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Oak Ridge Cheer – State Champions

January 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of Jim Eastin

The Oak Ridge High School cheer squad traveled to San Marcos’s Texas State University to compete in the UCA Southwest Texas State Championships this past weekend and came back to the Ridge in possession of the 1st place banner!!! You read that correctly – Oak Ridge Cheer=STATE CHAMPIONS!

With an intense two and a half minute routine that included standing/running tumbling, jumps, dance, basket tosses, pyramids and a cheer section with signs, poms (pompoms back in the day) and megaphones, the girls were very clean and didn’t drop any stunts.

What is even more amazing is the Tuesday before the championships, Coach Sarah Parker had to pull a “flyer” in Reagan Gibbs. Losing the talented Gibbs was a huge loss. The squad does have alternates but not included among the alternates is a flyer. Coach Parker had to bring up freshman Nicole Traylor, teach her the routine on Thursday morning, and then go through the routine on Thursday afternoon so Nicole could be ready to perform in front of the whole student body at the Friday pep rally. Well, Nicole did great, didn’t skip a beat, and made zero mistakes. For a cheer athlete, it takes months to mentally and physically prepare yourself for competitions like this championship and the frosh did not let her team down.

Captains are Kayla VonArb, Kaelin Dryer, Taylor Eastin, and Hannah Diller.  These four athletes as well as all of the seniors have been excellent examples in leading the squad on the floor.

Head Coach Sarah Parker is assisted by freshman coach,Courtney Currie and JV coach Sarah Mayfield. Ms. Parker, who is sometimes just a little outspoken, will take it from here in this Oak Ridge Now Q&A:

How did the team qualify for the Championships in New Braunfels? 

Two competitions lead up to the UCA Southwest Texas State Championships….the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship-Regionals and State. We took both this year. 

What stood out for your squad the most that you think separated yourselves from everyone else?

We were very clean and one of the few teams to not drop any stunts. The routine we used we have been working on since August and the hard work paid off. We wowed the crowd with our skills. Many teams dropped (fell) during their stunt sequence or ending pyramid. Mostly, we were able to stand out because of our skill level and flawless routine. This was some of the best teamwork I’ve ever seen and the video.

Take a look at the video: Oak Ridge Cheer State Championship performance

What type of floor was used for the competition?

Dead floor. It’s against safety rules for a high school team to compete on a “spring” floor.   

Oak Ridge was not picked to win this competition by the so called cheer guru’s. After Oak Ridge received the hardware, what was the reaction around the arena?

Many UCA staff members came up to me afterwards, remembering us from camp and previous years and they could not believe how good we were. There were two teams that were shooting for us and expected to beat us, but we took them by surprise. Of course, It wasn’t a surprise to us.

How did your sub-varsity squad’s do?

Our JV and Freshmen placed fourth and for it being their first time competing at State, that is very respectable. 

Was there a mascot competition? If so, how did your mascot do?

Kareem Thompson, our mascot pulled third out of twelve. That was the first mascot competition for him as well as for Oak Ridge High School. Kareem did an amazing job and he even surprised us with his routine.

What is next for these athletes?

Our next stop is Nationals.  We are a realistic team, so our number one goal is to make it to finals. There could be over 40 teams in our division and to make it to finals would be our ultimate dream. So far, we are undefeated.  Nationals will have us head to head with multiple national champion schools and we are praying we just do our best. 

Any further comments, Coach Parker?

As a team, the girls decided to come up to the school on Saturdays to put in more hours to make sure they were all ready for State.  After a solid performance in front of the school Friday, the girls feel that they earned some well deserved respect. After we won State on Sunday, I was elated with the amount of support from the student body who believed in us. We’ve had some really great teams here but what set this team apart from the others is that we were like a family and everyone got along great. These girls were willing to go the extra mile to get where they wanted to be. We are finally getting our name out there and schools from other states are starting to contact us for help and information. As for me personally, I’m not out there on the floor and will take no credit but I do feel as if everything I’ve fought and worked for is finally paying off. I’m extremely proud to work for Oak Ridge and Mr. Johnson and I appreciate him entrusting me with this important position.  Our next stop is Nationals. 

Coach Parker said the team will proudly display the championship banner in the gym.

SW Texas UCA Regionals: 1st Place… Check

Cheer Power Christmas: 1st Place… Check

SW Texas UCA State: 1st Place… Check

UCA Nationals: Feb 7-11:  ?????????????????

Go get’em girls (and you too, Kareem)!

Comments to Doug Sarant at Doug@oakridgenow.com

Photos below courtesy of Jim Eastin.

 

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Editorial Cartoon of the Day: December 21, 2012

December 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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State Records Shed Light on Texas’ Early “Illegals”

December 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of Spencer Selvidge, The Texas Tribune / Flickr

The undocumented immigrants had crossed the river in defiance of the law, then escaped capture by sneaking past armed patrols in the dark. They did not have the required paperwork and were ordered to leave, but the authorities suspected the immigrants would probably defy them.

It is a scenario that happens every day on the Texas-Mexico border. But in this particular incident, the immigrants were white, English-speaking Americans who were looking for a better life in Texas. And the authorities who were trying to keep them out were Mexican.

This is one those historical ironies that offers some modern lessons:

The year was 1830, a few months after Mexico had passed a law banning almost all immigration from the United States and provided for military garrisons along its border to enforce it.

Col. Jose de las Piedras, writing a letter (in Spanish) to Stephen F. Austin, the “father of Texas,” reported that he had encountered the immigrants east of the Trinity River heading west in what was then Mexico toward Austin’s colony, not far from modern-day Houston. He checked them for passports, but they had none, so he ordered them to leave Mexico pursuant to the new immigration law. They talked the colonel into letting them tend to some business in the colony, though, by promising to return and then exit the country within 20 days.

“But in contempt of the laws of the country and of its authorities and a total disregard to my orders which they promised to obey, availing themselves of the obscurity of the night and unfrequented roads, they took off [with] their families and are now on their way to your town, as I am informed by Col. Bean, who met them on that side of the Trinity” River, Piedras wrote in the letter, which now resides at the Texas General Land Office.

“As they have come into this country contrary to law and have disrespected the authorities,” he continued, “I think they ought not to be admitted.”

It is hard to know for sure what happened to these immigrants, though some of their names match those of families who got land in an independent Texas. What is known is that thousands of immigrants defied Mexican laws in coming to what is now Texas before the Anglo settlers declared independence from Mexico and formed their own nation, which later became the 28th state.

Today there are long stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border with fences and high-tech surveillance, not to mention thousands of Border Patrol agents. In the 1830′s Mexico didn’t have the resources to keep out the hordes of Americans pouring into Texas.

“The Mexican government was very lax. It allowed to let things get out of hand,” said Jesus F. de la Teja, director of the Center for the Study of the Southwest at Texas State University. “Since the colonists had gotten a pretty good chunk of the loaf, they wanted the whole thing.”

Their stories can be found among thousands of yellowing documents at the Land Office, where Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson — a Republican who has already announced his intention to run for lieutenant governor in 2014 — gains inspiration for his moderate views on immigration reform.

Long before President Obama’s re-election, after which prominent Republicans said their party needed to show Hispanics a gentler position on immigration reform, Patterson used Texas history to promote a softer and more nuanced view of what to do with people who have come here without work papers.

At Republican clubs around the state, he tells them that the first immigrants were white Americans — and that many of them were here illegally.

“We have a long tradition of immigration and illegal immigration, and the first illegals were folks who look a lot more like me than they did some native Tejano,” Patterson said. The commissioner, who favors an international guest-worker program, said all the issues that divide many Texans and Mexicans today — such as amnesty, cultural and linguistic assimilation, and deportation — divided them back then. But their roles are now reversed.

“The simplistic bumper sticker immigration policy is not in the best interest of the United States and we have a history that proves up that absolutes don’t necessarily work,” Patterson said.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/immigration-in-texas/immigration/back-when-americans-were-illegals/. Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

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Are Concerns About Youth Football Injuries Overrated?

December 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of Jim Danvers / Flickr

Now that youth football is over for the year, I wanted to throw a piece out there about how great youth football is for all youth everywhere. We all watch football at all levels to include pro, college and high school. However, far and away the most exciting game to watch is youth tackle football.

Seeing how this is Texas, in just about every town  youngsters have the opportunity to play tackle football if they desire.

If you have a problem with your kid’s interest in tackle football, I encourage you to go watch a game at the South County Football League’s fields located at the Gullo Park located off Budde/Pruitt road.

If you have young children and are skeptical about putting them in tackle football, watch some games of all age kids.

They start when they are 5 years old and the league goes until they are 13. After that, if they still want to play, they compete at the junior high level.

