The 2011-2012 school session will bring a major change to the students in Texas. The TAKS test will begin to be phased out and replaced with STAAR, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness tests. High school students will take twelve end of course exams beginning with the freshmen class entering in 2011.  Students will take twelve end-of-course exams in core subject areas including, English, math, science and social studies. Students in the graduating class of 2015, who are currently in seventh grade, will be the first students who must meet the end-of-course testing requirements, as well as pass their classes, in order to earn a diploma. New tests are being developed for students in grades 3-8.

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Published in Print: November 10, 2010, as Early-Grade Math Programs Go Head-to-Head in Study

Two years into the nation’s largest experimental evaluation of commercial mathematics programs for early elementary school, the Institute of Education Sciences has found some curricula have an advantage over others, but so far there has been no decisive win in the ongoing battle over the best way to teach math.

Last week, the IES, the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, released its second of three reports studying the practices and effectiveness—including differences in teacher training, instructional approaches, materials, and content covered—of four of the most popular commercial curricula for teaching math in the early grades.

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