Test scores almost always measure how good someone is at test-taking. Sometimes, they measure how much one knows.
I taught at HISD; I have an Industrial Arts and J.D. degree. I was the teacher of last resort, tutoring seniors who had not passed the exam that allowed them to graduate. Math is typically the subject matter that they do not do well in. I did not teach them math; I taught them test-taking. Based on what I have heard, what is happening at HISD is that they are teaching students how to take tests.
The Houston Chronicle’s editorial used a convoluted way to claim that Mike Miles is being honest about the increase in test scores. Here is the editorial.
With editorials like the one quoted below or consistently promoting articles from people in favor of the takeover, the Chronicle was one of many tools used to justify the Republicans’ takeover of HISD and those businesses seeking contracts, as their pay-to-play was not working with the board then.
I see the Chronicle’s editorial just as another way for them to appease their masters, who pay for all those ads in the Chronicle.
But for all that, Doyle-Madrid’s optimism is well-founded. Finally, with so much at stake, the takeover will provide a means for great changes for the good. State takeovers of local districts have had a poor track record in the U.S., but we believe in Houston’s case a board of managers can serve as a springboard to revamp ineffective practices and initiate bold, innovative reforms.
If done correctly, and through close dialogue with stakeholders, nothing should be off the table. Regardless of who runs the district — a state-appointed board or an elected one — the main focus should be on meeting the needs of students by drawing from established best practices and turnaround models from other districts around the country.
For far too long, district leaders have failed the children and parents of our community. It’s time for even HISD’s strongest defenders to recognize how urgently it must change. The state takeover presents challenges all its own, but it is also the best chance in years for the district to reinvent itself.
End the State Takeover over VOTE NO on the HISD bonds.
New board members just need to promise that they will seek to get a bond out as soon as possible to appease the pigs that need government handouts.