Danny King, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD

  • Presented written testimony
  • Early college high schools
    • Innovative high schools that offer dual credit to at risk students
    • Studies show the positive effects of this option in progression toward 60x30Plan
  • District populations
    • Hispanic-99%
    • Economically disadvantaged – 87%
    • ELL-43 %
  • Program started in 2008
    • Currently every school is an early college school
  • Demonstrable progress
    • Drop out rate is less that state average since 2008
    • Graduation rate above state average since 2010
  • Idea is that high school diploma is an intermediate goal with the end goal being a post-secondary certification
  • Working through blending pathways with college degree plans
    • Grouping similar plans at different schools to reduce duplication
  • Class of 2017 data upon graduation
    • 70% had college hours
    • 50% had 12+ college hours
    • 30% had 30+ college hours
    • 15% had associates degree
    • 10% had college certificate
  • Focusing certificates on areas of need across the state like welding or emergency medical technicians
  • Received over $550,000 in funding through Jobs and Education for Texans Grant (JET)
  • Cost sharing with college collaborations are very important
  • Brister- do you move teachers or students for the different programs?
    • We move students for the programs which require very expensive equipment, working on creating a central campus for those type of classes
    • Some programs are available at each campus
  • Brister- for students in the programs, what percent of the day are they focused specifically on the training for these programs vs mainstream courses?
    • Most freshmen are working solely on mainstream courses, with most of the seniors engaged in college courses
  • Brister- you mentioned cost sharing with community colleges?
    • It depends on the situation and course
    • Most challenging areas for the program is getting the equipment
  • Bettencourt- d you have data regarding salaries of graduated students?
    • Do not have that data
    • Most of the students are first generation college students
  • Bettencourt- should add that to the course
  • Bettencourt- problem of needing equipment, do you get the equipment from the colleges?
    • Sometimes but it is about maximizing space and efficiencies
  • Bettencourt- at a campus what percent of students are getting certifications vs associates degree?
    • Typically, more students receive an associates degree with a goal of a 4-year degree
  • Bettencourt- would be interested in those numbers as well as the reported salaries from the graduated students
    • Do see at least a savings for students who go to college with spending less time to achieve the degree
    • Also see a return on investment by getting students into the workforce faster
  • Ellis- one concern with unattended consequences with a plan like this is students getting locked into degree plan after a certain number of college course hours, do you see any issues like this?
    • Have not seen issues like this arise
  • Conley-Johnson- have you incurred additional costs with these programs and what are the limitations?
    • There are certainly upfront costs, but community college partners are able to help with that (things like waiving tuition, etc.)
    • Issues like which institution provides the instructor effects the costs associated
    • Finding qualified instructors is certainly a limitation
    • $2.5 million spent on these programs each year
    • Taking each item case by case is the way we have been working on solving these issues
  • Williams- what is the average student college councilor ratio in the region?
    • Unknown
    • Regular counseling ration at the high schools runs 350-400/1
    • Financial aid officer is made available to the students to help with applications
  • Williams- cautions the committee that this is likely the exception rather than the rule for similar programs, funding and incentives are needed to promote this type of successful program
  • Reyna- in speaking about the demographics of the district, how does Hispanic differ from ELL?
    • That difference come from students who master the English language as they progress through the grade levels

 

Joe May, Dallas County Community College (DCCC) and Eric Ban, Dallas County Promise

