<p>[Texas</a> high school grads less prepared for college than others in U.S., panel says | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Texas Southwest](<a href=“http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-college_06tex.ART.State.Edition1.41c303c.html]Texas”>http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-college_06tex.ART.State.Edition1.41c303c.html)
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<p>NEM, </p>
<p>It is impossible to say whether this is good news or bad without knowing a lot more about texas in general and the test population specifically.</p>
<p>For example, IF (and I do not know the answer) Texas HS grads who enroll in college (and that seems to be the group discussed, not ALL Texas grads) have a higher percentage in the lower SES categories, I would applaud this, as they would then be providing access to higher ed for a group that does not get as much access elsewhere.</p>
<p>The ACT results COULD be explained by self selection of the population taking the test. For example, IF students took the ACT primarily because they did poorly on the SAT, you would have a selecion bias toward poor performers.</p>
<p>At any rate, the article smacks of political grandstanding (" Commission members – including business, civic and education leaders from across the state…") as much as a critical analysis of the state of education in Texas.</p>
<p>Texas is a huge, very diverse state with huge social challenges. Let us not be too quick to criticize?</p>
<p>Isn’t Texas an ACT state? I did not know what to make of the article, but it seemed pretty sad to me. Anyway, I thought I’d post, since I thought somebody might be interested.</p>
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<p>Isn’t it funny on how the recent thread titled something like “Dumb as Dirt” received SO many posts about how great the kids they knew were - and so few posts about the truly sorry state of K-12 education in this country? It’s all about income distribution.</p>
<p>Weenie:</p>
<p>I know about the sorry state of education in many parts of the country, including my own state. I took exception to the claim that affluent Americans (not just New Yorkers or Californians) send their kids to private schools to escape from horrible public school systems. NMD and I know that it isn’t true as we both sent our kids to public schools where they got a good education.</p>
<p>I sent my kids to private schools to escape the horrible Texas public schools. The ones that offered an acceptable education had incredible social issues and pressures. My kids finally left Texas completely for education.
There ARE pockets of good public education in the state, but they are hard to find and might not be where your job is.</p>
<p>Yes, I know Marite. I think we already had that conversation? :)</p>
<p>My point is always the same – affluent families tend to get their kids into very good or excellent schools one way or another. Everybody else (the majority) is stuck with the schools they happen to be able to afford housing near. But I know it’s not all about money – it’s also about communities who highly value education. But it’s a cycle, for those are the people who have benefited off their education too.</p>
<p>D went to TX public school - is at Amherst with wonderful grades and needed no remediation. However, the school where I now teach (first year here, since I moved) is considered a “super” district, yet we basically have to worry so much about the kids’ success that we are not to fail anyone. That was NOT true at my previous school (where D graduated). We are not to post test grades until all teachers of the same level meet and we level our test scores - so a teacher who has more kids who won’t study will have to give them more of a curve, etc., in order for her results to match the kids who actually study, etc. It’s enough to turn my stomach. So the blanket assessment is again a statistic that does not correlate to all districts or schools. My former district prepared kids better. This one rewards mediocrity, and parents push the kids into dropping courses where they won 't get an A in order to get into the college they want. And the administration gives in to them. Needless to say, I am NOT this kind of teacher, and demand excellence (even in public school) and the apps for other districts are already out there.</p>
<p>Correction- My daughter returned to Texas for college (Rice).</p>
<p>Yes, we’ve had that conversation. So I wonder why it’s necessary to refer to that thread which was started with a quote that was inaccurate? Unless one thinks of the Scarsdale, NY, Lexington, Newton, Brookline, MA public schools as private? Students in these districts do benefit from having well-educated parents, some of whom are even affluent?</p>
<p>We lived in Texas for 6 years and I was not impressed with public or private schools. In our city, most people chose the private schools strictly for social reasons. Senior year, many would transfer to the public school in order to be ranked in the top 10% of their class, if needed. This was necessary to get in at UT. No one seemed to look at the big picture or care what goes on in other states.</p>
<p>we have statewide testing in MA. The best predictor for success (by district) is median family income.</p>
<p>Except for the first 3 years my twins have always attended public schools in TX. Those first 3 years were in CA and was a near disaster. My DH and I decided long ago that our ds were going to get a good education no matter what and it wasn’t the public schools’ responsibility. The first school in TX they attended was very small (only went to the 6th grade) and full of students from poor families. The school for Jr. H. and H.S. was larger but not a great school. One d is 2nd in her class and will be going to the AFA the other is 29th and is going to a small private school majoring in Political Science. Generally speaking the children that I have seen that do well are the ones where the parents are significantly involved regardless of the school they attend.</p>
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<p>True. And recall that private schools do not have to administer the tests.
The problem is not necessarily education but poverty; and in the case of some state, the influx of poor immigrants with limited or no English.</p>
<p>I think the 10% thing does more damage than it does good-</p>
<p>grade inflation anyone?</p>
<p>To answer an earlier question - Texas is much more of an SAT state. I don’t think a study based on ACT results is the most accurate view of Texas education.</p>
<p>Also remember that Texas is one of 4 majority/minority states along with CA, NM, and HI. CA has a large percentage of Asians in the mix along with HI. I know from the TAKS testing numbers in Texas that almost all of the problem areas are in minority test scores, both black and hispanic. The 10% rule means that predominately minority districts send potentially under prepared students to colleges in greater numbers than might otherwise be expected. A lot of the problems are do to the transient nature of some of the minority students. They move often and have little continuity, along with language barriers. I’d like to see the demographics to see if it bears out the TAKS data.</p>
<p>bandit, It seems to be non-minorities that are scoring poorly too. </p>
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<p>Many of the top Texas students pass on the ACT because the schools they care about are SAT schools. That might have an impact. The ACT is generally used at junior colleges and regional schools here.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that the vast majority of colleges today look at the ACT and SAT equally for admission.</p>