Is it a physical game? Yes! Is it expensive? Not really. Football registration is actually cheaper than baseball.

After you buy the football equipment, it’s all downhill.

The equipment lasts longer than a year and the kids usually don’t grow out of it in just a  year. Plus, you can always buy used stuff.

I guess the main worry for parents would be injuries.

I’ll try to clear this up using what I have witnessed as a football parent when my son played at the youth level.

It will be completely unbiased because I’m a baseball/lacrosse guy. I will side with baseball and lacrosse whenever the opportunity arises. This column is about football so I won’t go into the many reasons why baseball and lacrosse are the greatest sports on the planet.

Having said that, I see more kids suffer injuries playing youth baseball than football.

Case in point: While coaching a Little League game eight years ago, no less than four players on the other team went down and had to either leave the game or take extra time before continuing to play.

Luckily, one of the parents was an EMT that proceeded to carry his medical bag on the field after each occurrence.

During my son’s sophomore (7-8 years old) SCFL season, I only saw one player leave a game due to injury and that wasn’t from contact.

There you have it. I took football over baseball in the injury department.

I’m not trying to create a facade here. During games, some kids get hit so hard they stay on the ground and assume something must be wrong, only to find out absolutely nothing is wrong.

Thus, they get up and the next time they get planted, they get up again.

How good is that for a kid? I think it’s great. To learn toughness at an early age just makes parenting that much easier in the long run.

Picture this; the 7-year-old playing in the Sophomore Division gets lit up like a Christmas tree. He proceeds to cry. He gets hit like that again and cries less. Eventually, he realizes that hitting is part of the game and doesn’t cry after getting hit hard.

This is the kind of kid that isn’t yelling for the paramedics after he gets a scratch when he’s 13.

Kids who experience tackle football at an early age become less high-maintenance when they get older. I don’t think any kid is low-maintenance, so less high-maintenance will have to do.

A parent might say, “My boy is too small to play football.” Wrong!

Size doesn’t matter in most things, and definitely not in youth football.

Again, from my personal experience, the smaller kids get hurt less than the bigger kids. Some of whom have to get over a bad case of hypochondria.

That may seem biased because my kid was always the smallest player and every play he got demolished. But, he’d get up and go right back in there and try to contribute.

Believe me, I’m not bragging. Watching this kid play tackle football was a lot like watching MTV’s Jackass go through his masochism routine.

I could mention several other positives about the local tackle football league. But, I wanted to write a quick piece regarding the perceived injury question/problem.

Check out what York junior high school parent, Ben Hall had to say regarding concussion issues. “All of this concussion talk at the pro level has contributed to the paranoia. As long as these kids are getting coached up well, there won’t be a problem. The coaches are knowledgeable in SCFL and teach their players to tackle correctly with your head up and to always keep your head on a swivel so as to be completely alert.”

I think youth tackle football gets a bad rap and  I suggest anyone interested go out and watch some games.

Base your opinion on eyewitness observations, not on opinions of people who can’t back up a claim with facts.

Besides, if your child plays one year and really doesn’t like it, you can sell his gear and he doesn’t have to play the next year. No harm done at all.

However, that one year will probably do the kid a world of good.

Comments to Doug Sarant at doug@oakridgenow.com

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Death Row Population at Its Lowest Since 1989

December 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The population on Texas’ death row is at its lowest in more than 20 years, and the number of new death sentences, though slightly up in 2012, continues a downward trend even in the nation’s busiest death penalty state, according to a report released Wednesday by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

As they have nationally, death sentences in Texas have declined over the last decade. The state has seen a 75 percent drop in death sentences since 2002. And according to the coalition, the Texas death row population, at 289, is at its lowest point since 1989. According to the coalition’s report, juries in the state issued nine new death sentences in 2012, a slight increase from the number issued in each of the two previous years.

But the distribution of new death sentences is uneven, the coalition reported. For the third time in five years, there were no new death sentences out of Harris County, which once sent more people to death row than any other Texas county. Meanwhile, the Dallas-Fort Worth area accounted for four of the new death sentences in 2012, and Dallas County alone contributed nearly 20 percent of death sentences in the last five years, according to the report. Dallas County also led the state in executions: Five of the 15 Texans executed in 2012 were from there.

“While most of Texas is moving away from the death penalty, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex was a major outlier both in new death sentences and executions this year,” said Kristin Houlé, executive director of the coalition.