  • Presented written testimony
  • Referred to the program as the Dallas County Promise Network
    • Works through P-TECH
  • Described economics and demographics of current workforce needs
  • Lose students in transitions (after 5th grade and 8th grade)
  • Right now, it is mathematically impossible to reach 60x30TX Plan
  • P-TECH approach to early college high schools
    • Innovative approach to relationship between businesses, colleges and universities, and high schools
    • Able to offer high school students to graduate with some level of post graduate certification or course hours
  • Recruiting 2500 slots per year, adding 10 high schools to the program per year
  • Dallas County Promise strategies
    • Tuition free college- removing financial barriers to college, improving access for all students
    • Success coaching & mentoring- provides support for at-risk students from high school through college
    • Career Pathways & IT Systems=track student progress across pathways and drive continuous improvement through real time reporting
  • 1/10 ratio of outreach partners working with students to review access and financial options for students
  • Noted not a part of Dallas County Community College
  • 31 high schools are part of the network
    • Started with most underperforming schools first
    • 9,300 HS Seniors
    • 80% Economically Disadvantaged
    • 55% Hispanic / 35% Black / 10% White
    • All have a pathway to free tuition
  • Bettencourt- one issue is parents that are not familiar with colleges and one goal is to get the parents college friendly, is that correct?
    • That is certainly correct
    • Working on getting parents to gain further education as well
    • Only 10% of parents have been on a college campus
    • A level of mistrust from many of the parents exists, working through many avenues to gain trust with parents
  • Costs for the Promise Network
    • Summer bridge program- $26,000 per school
    • Remodeling and Re-branding of high schools- $500-700,000 per school
    • Total Costs range between $2.3 and $4.4 million per school
    • Funding comes from philanthropic gifts and repurposed funds
    • Costs are dependent on commitments made by community and industry partners
    • DCCC artificially keeping tuition low to allow better access for Promise students
  • Ellis- discussed low cost measures currently in place for low income students to attend community college in Texas and it’s potential to help get more students to earn post-secondary certifications
  • Discussed Promise Network results:
  • P-TECH
    • More P-TECHs in Texas than any other state
    • Working with 62 industry partners
    • The turnaround of Samuel HS from near closure to a top-ranking HS in Dallas
  • Dallas County Promise
    • 80% economically Disadvantaged
    • 96% pledge complete
    • Almost 50% FAFSA completion
  • Parent Promise
    • 5 high schools
    • 300 parent promise pledges
  • Bettencourt- regarding the Promise Network Results, is there statistical data for P-TECH schools compared to a control group of non-P-TECH schools?
    • P-TECH schools are 100% college ready after graduation
    • Regular schools have less that 10% college ready
  • Killian- worth noting that 23 of the 31 PTECH early college high schools have opened in the last 2 years. Large portion of the success comes from Dallas ISD reallocating funds to make this joint venture and partnership happen
  • High School accountability recommendations:
    • Assess through ACT or SAT scores to better assess college readiness
    • Better aligning high school accountability to post-secondary success requirements
    • Open more opportunities for community colleges to offer dual credit
  • SB 22 “no-cost” P-TECH programs hugely significant is allowing opportunities like this
    • For more opportunities need flexibility and local authority to maintain ability for community colleges to set tax-rates and keep tuition low
    • Need to leverage to low cost of Texas community college tuition
  • Taylor- speaking toward ACT or SAT for accountability, college board stated that they are not intended for that and should not be used for accountability
    • 12states doing this are seeing significant results from using these metrics
    • Would help focus education strategies on areas of need for students
    • EOCs are a one-time test that does not reflect or measure growth
    • ACT and SAT scores are understood by students and parents and offer measurable results year to year
  • Huberty- should we get rid of EOCs in favor of ACT or SATs?
    • There is a recognition from the business community that EOCs have the least relevance to being college and workforce readiness
    • Would support that notion, it can be powerful data if used well
  • Huberty- in terms of high school accountability, you stated that the current accountability plan does not include many of the key outcomes required for postsecondary success, is that looking forward on the new accountability system?
    • That was in terms of what is currently in place
    • Understand that there will be a college ready/work emerging portion, and we recommend these kinds of things in terms of administrators getting results
    • Using the FAFSA completion as part of the accountability assessment should be very important
  • Killian- mentioned in testimony that if the Dallas County FAFSA numbers were considered a state, it would be the second fastest growing state in the nation. The number one state this year is Louisiana, which requires filling out a FAFSA to graduate.
  • Huberty- what is the obstacle to statewide adoption of programs like this? Do you think the 4-year universities are pushing back, or is the will not there by the local community colleges, or is it that each community college has its area?
    • No state system of community colleges with each district set up indecently and setting their own tax and fees
    • DCCC covers the whole county
    • Many tuition-depended institutions
    • Unless universal structure was in place it would be difficult to roll out statewide due to lack of consistency
  • Huberty- what about implementing on a regional basis or through regional structures?
    • Agrees that a regional approach would work best
    • Working with others in the region to support efforts regionally
    • Regional funding sources through legislation, like Michigan’s plan, may help level the playing field regionally
  • Killian- the entire county is your taxing district? With all ISDs, etc., in it?
    • Correct
  • Killian- that could be one barrier in areas that the community college is not able to offer that low or falsely low tuition
  • Huberty- not sure what working group this should go in, but need to find a way to get more students into programs like this
  • Ellis- Texas curriculum is not aligned to ACT or SAT, does that play a factor into Texas using them as a metric for accountability?
    • That is a consideration, but they are a skills test
    • Potential for realigning curriculum to better match the skills tested in those assessments, as State of Indiana did

 

Efficiency at the District Level

Pedro Martinez, San Antonio ISD

  • Didn’t have enough resources so became part-time fundraiser in a way
  • Gave review of challenges they faced in the district: students had need for remediation, high economic disadvantaged population (93%), 18 IR campuses and many of them enrolled high levels of eco dis
  • Many IR campuses in Texas have at least 60% economic disadvantaged
  • Response: joined inaugural cohort of the TEA System of Great Schools, embraced a vision to create high quality seats, developing strategies at multiple levels
  • Opened new, INNOVATIVE schools, open enrollment, work with several partners including KIPP
  • Using medical model, taking people with bachelor’s degrees and instead of them doing student teaching they put them in the classroom full time with a stipend with eventual goal to take over the classroom
  • Early indicators include: more graduates are attending college and have more than doubled the number of graduates going to tier 1 universities
  • Students can get trapped in remediation classes, so they push TSI and now they are exceeding state averages
  • Concern of criticism on students going through IGC process but wants students to know what will change their lives is TSI and ACT, suggests schools not be criticized if they are providing balance and approach as a whole
  • Argues there is an alternative way to measure poverty instead of using free and reduced lunch
    • Asked the question does median income matter, own instead of rent, parents that have PhD vs not…they think it does
    • With model noted SAISD, Harlendale, Edgewood, and South San had 82% of block 4 students, poorest of the poor
  • Leveraging SB 1882
  • Parents are telling them kids love coming to school and parents are coming to the school
  • Challenge is that they are doing this through philanthropy, but his fear is what happens when this philanthropy runs out
  • Recommendations:
    • Look at poverty statewide, factor in a sliding scale of intensity of poverty rather than yes/no
    • Create a 3rd option for SB 1882
    • Align any state grants or funding to the struggling schools
  • Taylor – asked about stats that half of families were single parents? Can we put rules or stress message that education will help them stay out of poverty?
    • Half are single parents and 9% are male single families
    • Pushing college (community or universities) so students have a path and explains why that is important to parents, working on changing the conversation
  • Bernal – its true that leadership does matter, asked if these programs are sustainable
    • Would love to see how we do poverty funds, weights for density and align funding accordingly
    • Charters also create a challenge in that they solicit children that are not in extreme poverty
    • TEA has been a great partner in finding resources
  • Bettencourt – asked about students getting stuck in remediation
    • They have seen students get stuck in this trap so will do things like push them towards TSI
  • Bettencourt – what would you like to see for SB 1882
    • A third arm to it, harder to find partners in rural areas
  • Johnson – agrees we should look at other ways of measuring poverty and what it takes to implement some of the programs he spoke about, how did you overcome political pushback o working with charters and public
    • Started providing models and showed how complex the problem was so then they provided the partnering solutions – does not hear much push back from parents
  • Brister – asked for follow up details for the committee on the witness would calculate poverty

 

Paul Hill, the Center on Reinventing Public Education and the University of Washington Bothell

  • Presented written testimony
  • Presented via Skype
  • Problems to be solved within school finance
    • No way to link funding to results
    • Exploit opportunities for personalization, new modes of instruction
  • Need to find the most efficient use of funds which lead to the most productivity
    • Requires knowing what things cost, linking cost to practices
  • Barriers to efficiency in state law and policy can include anything that ties up money or makes it difficult to get money into the classroom
  • A productive system would need
    • School level: funding in real dollars, limited mandates, freedom in hiring and pay schedules, paying real prices for what they consume, competition for students and faculty, etc.
    • Districts need equity among schools and identify unmet needs, close the weakest schools, reproduce and expand best practices,
    • State needs to enable schools by incentivizing to manage diverse schools, require real-dollar accounting and student gain measurements and eliminate categorical programs and other fund tie-ups
  • Recommendations
    • General recommendations: Allocate dollars to districts in a pupil-weighted lump sum, require state and local dollars to be allocated to schools, eliminate strings on expenditures
    • Recommendations for the role of the State: analyze expenditure and outcome data by school and district, fund experiments with tech, put pressure on school boards in districts that stagnate
  • Conley-Johnson- giving schools more flexibility, what does that mean for an accountability system? And how does decentralizing effect special needs populations?
    • Recommends getting past all of the coding involved in spending/expenditures and focusing on how teachers/administrators spend their time and how effective are they
    • Special education costs could be more transparent through a system as described earlier
    • Giving schools the freedom to pool money for resources outside of the district for special education needs, as an example
  • Brister- is there a way to direct lump sums for innovative practices?
    • Getting lump sums through the districts and to the schools is the important part, so they could make decisions like paying what’s required to get the right teacher for the students
    • May consider state fund for incentives as opposed to it flowing through the formula
  • Ellis- in speaking about the inefficiencies of central administrator versus what spending is happening on the campuses, do you look at the issue of the central administrators not fully understanding how to properly allocate the dollars or is this a function of the districts operating in a highly regulated environment?
    • It is much more a function of high regulation and strings attached to funding
    • Cost of a district activity is driven by the regulations around it rather than the true cost of that activity

