Texas

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Texas
Image of a bible sitting on top of a school backpack.
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States School Chaplain Bills Multiply, Stirring Debate on Faith-Based Counseling
Proponents say school chaplains could help address a mental health crisis. Opponents raise concerns about religious coercion.
Evie Blad, March 15, 2024
6 min read
Pencil Eraser Erasing Drawn Figure
AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Teacher Layoffs Are Mounting. How Districts Can Soften the Blow
Layoffs are coming in districts large and small. Here's how district leaders can handle them.
Caitlynn Peetz & Mark Lieberman, March 13, 2024
8 min read
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away after announcing Texas' lawsuit to challenge President Obama's transgender bathroom order during a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away following a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016. Paxton recently sued several Texas school districts for allegedly engaging in electioneering before the March 5 primaries.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP
School & District Management Advocacy or Electioneering? Education Leaders Walk Fine Line in School Voucher Debate
Texas is cracking down on district leaders' allegedly political speech—in what others see as a pretext for quashing anti-voucher sentiment.
Olina Banerji, March 11, 2024
5 min read
Jacqueline Chaney ask her 2nd graders a question during class at New Town Elementary School in Owings Mills, Md., on Oct. 25, 2023.
Jacqueline Chaney ask her 2nd graders a question during class at New Town Elementary School in Owings Mills, Md., on Oct. 25, 2023.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching The 'Difficult, Beautiful' Work of Teaching
From sunup to sundown, America's teachers grapple with countless decisions, interruptions, joys, and frustrations.
Teamwork and leadership.
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School & District Management How Central Offices Can Lay the Groundwork for Tutoring in Schools
From data mining to making master schedules, principals need central offices’ help to implement tutoring.
Olina Banerji, February 27, 2024
5 min read
Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education, speaks during a presentation of the proposed state spending plan during an announcement in Indianapolis on Jan. 4, 2023.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner speaks about a proposed state spending plan on Jan. 4, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana tracks students' 3rd grade reading progress and the tools and supports districts are deploying.
Michael Conroy/AP
Reading & Literacy Applying the 'Science of Reading': 3 State Leaders on Putting Policy Into Practice
Officials discussed how their states have attempted a multifaceted approach to reading improvement.
Sarah Schwartz, February 22, 2024
4 min read
Ana Pasarella, the director of family and community engagement for Alvin ISD, pictured at the Alvin CTE Annex in Manvel, Texas, on Dec. 8, 2023.
Ana Pasarella, director of family and community engagement for the Alvin school district in Texas, talks to teachers and draws on her former experiences in the classroom to shape programs that help build and deepen connections between the district's schools and its students and families.
Callaghan O’Hare for Education Week
School & District Management Q&A How Teachers' Ideas Drive This Leader's Work on Districtwide Initiatives
Ana Pasarella, the director of family and community engagement for the Alvin ISD, shares her advice for running districtwide programs.
Ileana Najarro, February 5, 2024
4 min read
Sharon Bradley, director of student, family and community services for Plano ISD, stands for a portrait outside the Plano ISD Cox Building in Plano, Texas, on Dec. 14, 2023.
Sharon Bradley is the director of student, family, and community services for the Plano school district in Plano, Texas, where leads a major effort to identify the root causes of student absenteeism and find supports and solutions that get chronically absent students back on track.
Shelby Tauber for Education Week
School & District Management Q&A This Leader Takes a Compassionate Approach to Truancy. It's Transforming Students' Lives
Sharon Bradley on how the Plano Attendance Review Board works and what it means to adopt a less punitive approach to absenteeism.
Madeline Will, February 5, 2024
5 min read
Sharon Bradley, director of student, family and community services for Plano ISD, listens to members of the Character, Attendance, and Restorative Education (CARE) team discuss their current projects in Plano, Texas, on Dec. 14, 2023. The CARE department focuses on equipping students and adults with the tools, strategies, and resources that support a safe, engaging, and collaborative learning environment through character education, attendance recovery, and restorative practices.
Sharon Bradley, the director of student, family, and community services for the Plano, Texas, school district listens to staff members on a special team that focuses on helping students and their families address a range of challenges that may get in the way of regular attendance and engagement at school.
Shelby Tauber for Education Week
Families & the Community Leader To Learn From Absenteeism Was a Big Problem in This District. A New Strategy Is Getting Results
Sharon Bradley remembers how it felt to miss school for reasons outside her control.
Madeline Will, February 5, 2024
11 min read
Ana Pasarella, the director of family and community engagement for Alvin ISD, oversees an activity as Micaela Leon, 3, a student in Alvin ISD’s READy Program, draws on a piece of paper on Alvin ISD’s STEM bus in Manvel, Texas, on Dec. 8, 2023.
Ana Pasarella, the director of family and community engagement for the Alvin Independent school district in Texas, oversees an activity as Micaela Leon, 3, a student in the district's READy Program, draws on a piece of paper inside the district's STEM bus in Manvel, Texas.
Callaghan O’Hare for Education Week
Families & the Community Leader To Learn From A Former Teacher Turns Classroom Prowess Into Partnerships With Families
Ana Pasarella maximizes her community's assets to put students first.
Ileana Najarro, February 5, 2024
8 min read
Visitors walk past a makeshift memorial honoring those recently killed at Robb Elementary School, Tuesday, July 12, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. A Texas lawmaker says surveillance video from the school hallway where police waited as a gunman opened fire in a fourth-grade classroom will be shown this weekend to residents of Uvalde.
Visitors walk past a makeshift memorial on July 12, 2022, honoring those killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in a May 2022 school shooting. Nearly a year after the Uvalde shooting, lawmakers in Texas passed a bill requiring that every public school classroom have a panic alarm system.
Eric Gay/AP
School Climate & Safety Could Panic Buttons Save Lives in a School Shooting? More Schools Think So
There's legislative momentum to require panic alarm systems in schools. But many districts are installing the systems without a mandate.
Caitlynn Peetz, January 30, 2024
6 min read
Teacher using laptop at her desk while group of students are leaving the classroom in blurred motion.
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School & District Management Q&A Some Districts Are Actually Growing. How One Is Managing an Enrollment Boom
The challenges range from ensuring there are enough teachers to understanding the educational backgrounds of incoming students.
Caitlynn Peetz, January 25, 2024
6 min read
High School Tutor Giving Male Student One To One instruction At Desk
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Fitting Tutoring Into the School Day Is Hard. How 3 Principals Made It Work
Three principals persist with high-dosage tutoring, using creative strategies to fit it into busy school schedules.
Olina Banerji, January 24, 2024
6 min read
Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, left, tour murals of shooting victims on Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, left, tour murals of shooting victims on Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. Details of the U.S. Department of Justice Department's long-awaited investigation into the tragedy were released Jan. 18.
Eric Gay/AP
School Climate & Safety 'Cascade of Failures' in Response to Uvalde School Shooting, Investigation Finds
The long-awaited federal review emphasized law enforcement failures, but also noted lapses in the district's safety policies.
Evie Blad, January 18, 2024
6 min read