HISD has announced an intensive summer program for the 915 seniors who didn’t pass the TAKS test needed to graduate. HISD spokesman Terry Abbott sent out a release with the details:
Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra ordered special summer programs beginning Monday for 915 seniors who have not yet passed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exit-level test. HISD is recruiting 104 of the best available teachers for the job, promising higher than normal summer school salaries and performance bonuses for teachers who will work in small classroom settings.
HISD officials who make up what has been dubbed “Task Force 915” in recognition of the 915 students who still need to pass the TAKS say this will be the most intensely focused summer effort the school district has made in recent memory.
From June 6 through July 11, many of the students will work in small groups of as few as 10 students. They will be assigned to teachers with special expertise and a history of success, particularly in the harder math and science courses. The students will be given rigorous instruction in the subjects they have not yet passed on the TAKS graduation exam. Special materials for intensive instruction have been purchased from the Texas Education Agency and will be used in the classrooms.
Schools also will use “lead teachers” to help in the effort. In addition, the district will hire students who graduated in May and were rated as “commended” because of their high performance on the TAKS test to help work with the 915 seniors.
At the end of the rigorous summer program, on July 12, the students will be tested again on the TAKS subject area they have not yet mastered.
This program sounds like a great idea. Every student who graduates from high school immediately stands a much greater chance of becoming a productive member of society, instead of being a drain and a burden.
One more point:
Dr. Saavedra directed his regional superintendents to hire the best available teachers for the special summer program. To attract the best teachers, HISD will pay them their regular hourly wage rate, which is higher than the summer school rate of $25 a day, plus a bonus of $100 for every student who passes a portion of the TAKS test that student had previously failed. For example, a 12-year-veteran teacher earning the average HISD teacher salary and who helps 10 seniors learn what they need to know and pass the TAKS test would make about $4,100 extra in this special summer program.
If Houston Federation of Teachers president Gayle Fallon has one ounce of common sense (not a given), she won’t utter a peep about the extra pay the selected teachers will be receiving. The issue should be about students graduating, not about teacher pay.
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