A spokeswoman in the Dallas County district attorney‘s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although Texas is using the death penalty less, Kathryn Kase, executive director of the Texas Defender Service, said it is still used disproportionately on people of color. “This is a recurring problem, and Texas’ failure to fix it demonstrates how broken its capital punishment system is,” Kase said.

Seven of the nine new death row inmates are black, and according to the coalition, nearly 75 percent of death sentences imposed in the last five years were on people of color. Of the 15 men executed in 2012, seven were black and four were Hispanic.

The coalition said the executions also raise questions about punishment of those who are mentally ill. This year, while the executions of Steven Staley and Marcus Druery both were stopped because of questions over their mental competency, the execution of Jonathan Green proceeded despite reports that he was schizophrenic.

Texas executions accounted for more than a third of the total performed in the U.S. in 2012, nearly three times more than any other state. Six inmates who were scheduled for death received reprieves, and three execution dates were withdrawn.

Houlé urged Texans and lawmakers to reconsider the efficacy and cost of the death penalty as a means to achieve justice.

But few expect a halt to the death penalty in Texas. A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll this spring found significant support for the death penalty among Texas voters. More than 70 percent said they were either somewhat or strongly in support and only 21 percent opposed the punishment. And more than half of the respondents said they believed the death penalty in Texas is fairly applied.

“They’re pretty strong proponents of the death penalty,” Daron Shaw, a UT-Austin government professor and co-director of the poll, said when the results were published

State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, has already filed a bill that would abolish the death penalty in Texas, but such proposals have failed in recent legislative sessions.

And during his failed presidential bid last year, Gov. Rick Perry emphasized his support of the “ultimate justice,” saying during a debate that he had lost no sleep over the more than 200 executions that have occurred during his tenure.

“The state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place,” Perry told the crowd at the debate. “When someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens, they get a fair hearing, they go through an appellate process, they go up to the Supreme Court of the United States if that’s required.”

Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/death-row-population-its-lowest-1989/.

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Business Leaders Favor Tweaks to Student Testing System

December 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

Texas business leaders said Wednesday that they would now support modifications they had previously opposed to graduation and testing requirements in the accountability system implemented this spring. They also put forth a plan that provides multiple pathways to graduation, including one that focuses on business and industry.

Calling their plans a constructive response to widespread criticism of the state’s new student assessments, leaders from the Texas Association of Business, the Texas Institute for Education Reform and the Texas Business Leadership Council recommended letting local school districts determine how end-of-course exams factored into students’ final grades, reducing the number of exams they must pass to graduate and providing different ways to earn a high school diploma.

Despite its high-profile backers, the proposal does not have the full support of the business community. Missing from Wednesday’s conference was the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Senior Vice President Drew Scheberle said the new proposal reduces the already low expectations students must meet to get high school diplomas — something he said would threaten their ability to compete for top-quality jobs.

“It’s trying to solve the wrong problem,” he said. “The problem I’m hearing from parents is too many tests, poor communication, not enough flexibility in courses. You can solve those problems and not sacrifice preparing kids for college and career.”

The leaders present Wednesday acknowledged the announcement represented a change from the position they took at a news conference six months ago, when they emphasized their opposition to any changes to the system that was established by House Bill 3 in 2009. Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond said then that they would “vigorously oppose additional money for the public school system” until they were certain that the current accountability system would be maintained. During the last legislative session, an attempt by outgoing House Public Education chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, to make some of the changes now supported by the three groups failed in the Senate with the opposition of the business community.

But on Wednesday they laid out a plan that Texas Institute for Education Reform Chairman Jim Windham said was the result of a six-month-long “listening tour” across the state where they heard the concerns of educators, business leaders and elected officials.

“HB 3 quite honestly overdid it a little bit,” Hammond said. He added that the new proposal maintained the high standards in the legislation that would ensuring the state’s students would be prepared for the workforce.

The announcement comes after high-level support for doing away with a rule that required new end-of-course exams count for 15 percent of high school students’ final grades. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Michael Williams and Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Patrick all came out in favor of either delaying its implementation or eliminating it entirely. Patrick has filed legislation that would permanently leave the decision up to local school boards.

The rollout of the new assessment system this spring produced widespread confusion among school districts and concern from parents and lawmakers about the logistics of its implementation. In response to the backlash, more than 400 school boards have passed a resolution against high-stakes testing, saying that it is “strangling our public schools.”

This week, during testimony in the school finance trial against the state, a TEA official said that the agency is recommending lowering the performance threshold on the state standardized tests that students must reach to be considered college-ready. To be finalized, the state’s commissioner of higher education must also agree on the change.

Only 3 percent of ninth grade students who took the English I end-of-course exams — and 17 percent who took the Algebra I exams — for the first time this spring met the current “advanced” standard to be college-ready. Under the new rule, students who meet the “passing” standards will be considered prepared for college by the state’s definition, which determines whether they must take a placement exam evaluating whether they need remediation before entering college.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/business-leader-changes-testing-standards/. Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

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George W. Bush: “Benevolent Spirit” Can Guide Debate

December 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

U.S. Navy photo by Senior Chief Photographer's Mate 2nd Thomas Coffelt

DALLAS — During his opening remarks Tuesday at a daylong conference on immigration and the economy, former President George W. Bush urged the nation’s leaders to debate immigration reform with compassion and kindness.

In a brief appearance at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Bush did not advocate for a specific solution. But his statements indicated he supports policies similar to those he championed during his presidency, when immigration reform was last debated in Congress.

“America can become a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time,” Bush said at the event, which was organized by the George W. Bush Institute and the Federal Reserve Bank. “As our nation debates the proper course of action on immigration reform, I hope we do so with a benevolent spirit and keep in mind the contributions of immigrants.”

Those contributions include “new skills and new ideas,” he said, adding that immigrants “fill a critical gap in our labor market.

“Not only do immigrants help build the economy, they invigorate our soul,” he said at the gathering of students, scholars and economists.

Bush did not take questions following his remarks. But his introduction appeared to set the tone for the panelists, whose focus was more on reform and its potential boon to the economy and less on law enforcement and border security.

Analysts said after last month’s general election that Republicans, including those who espoused hard-line views on illegal immigration, should recognize the growing voting power of the country’s minority population, including Hispanics who champion immigration reform, and find a solution.

Clint Bolick, a lawyer and the director of the Goldwater Institute‘s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, warned of what he said were poorly thought-out schemes by state legislatures to fix immigration within their own borders. If the trend persisted, he added, the problem would be too few immigrants to perform low-wage labor as opposed to too many.

“Alabama tried a nifty way” to address immigration with a disastrous result to the state’s GDP, he said, referring to the state’s recently passed bill that allows law officers to check immigration status. Portions of the bill are currently unenforceable and tied up in federal courts but the state’s agriculture economy suffered resounding labor losses after the bill was signed.

As far as immigrant youths, the focus of President Obama’s deferred action policies that grants legal status and a reprieve from deportation to certain younger undocumented immigrants, Bolick said the country needed to move more quickly than the DREAM Act. That legislation would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented youths who meet certain guidelines. Bolick said the immigrants, who he said are American for all intents and purposes, should be given citizenship sooner than what the proposed legislation would allow.

Last week, outgoing U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, introduced the Achieve Act, which would create a new visa for undocumented youths who attend college or serve in the military to receive legal status and a work permit. It does not, however, allow for a pathway to citizenship.

At its conference last weekend United We Dream, an immigrants’ rights group whose affiliates include the University Leadership Initiative based at the University of Texas at Austin, reiterated its demand for Congress to pass the DREAM Act. The group also decided to push for reform beyond the DREAM Act.

“The DREAMers are leaders within their communities and their families.  They know firsthand the sacrifices their parents made to provide opportunities for their children,” Lynn Tramonte, the deputy director for the progressive America’s Voice Educational Fund, said in a prepared statement. “They are incredible spokespeople for their families, and will once again transform the immigration debate.”

According to a fact sheet released by the Bush Institute, immigrants accounted for more than half of the country’s labor-force growth from 2003 to 2012. Of the 8.4 million new workers, 4.4 million were immigrants. The center also said that in 2011, 11 percent of the country’s immigrants earned a graduate or professional degree, 1 percentage point higher than the country’s native-born residents.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/immigration-in-texas/immigration/george-w-bushbenevolent-spirit-can-guide-debate/. Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

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Texas Posts Top High School Graduation Rates, But Why?

November 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto

With witnesses in a school finance trial testifying daily on the challenges facing public education in the state, and with a chorus of state leaders citing the failings of traditional public schools in calling for reform, some may be surprised to hear that by one measure, Texas schools appear to be doing quite well.

Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Education this week shows that Texas — along with five other states — ranks fourth in the nation for its four-year high school graduation rates. With an overall rate of 86 percent in the 2010-11 school year, the state follows Iowa, with 88 percent, and Wisconsin and Vermont, both at 87 percent.

Though the statewide average has climbed steadily in the past five years, that has not always been the case. The last time the Texas Supreme Court ruled on the state’s school finance system, in 2005, it warned of a “severe dropout problem,” calling the lagging graduation rates of blacks and Hispanics “especially troublesome.”’

In 2006, research from Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin and Rice University showed that the state was inflating its graduation numbers by allowing districts to avoid counting students who left school for a variety of reasons, including to take the GED. The state began using the federal definition from the National Center for Education Statistics to measure dropout rates that year, a formula that all states must use now.

Michael Williams, the Texas education commissioner, attributed the achievement to the state’s strong accountability system.

“This state-by-state comparison confirms what Texas educators have been saying for a long time,” Williams said in a statement. “Our public schools are delivering a high quality education and our students are having great success.”

Despite the struggles in its past, the state’s recent success shouldn’t be greeted with disbelief, said Lili Allen, a policy director at Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based nonprofit that funds research on college and career readiness for low-income students.

Allen pointed to a 2012 report released by a coalition of national education research organizations that showed Texas had made a dramatic reduction in the number of “dropout factory” schools — defined as graduating less than 60 percent of their students in four years between 2002 and 2010. The state eliminated the number of those schools by more than half, making a larger decrease than any other state.

“Texas has really invested pretty heavily in really reinventing the high school experience for students,” she said. “It’s been under the radar as an engine of high school reform that has been pretty impressive from our perspective.”

Allen also credited the state’s early college high school initiative, which allows students to take a higher number of dual-credit courses earlier than their peers at traditional high schools, as an example of innovation.

But some critics say the federal definition, while an improvement, still allows states and districts to mask true graduation numbers. School officials report student withdrawals with more than a dozen different “leaver codes,” only some of which count toward graduation rates. If a school codes a student as returning to a home country, or entering home school, for instance, that student does not factor into the school’s four-year graduation rate.

The leaver code system can make gathering accurate numbers for graduation rates a challenge — especially because a low graduation rate holds ramifications for everyone involved in tracking student achievement, from principals and school leaders to state lawmakers. In the past, the TEA has audited districts for misuse of the codes, which have also drawn criticism from advocacy groups in the past.

The codes provide too many opportunities for school districts to artificially boost graduation numbers, said Bill Hammond, the president of the Texas Association of Business, which advocates on education policy in the state.

“The fact that we are trying to say that we are doing really well and everything is hunky-dory in Texas with regard to dropouts is unfair to the future students in our workforce,” he said. “And I think it’s doing a disservice to tout these inflated numbers as if everything is okay.”

The rate reported by the state tends to show better performance than other national formulas used to track graduation. In 2009, the latest year graduation statistics are available in the federal data used by the Cumulative Promotion Index, a different method of calculating graduation rates, put the state at 72 percent, compared with the TEA’s 80 percent that year. But the state’s rate has improved over the years on that index as well — the percentage of students graduating on time has increased more rapidly than average, up by 11 percentage points since 1999 compared with 7 percentage points nationally — though it still lags behind the national average by about 2 percentage points.

Texas’ improving graduation rates reflect a trend across the country, which anecdotal evidence suggests is partly due to efforts to keep students in school on the state and district level. But it is also difficult to measure the effect of external factors like the poor economy — which tends to keep students in school because they feel the pull of the job market less — and shifting state accountability requirements.

The latest report released by the U.S. Department of Education marks the first time all states — except for three, which were granted deadline extensions — used the same definition to report graduation rates. In the next few months, researchers will be conducting analysis to determine what factors led to the success of some states over others, said Colleen Wilber, a spokeswoman for America’s Promise Alliance.

But for now, Wilber said the current data stood as the best yet reflection of how states shake out in terms of their graduation rates.

“It’s as close to apples-to-apples comparison as we’ve had,” she said.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/texas-high-school-graduation-rates-climb-why/. Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

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Eleven Questions With… Makenna Spencer, ORHS Whirlwind

November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of Chuck Briese

There are a whole bunch of interesting and dynamic people in our community, and we at Oak Ridge Now like to bring them to you. Today we have eleven questions for Makenna Spencer, Oak Ridge High School senior class President, Homecoming Queen, Colonel of the Liberty Belles, National Dance Solo Champion, and most recently, participant in the Miss Teen Texas USA pageant as Miss Teen Spring. How she has the time to make the grades necessary to make it into Texas A&M, I do not know.

Seriously, though, here’s a young lady with her head on straight. She’s grounded, knows what’s important in her life, and has a plan. Meet Makenna Spencer:

How long have you been in the Oak Ridge area?  What is it about our area or your neighborhood that you like?

Since the 6th grade.  The thing I like most about my neighborhood is all the nature and trees that surround us. I live in Benders Landing so the lots are large and there’s a lot of room to have fun outside. 

You are a senior now at Oak Ridge High School. Do you feel prepared for college? Where will you be going?

Yes, I feel really prepared for college. I have been working extremely hard in school taking advanced classes, being involved in many clubs and organizations. I recently got accepted into Texas A&M University and am truly excited and honored to be going there next year.

What individuals at ORHS have had the biggest impact on your life? How so?

Mrs. Barber has had a big impact on my life in high school. She has helped me develop not only great dancing abilities, but also wonderful leadership skills. I am currently honored  to be the Colonel of the dance team.

Mrs. Costas has also had a great impact on my life. She was my counselor my freshman year of high school and has such a loving, caring and generous heart for all the students she comes into contact with. She is a great influence to me because she encourages me to always give a 110%, and her love for others is contagious! I’m sure Oak Ridge is so grateful to have her.

You have achieved the rank of Colonel in the Oak Ridge Liberty Belles. Why did you originally join the Liberty Belles?

I have always loved to dance. It’s my passion and something I look forward to doing. Being selected as Colonel I now have the opportunity to be a positive impact on those girls. My desire is to influence and encourage them in a way that they feel loved and wanted on that team. God has blessed me in so many ways, Colonel being one of them, that I long to be a blessing and a godly role model to those girls.

How much time goes into being part of the Liberty Belles? What is the most difficult part?

Being a Liberty Belle is a lot of work. We practice about 14 hours a week and the officers usually have additional practices. The most difficult part is unity. My hope is for this team to be close with each other, stick up for one another, encourage and act as if we were sisters.

What is your fondest Liberty Belle memory to date?

Definitely winning National Solo Champion this past year in Denton. That was a dream come true and such a blessing!! Ill never forget that night. But it’s also the relationships I’ve made and all the great times I’ve spent with those girls. They mean so much to me, and are my sisters away from home.

If you had to give advice to incoming ORHS freshmen, what would it be?

To come into high school with the right mindset of wanting to succeed and work hard in their studies and extracurricular activities. Also, to believe in themselves and be ready for anything. Life takes some serious twists and turns. Your friends may change, or you may be going through a tough time at home, just make sure to always stay positive and remember that God is in control and is always there for you.

Tell me about your faith in God, and how that affects your daily life.

Spending quality time with Jesus has enabled me to look at everyone and everything a whole new way. I have more love, joy and peace than I ever had before which helps me to be a positive influence on others. It also helps me do the best I can in making a difference in the lives of others. Knowing Jesus has caused me to be different in many ways including giving me a servant’s heart, uplifting leadership skills as well as a love for others. I want to be a light in the sometimes-dark world we live in.  As Colonel of my Dance Team and Senior Class President, in addition to the other clubs and activities I’m in, I am able to be a positive role model and a witness of Jesus Christ to those around me.

How do you think you might serve God in the future? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

I have been accepted to Texas A&M and plan to get my degree in Kinesiology and then pursue a degree in Physical Therapy. I also hope to make the Aggie Dance Team and after college try out for the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. I hope to share my faith and joy in Christ with those I meet in college, on the Aggie Dance team and DCC team and others that I meet in college and during my career.

Life has not always been a bed of roses for you – you’re a child of divorce. How has that affected your life?

Divorce is definitely something I would not have chosen for my family but I’m very thankful that God has restored each of our hearts and lives. God has definitely healed our hurts, and I’m thankful that my mom and dad have a great relationship and work together to be great parents for us. I know that the forgiveness they’ve shown one another is from God. They do not display the bitterness or anger that I’ve seen many other divorced parents display, and instead treat one another with dignity and respect.

Do you have any advice for kids whose parents are going through a divorce?

