More than 100 people crowded the main studio and two overflow areas to learn more about the new state end-of-course examinations at HISD’s live STAAR forum. Parents, students, educators and other members of the community engaged a panel of experts in a question and answer session covering a variety of issues related to STAAR.
Click through the photos below to see who came out to the event.
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The calls poured in as HISD hosted a live forum on the state’s new accountability test: STAAR. More than 100 people crowded the HISD-TV studio and two overflow areas to watch the forum, and viewers at home called in and emailed their questions throughout the show. More than 75 phone calls were received during the event.
Students in the live studio audience.
Host Denisse Cantu fielded questions from the live studio audience, callers, and email. A common theme emerged from the students who participated: “Why the change to STAAR?” (Answer: To measure students’ college readiness.)
“STAAR will prepare students for high school and beyond,” said Chief Middle Schools Officer Dallas Dance.
Other students and parents asked about preparations for STAAR. Some expressed concern about whether tutorials would be enough, and what the district was expecting performance-wise in the first year of a new accountability system.
“It’s our expectation that you will do very well,” said Mark Shenker, director of the High Schools Office. He emphasized the Grad Labs, tutorials, after-school resources, and weekend sessions that continue to be available to students in HISD.
Several viewers called in to ask about the district’s plans for delaying the 15 percent requirement for high schoolers’ end-of-course exams. Based on the Texas Education Agency’s move to defer the rule, HISD administration will recommend to the school board that the requirement be delayed a year.
A complete report of the questions and answers from this event will be posted here and on houstonisd.org in coming days. If you have a question about STAAR, please email STAAR@houstonisd.org.
An overflow crowd showed up to HISD-TV studios to participate in and watch HISD’s live forum on STAAR. You can join in the dialogue by viewing the show live here:
http://dept.houstonisd.org/live/
HISD students in the studio audience.
Houston Independent School District Board of Education trustees Larry Marshall and Paula Harris were on hand at the official dedicatory service of Frost Elementary School, built thanks to the $805 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2007.
“None of this could have occurred without the parents and community who voted for the bond program,” Trustee Marshall said as he commended the HISD facilities team for their hard work. “The support of this community has been integral for the success of this bond program to provide modern, healthy, technologically advanced campuses for the district’s students.”
The new school features science labs, a library, a computer lab and Smart Board technology in every classroom.
Click through the photos below to see scenes from the dedication ceremony and pictures of Frost Elementary School.
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Nearly 2,000 community and business leaders, educators, and elected officials are expected to attend HISD’s State of the School luncheon on March 1 at the Hilton Americas Hotel. Superintendent Terry Grier will address the many accomplishments and progress HISD has made made toward preparing students for college and future careers. Among the year’s highlights:
Although the luncheon is sold out, coverage of the event will be provided on the HISD News blog, HISD’s Twitter stream (@HoustonISD) and a live stream on abc13.com.
For more information, please click here to visit the Houston ISD website.
HISD has posted an online survey to gauge opinion on the possibility of adopting a new bus schedule that increases the average school’s class time by 19 minutes per day. Here is the link to the survey:
Implementing uniform schedules across the Houston Independent School District’s 279 campuses would free up $1.2 million while giving students extra time in the classroom, according to a budget-cutting option presented to the HISD Board of Education on Feb. 23.
HISD will be hosting a live STAAR forum (in English) for parents, students, and staff on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 7 to 8 p.m. A panel of experts will answer questions from a studio audience and viewers at home.
Westside High School student Khadijah Ray promotes the Feb. 28 STAAR forum.
Viewers can watch it live on HISD-TV (Comcast, Ch. 18 and AT&T U-Verse, Ch. 99) or online at www.houstonisd.org/HISDTV. To submit questions, simply call 713-556-8901 or email STAAR@houstonisd.org.
You can also follow the forum and ask your questions via Twitter – follow @HoustonISD.
A similar forum will be held on March 6 for Spanish-speakers.
The show will air again at 10 p.m. on Feb. 28, and throughout the months of February and March on the following days and times:
To find out more about STAAR, click here or visit the HISD STAAR Q&A blog.
Every year, HISD employees, students and their families dress up in western attire for Go Texan Day, the citywide celebration announcing the return of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This year saw a splash of color and definitive Houston style during the annual festivities.
Click the photo below to see what aspiring cowboys and cowgirls wore at the Hattie Mae White Building , then send your Go Texan Day photos to us at hisdphotos@yahoo.com . Or check out the western gear on our Facebook page.
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Seniors from Bellaire, Westside, and The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts make the cut
Seven HISD seniors have been selected as U.S. Presidential Scholar candidates, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.
Six of these candidates were identified for the academic component of the program based on having scored exceptionally well on the SAT or the ACT college entrance exams. These students are Alexandra Gibner, Weiting Ji, Daniel A. Yun, Amy W. Jiang, and Vincent P. Su from Bellaire High School, and Lenzi C. Daniel from Westside High School. Victor Lozano, a student at The High School for Performing and Visual Arts, is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts candidate.
Implementing uniform schedules across the Houston Independent School District’s 279 campuses would free up $1.2 million while giving the average student an extra 19 minutes in the classroom, according to a budget-cutting option presented to the HISD Board of Education today.
HISD is looking for more ways to reduce spending as the district seeks to address a projected $34 million deficit for the 2012-2013 school year. The loss in revenue is a result of last year’s decision by the Texas Legislature to reduce public education funding by $5.3 billion.
Streamlining HISD’s bell schedule was among many potential spending reduction options discussed during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. Under this plan, every HISD school would have an instructional day that is 7 ½ hours long. This represents a 19-minute increase for the average HISD school, or a total of seven full days of extra instruction time over the course of the year.
Currently, HISD schools have about 20 different start and end times. Under the option presented today, schools would operate on the following bell schedule:
