Texas Schools Set An Example

Happy Days in Texas Schools

Texas school districts are enjoying a revival, and how! In
recent years, the state's schools are finding increased success
meeting all the measures of a school's success- motivated well
performing students, and schools and teachers who set the bar
higher for themselves. More tellingly, these high achievement
levels of Texas schools cover students across all racial and
linguistic divides, a happy state of affairs in a system where
educational proficiency differences between ethnic groups are
still marked. It's not perfect, but look at the results so far.

Enhanced Student Performance at Texas Schools

According to 2005 education statistics, nine out of ten
children in Texas schools passed the Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills Test. This challenging test aims at
gauging proficiency levels before graduation. This increased
proficiency has long term benefits in other areas as well. Many
students in Texas schools are now opting for AP (Advanced
Placement) courses, and many of them are enjoying successful
results in these exams. In fact in 2004-05, nearly 99,429
students taking the AP tests were graded at 3 or higher on a
scale of 1 to 5. Compare this to the 28,331 students who placed
at the same grade in 1996.

Increasing Program Options at Texas Schools

Yet another measure of a school's functioning is the kind of
opportunities that it can offer its students, and it appears
Texas schools are doing just that. In many Texas schools,
foreign language studies are required to be undertaken for a
minimum of two years in order to be eligible for graduation.
Hiring qualified foreign language teachers has proven to be a
problem in the past, but the Texas schools have found a way of
circumventing this problem by making use of distance learning
techniques and video conferencing equipment. This approach
coupled with innovative teaching methodologies has proven to be
a great success. In fact, it's been so popular that the program
is now being expanded to include courses in other languages,
economics, and psychology.

Challenges of Distance Learning in Texas Schools

The success of this distance learning mechanism in some Texas
schools has prompted the expansion of this program to many other
schools in the state. The system, although successful, isn't
without its challenges. Often teachers provide distance
instruction in more than one school, and that creates problems
when it comes to adjusting dates. School days and breaks may
differ between districts, and this creates challenges for
teachers who have to resort to some really expert juggling to
reach all the Texas schools they serve. However, these are
relatively minor issues, and nothing that can't be aided by
using some good old fashioned determination. And new-fashioned
technology. By using cutting edge equipment to smooth out the
distance learning mechanism these districts are showing the way
to other schools around the country.

About The Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools
K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and
private K-12 schools. For more information please visit
http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Texas/index.html

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