Yes, definitely talk to others (or a Christian counselor) if you can. Also take your hurts and disappointments to God and ask Him for the peace and healing that only He can provide. It may not be a quick fix but over time, God will definitely work in your heart to bring good even out of difficult things like divorce.

We are blessed to have Makenna Spencer in our community, as well as her family, her teachers and counselors, and all the other individuals who have played a part in making her the wonderful young woman that she is today.

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Texas Districts, Charters Advance in Federal Contest

November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo illustration courtesy of Todd Wiseman, The Texas Tribune

By the end of the year, a few Texas school districts may have access to millions in funding that Gov. Rick Perry had passed on two years ago because of concerns about federal intrusion into Texas classrooms.

Since Texas refused to participate in Race to the Top at the state level in 2010, the Obama administration has rolled out a new version of its signature education program to allow districts to apply individually for a separate pot of about $400 million in federal money. Administration officials announced the new round of competition that would emphasize data-driven personalized student learning plans in 2011, after three phases of the state-based contest.

That objective has produced a variety of proposals from Texas districts and charters. Galveston Independent School District is competing for $20 million that could mean more staff responsible for closely adapting its curriculum to the needs of students. Dallas-area Uplift Education, which has applied for $17 million in grants, wants increased access to college-level courses for its students and more resources to dedicate to parental engagement.

The two are among 61 national finalists announced this week by the U.S. Department of Education, which received 372 applications representing more than 1,100 districts and charter schools — 117 in Texas — for the grants. Despite the high number of applicants, the program’s critics extend beyond the governor.

The Texas American Federation of Teachers, which also opposed participation in previous versions of Race to the Top because of what it viewed as the overly rigid testing and teacher evaluation measures promoted by the competition, has raised concerns about the amount of input educators had in the application process.

Linda Bridges, president of the Texas AFT, said the lack of communication between educators and administrators in developing proposals had been disappointing. “Most of these plans have been developed by a superintendent or administrators and taken out to teachers to sign onto,” with limited input from educators beforehand, she said.

In response to such criticism, the Obama administration required teachers unions to sign off on district proposals for this round of applications, which caused turmoil in states that, unlike Texas, have a strong union presence. But Bridges said that had little practical impact on collaboration in school districts.

Winners are eligible for four-year grants ranging from $5 million to $40 million depending on their student population. The federal Education Department — which said finalists were chosen to represent a range of rural and nonrural districts — expects to select 15 to 25 winners from the finalists by Dec. 31.

Finalists in Texas include three charters: Idea Public Schools, Uplift Education and Harmony Public Schools. Traditional districts that made the final cut include McAllen, Galveston, Dallas, Aubrey, Burkeville, Newton and West Hardin. (The latter three applied as a group through their regional education service center.) Several large Texas school districts did not make it to final consideration, including Houston, Spring Branch and Austin ISD.

In previous versions of the program, the Department of Education evaluated states’ applications based on 19 criteria, including adoption of the “common core” standards developed by the National Governors Association in conjunction with the Obama administration in 2009. Implementation of common core curriculum standards — which wasn’t a prerequisite for applying, but it put the states that hadn’t adopted them at a competitive disadvantage — became the primary reason behind Perry’s decision not to apply for the money during the first competition.

Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Perry, said he maintains his concern that districts receiving the grants would be “saddled with additional burdens required by the federal government on top of having to continue adhering to state education standards.” By allowing schools to circumvent state governments in applying for the federal program, she said, the administration has “made it clear that it would go to any lengths to undermine our 10th Amendment rights and refused to accept the fact that Texas has no interest and no need to subscribe to its misguided, one-size-fits-all policies.”

For this latest round of grants, available to schools made up of at least 40 percent low-income students, adoption of common core standards is not weighed as a factor. Applicants are instead judged on their plans to personalize student learning and implement performance evaluation systems for teachers, principals and superintendents, and their commitment to career and college ready-standards.

Administrators at both Uplift and Galveston ISD said their applications were natural extensions of the work they had been doing on their own.

“We are constantly looking for ways to meet our essential goal, which is access and success in order to close the achievement gap,” said Michael Terry, a spokesman for Uplift. “For us that means pursuing every available resource possible from the best people, from funding sources private or public. It makes sense for us because of the way the Race for the Top request was structured, it asks for what we do.”

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/texas-schools-advance-federal-contest-perry-reject/.

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