09.18.05
Posted in News at 6:35 pm by Paloma Cruz
Another Houston Chronicle story, found via blogHOUSTON:
Tomball family pleads with Klein over land
School district seeks to condemn one-time dairy farm for projects
A Tomball family fighting the Klein school district’s efforts to condemn 136 acres of land they have owned for over 60 years pleaded their case before the board of trustees Tuesday night.
Friends and strangers showed their support of the Lewis family, which owns the targeted property on the far northwest border of the Klein-Tomball school district, at the corner of Hufsmith-Kohrville Road and FM 2920, by loudly applauding the three speakers who voiced concerns over the condemnation lawsuit filed by Klein in August.
[snip]
Susan Gieseke, a Klein ISD resident who does not know the Lewis family, said many Klein residents and property owners felt threatened by the actions the district was taking.
Read the story for more info.
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Reminders: Houston Chronicle links expire after a few days because they’re archived. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the
Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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Posted in News at 6:30 pm by Paloma Cruz
Story from the Houston Chronicle, found via blogHOUSTON:
Bond defeat stings Spring
School district vows to regroup, build support for new plan
Spring ISD residents soundly voted down all three bond propositions — totalling $385 million — on the Sept. 10 ballot.
[snip]
Proposition 1, defeated 4,595 to 1,741, would have authorized close to $269 million for the construction of six elementary schools, two middle schools, a natatorium on the new Dekaney High School campus, renovations and an addition to a district facility on Kuykendahl Road, a new support services facility for several departments and land purchases for 10 future schools and one transportation facility.
Proposition 2, with 4,606 votes against and 1,748 in favor, would have funneled $91 million toward the construction of a new auditorium on the Spring High School campus, 52 new buses, replacement roofs, heating and air-conditioning systems, lighting, fire protection systems and entrances and exits at existing campuses.
Proposition 3 saw the largest failure with 5,062 votes against, and 1,289 votes in favor of $24 million for laptop computers for all high school students, personal computing devices for elementary and middle-school pilot programs, and computer carts and stations for those pilot programs.
Read the story for more info.
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Reminders: Houston Chronicle links expire after a few days because they’re archived. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the
Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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Posted in General at 6:12 pm by Paloma Cruz
TechSoup has a great post on Building Educational Web Sites with Moodle. Subtitled “Free tool lets teachers build sites, interact with students,” the post covers using Moodle, an Open Source course management system (CMS), to build an educational Web site.
With a CMS like Moodle, you don’t need any Web design skills, all you need is the ability to write and teach your ideas using images, text, or any media on the Internet — there’s no software to buy or install. Just go to any computer, open a Web browser, and make changes to your site. Moodle also works well for those with old computers, slow Internet connections, and older browsers. All you need is PHP — an HTML scripting language — installed on your system, and you’re ready to go.
The post covers step-by-step instructions on getting started.
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09.14.05
Posted in General at 10:49 pm by Paloma Cruz
Pagini has a tutorial on How to use Backpack for School.
I am currently attending night school (well, I start next week) and have optimized Backpack specifically for taking usable class notes for three classes that meet each week.
Backpack is a neat little webapp that, in their words:
Tens of thousands of people use Backpack to…
Organize to do lists, notes, images, and photos Plan a personal or business trip Keep track of what your competitors are doing Plan a home improvement project Collaborate on a new business idea Keep track of houses you’re considering buying Gather information for a research project Keep a list of gift ideas for friends Build a For Sale page, Organize and plan a wedding or event, and more…
I’ve tried it out and it has real potential to keep track of info, links, etc., if you have handy access to the Internet.
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09.05.05
Posted in News at 12:58 pm by Paloma Cruz
Transfer policy hinders schools
‘Talent drain’ makes it hard for some campuses to meet standards
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Thousands of Houston ISD high school students are transferring to campuses with better reputations, draining struggling neighborhood schools of their top students and making it tougher for them to meet state academic standards.
[snip]
The Houston Independent School District has for years prided itself on an open-enrollment policy that lets parents send their children to any school that has enough room. The practice lets students from some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods attend schools that serve Houston’s economic elite.
[snip]
Ten of HISD’s 23 traditional high schools lost at least a quarter of their students last school year. Half of those 10 schools are considered “academically unacceptable” by the state. Two of them, Wheatley and Kashmere, have fewer students than any other HISD neighborhood high school.