 

Orlando Riddick, Midland ISD

  • Presented written testimony
  • Launching reform model “transformation” in Midland
  • 38 campuses, 8 priority campuses, 4 IR campuses
  • With new administration
    • Board has completed Lone Star Governance training
    • Launched “listen and learn” town hall style community event
    • 22% increase in enrollment
    • 98% of teacher need filled
    • Reduced number of IR campuses from 9 to 4
    • Initiated and expanded innovative school partnerships with local businesses, health and sciences, and with community colleges
  • Many challenges come with Chapter 41, still have economically di
  • Huberty- when did you go into Chapter 41?
    • 2012
    • Paid $42 million in last year
  • Huberty- you’re at $1.04 you could go to $1.06, what would you get to keep?
    • Does not have an answer at this time, issue is that property values have gone up and being able to raise taxes is not likely or at least will be very difficult
  • The opportunity to innovate has become available through TEA and SB 1882
    • Call for quality schools put out for innovative ideas from those within the district and outside the district
  • Discussed funding through ADA in terms of reimagining school funding
    • Costs of students who are not in school aren’t reflected in funding through the formula
  • Midland on the Move
    • District’s student-centered transformation plan to maximize potential
    • Ensuring all students have access to high quality education
    • Includes becoming a System of Great Schools (SGS)
  • SGS is a strategy involving autonomous school at the center of the change effort and focusing on the needs of schools to meet the needs of students
  • 4 strategies of Midland on the Move: community engagement, focus on teaching and learning, know our schools, redesign central office and focus on talent
  • Need to change the role of the central office into a support role for schools
  • Brister-what does a transformation officer do?
    • Unknown at this point, but the premise is that that role will support student in getting into the best learning position
  • Conley-Johnson- discussed recapture rates, Midland is currently at about 60%. Have you found that you pay more in recapture than you get in new revenue?
    • Recapture is taking a negative effect on the district
  • Brister- one issue for many recapture schools is that there is not much transparency in how the recapture dollars are being spent, is there any appetite for doing one of the other options for chapter 41 schools?
    • Certainly, a challenge when the other school districts in the area are very small
    • Perhaps less of an appetite
  • Williams- some people have mentioned using ACT or SAT instead of EOCs, what are your thoughts on that?
    • It has been shown to be a good measure of college readiness which is the goal for schools

 

Tom Torkelson, IDEA Public Schools

  • Presented written testimony
  • Grown to 61 schools serving over 35,000 students
  • Demographics
    • Almost 90% economically disadvantaged
    • 93% Hispanic
    • 34% ELL
  • Hired 470 new teachers
  • 12 years of 100% college acceptance
  • Progress drivers
    • High quality administration and teachers
    • Rigorous curriculum
    • Focus on early literacy
  • Policy Recommendations
    • Incentivizing exceptional results through the formula and achievement in high level courses
    • Incentivize the teaching profession
    • Pay teachers more who get strong results for kids with greater needs
    • Invest in quality, rigorous curriculum tools
    • Abandon class size ratios- best teachers to reach more students
    • Avoid costly curriculum adoptions
    • Invest less heavily in Education Service Centers
  • Reyna- what method do you use to teach kindergartners?
    • Use reading mastery, a phonics-based instruction
  • Reyna- how do your teacher salaries compare to other schools in the region?
    • We try to be 1,2 or 3 in the district before bonuses
  • Brister- what class sizes can teachers bear?
    • Typical class size it about 28 students
    • New teachers in new schools, class sizes can be challenging
  • Huberty- what is the population of SPED students
    • About 1400, maybe 6%
  • Huberty- you have less students than traditional schools at about 12%
    • Correct, we do have students with very severe disabilities
    • Having a high-quality reading program in kindergarten may help in preventing unnecessary problems down the road
  • Huberty- what is the mechanism for remediation if a student doesn’t perform?
    • Have a program called “critical student intervention”
    • Includes additional focus on reading levels
  • Huberty- you don’t have any students that are kicked out for not meeting standards?
    • Correct
  • Huberty- there is a perception that students that do not meet standards are kicked out, that is not correct?
    • Absolutely not correct
  • Ellis- how should small districts be handled if service centers are reduced in funding
    • Didn’t say cut to zero, but they should not be the only resource for the districts
  • Bernal- how do you feel about applying a metric to both ISDs and Charter Schools to be sure that the measure of economically disadvantaged students is the same?
    • Yes, and once identified those schools should receive the most aid and get the best quality teachers
  • Brister- how do you recruit teachers?
    • Have recruitment teams
    • Recruit at college campuses, etc.
  • Conley-Johnson- spoken about inefficiencies today, how do you answer the question as to being locally accountable, and the resource question of how do we stay competitive and keep the most effective teachers in the traditional ISD, and what are we not seeing in ways to reallocate resources to serve all kids across the state?
    • One big challenge is building the facilities without any state funds to pay back bonds, that funding comes out of our operating budget (11% of annual budget)
    • All recommendations are applicable and replicable for districts across the board
    • One innovative idea could be for urban schools with excess capacity to get a break on recapture if they partner with high performing charter schools to operate their lowest performing schools
    • Local accountability for charters comes from parents exercising their ability to choose other options and informed parents vote with their feet.
  • Killian- certainly need to incentivize the teaching profession. Speaking to the ESCs and your recommendation that we invest less heavily in them, looking at the numbers Texas couldn’t realistically invest less in the ESCs, about $12 million to all ESCs, how would you fund them less?
    • You are correct that $12 million realistically would not go far in teacher pay across the state
  • Killian- do you have cohort completion rate data? There have been complaints about charter schools have large numbers in elementary school but do not matriculate through into secondary.
    • 96% of students that began at IDEA are still at IDEA
    • Year to year attrition is do to the high mobility rates
    • 80% of students that start at IDEA are seniors at IDEA 4 years later
    • There is room to improve, but it has significantly improved over the last few years
  • Killian in terms of rigorous curriculum, is that recommendation in terms of a state level?
    • TEA is doing a great job working on rigorous curriculum
    • Other states have shown great gains by taking the political process out of picking curriculum and actively pursuing a rigorous curriculum and teaching teachers
  • Ellis- Are you speaking to local curriculum or state curriculum standards?
    • At either level, a need to get very detailed if novice teachers are going to be in the classrooms, but speaking more to the local curriculum
  • Brister- do you provide or partner to provide athletic programs? Some communities see athletics to change economic circumstance, do you try to get them away from that?
    • Play sports in charter leagues
    • The emphasis will always remain on education above all else
  • Taylor- how many slots do you have each year?
    • 10,000 picked by lottery
  • Taylor- is there anything else that you are doing above what ISDs do?
    • Do include additional teaching time
    • Summer away experiences are a focus, sending students to colleges or universities or camps so they can experience the same advantages that affluent kids are exposed to
  • Taylor- IDEA takes the students on those trips?
    • Federal grant money that provided matching funds, combined with raised funds and local funds to pay for these types of things
  • Huberty- it is important to hear about the funding, that there were some federal grants, local funds and philanthropic opportunities, but need to be mindful that the opportunities provided to many of those students may not be available to others. Need to discuss how the state will pay for implementation of some of the great ideas we have heard today.
  • Ellis- from the Dallas area and many schools in the area are highly focused on the 90% economically disadvantaged students and 40% ELL students, and a report will be out tomorrow stating that if the same amount of money is spent this year as it was last year, there will be an $80 million-dollar hole. That is in a district that is doing many of the innovative things that were said today. Need to discuss the most effective ways to spend the available funds.

 

Closing Remarks and Adjournment

  • Need to receive list of potential testimony back from members
  • Next meeting march 19th