Reminder: Houston Chronicle links expire after a couple of days. Articles are archived after a few days. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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Posted in News at 6:53 am by Paloma Cruz
Students get down to business
Youth Enterprise Academy teaches skills to aspiring entrepreneurs
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
A new batch of 75 business-savvy high schoolers heads to the Youth Enterprise Academy next week with their own dreams of entrepreneurship.
[snip]
The Houston Independent School District, Houston Community College and University of Houston-Downtown are partners in the program, which is funded by a $25,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase.
Students are required to put together a business plan to compete for $2,000 in seed money. And this year, Harris hopes, the top winner will get extra help starting a business, including office space and a mentor.
[snip]
Reminder: Houston Chronicle links expire after a couple of days. Articles are archived after a few days. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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09.04.05
Posted in News at 8:49 pm by Paloma Cruz
SAT popularity up, but scores aren’t
More teens in Texas are taking exam, but results lagging behind the U.S. average
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
More Texans are taking the SAT than ever before, but the state’s average scores continue to lag far behind those of the nation, the College Board reported Tuesday.
The performance gap remained despite improved scores on the math portion of the widely used college-admissions exam among the state’s college-bound seniors this year. Verbal scores stayed at the same level where they have been for the past three years.
Across the state, the average math score rose three points to 502 on the SAT’s 200-to-800-point scale, while the average verbal score remained at 493. Students nationwide scored an average 520 in math, up two points from last year, and posted 508 in verbal skills for the second consecutive year.
Reminder: Houston Chronicle links expire after a couple of days. Articles are archived after a few days. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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Posted in News at 4:46 pm by Paloma Cruz
Many don’t use education tax breaks
– reported by the Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle
Confused by multiple deductions, credits and savings accounts that help pay for college, students and their families miss out on hundreds of dollars in tax benefits, a government report said Monday.
The Government Accountability Office, an independent arm of Congress that studies government programs and spending, analyzed the problem by examining about 1.8 million tax returns. About one in four taxpayers eligible for education tax breaks failed to claim one of the available credits or the tuition deduction, the analysis found.
On average, those taxpayers missed an opportunity to reduce their taxes by $169. About 10 percent of that group could have saved more than $500. The Treasury Department has urged lawmakers to simplify education tax breaks.
Reminder: Houston Chronicle links expire after a couple of days. Articles are archived after a few days. If you want to access these articles after that, you either have to be a subscriber or go to the Houston Public Library and access the database using your Library Power Card.
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Posted in News at 6:42 am by Paloma Cruz
SAT Math Scores Hit Record High
– reported by click2houston.com
The high school class of 2005 recorded what officials say are the highest-ever average scores on the math portion of the SAT college entrance exam, a modest jump from last year that comes amid conflicting data on the math skills of American students.
Seniors who finished high school last spring scored 520 out of a possible 800 on the math section, two points higher than the class of 2004. Average scores on the verbal section were unchanged at 508, according to results released Tuesday by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the SAT.
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Posted in News at 6:40 am by Paloma Cruz
Found on the Houston Public Library Web site:
Public: Parents with questions about temporarily enrolling children in Houston-area schools can call a hotline at 713-892-6699 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Houston Independent School District (HISD): “with approval from the Texas Education Agency, is accepting students from the areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina who have come to Houston seeking shelter… For assistance in identifying the closest school to your location, call 713-892-6699 weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.” (www.hisd.org, 713-892-6000)
- Spring Branch Independent School District: “School-age children in families displaced by Hurricane Katrina may be enrolled in Spring Branch ISD during their temporary relocation… For more information, call SBISD’s Office of Administration at 713-464-1511, ext. 2339, or contact Eloise Hambright-Brown, Director of External Funding and Compliance, at 713-464-1511, ext. 2514.” www.springbranchisd.com
Private: Displaced children who attended private schools in the Gulf Coast area can call 713-512-3685 for help finding a campus.
Parochial: Displaced Catholic school students should call the Catholic Schools Office at 713-741-8704.
University:
- Rice University - will offer Houston-area undergraduates enrolled at Tulane University the opportunity to take fall semester classes at Rice on a space-available basis. Call (713) 348-7423 for more information.
- Texas Southern University - will admit any student currently enrolled for the Fall 2005 semester and will hire displaced faculty, where needed, who are from any institution affected by the hurricane. Call (713) 313-1059 for more information.
- University of Houston - is accepting applications from enrolled students whose universities are unable to open due to this disaster. UH is waiving the application fee and students will more than likely be charged in-state tuition. Limited housing accommodations are available. Call (713) 743-2255 for more information.
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