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Dallas ISD Principal Welcomes Back Students With Viral Video |
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Principal Tito Salas made a music video to welcome his Peeler Pirates back for the new school year.
John F. Peeler Elementary School in Oak Cliff was not completely empty over the summer. Principal Tito Salas used the classrooms and hallways to make a welcome back to school music video that’s gone viral.
“It was a crazy thought I had at the end of last school year,” Salas said. “I definitely want to create an atmosphere that’s positive. Nothing but positive.”
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Earning State’s Highest “A” Accountability Rating |
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Seventeen district schools also earn “A” ratings, two earn all-performance distinction designations
School district ratings based on the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) A-F Accountability Rating System were released on Friday, August 12, 2022. Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (PSJA ISD) earned an A or a 91% rating overall, for the 2021-2022 school year. Additionally, making district history, 17 PSJA ISD schools also earned As, the state’s highest letter grade, demonstrating the high-quality education offered districtwide for all students.
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Villarreal appointed Canutillo ISD’s new director of student services |
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The Canutillo Independent School District today announced that Maria G. Villarreal has been appointed as the District’s next Director of Student Services. Her appointment is effective immediately.
Villarreal will oversee the District’s programs involving child welfare, grants, social-emotional learning, guidance and counseling, social work, college readiness, career and military readiness and parental engagement.
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Houston ISD again to deploy staffers, administrators to fill teacher vacancies |
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For the second year in a row, Houston ISD plans to use administrative employees who hold teaching certifications to help fill any vacancies that remain when classes resume in less than two weeks, district officials said Wednesday.
HISD Chief Talent Officer Jeremy Grant-Skinner said principals are expected to send certified staff — typically performing other duties — to classrooms with teacher vacancies. The district expects to start the school year with at least 95 percent of the roles filled, he said.
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More Texas teachers on verge of quitting than at any time in the last 40 years, survey finds |
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More Texas teachers are considering leaving the profession than at any point in the last 40 years, according to new polling from the Texas State Teachers Association.
The survey found that 70 percent of teachers were seriously considering quitting this year, a substantial jump from the 53 percent who said so in 2018, the last time the typically biennial survey was conducted. Teachers attributed their grim outlook to pandemic-related stress, political pressure from state lawmakers, less support from parents and stretched finances.
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Serving Hispanic Students in Texas:
How is higher education stepping up to the task?
Tuesday, August 23 | 12 pm CST
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Between 2019 and 2021, Texas colleges and universities lost 75,000 students. But despite this drop in enrollment, the number of Hispanic-serving campuses in Texas continues to grow.
Join the Texas Tribune on Tuesday, Aug. 23, in Brownsville or tune in online for a Texas Tribune event exploring what needs to happen to support Hispanic-serving institutions in our state, how they’ve adapted during the pandemic and what they’re doing to help students graduate.
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Looking for a new opportunity? |
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Leadership opportunities available: |
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Take a look at who’s hiring: |
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States invest pandemic relief funds into early education workforce |
Federal aid is being spent on compensation, mental health supports and professional development, an NASBE analysis shows.
States are investing federal COVID-19 relief funds to build up the early childhood education workforce through increased compensation, mental health supports, professional development and more, according to an analysis of spending from the National Association of State Boards of Education.
The pandemic has put more stress on the early childhood education sector, which was already suffering from high demand and low supply even before the pandemic.
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Big Numbers of Teens Are on TikTok ‘Almost Constantly.’ What Should Teachers Do? |
A new survey confirms what most middle and high school teachers already know: A significant chunk of teenagers spend an unhealthy amount of time watching YouTube or scrolling through TikTok.
More than one in six teenagers say they are on TikTok—which is among the fastest-growing social media platforms—“almost constantly,” while nearly one in five say the same about YouTube, according to “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022,” a report by the Pew Research Center released Aug. 10. The report was based on a survey of more than 1,300 teens ages 13 to 17, conducted last spring.
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Teachers say in new survey they’re being told not to talk about racism and race |
Over half of teachers and almost 6 in 10 teachers of color oppose legal limits on discussing race and racism. “It’s heartbreaking for our youth,” a Latino activist and educator said.
One in 4 teachers report being told by school officials or district leaders to limit their classroom conversations about race, racism or bias, a new survey shows, even as research published this week illustrates the potential benefits of learning about the historical and political roots of racial inequality.
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More than mentoring: 5 ways leaders can help students expand their influence |
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Students must learn how to build social capital with their own personal networks.
Teachers serving in mentoring programs is a more equitable way to help students develop relationship-building skills that will be critical in and outside school. But this strategy has its limitations, as it can strain overworked staff and may be more “institution-centric than student-centric,” says education researcher Julia Freeland Fisher.
Superintendents, principals and other educators may find greater success by taking an “asset-based approach.” This means helping learners build social capital and expand their influence by strengthening connections with people they already know, says Fisher, whose Students’ Hidden Networks analysis offers comprehensive guidance on a technique called “relationship mapping.”
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“Why am I here?” That’s the feeling many Latino students struggle with in higher education |
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When Frida Sanchez-Rosalino, a sophomore Spanish Education student at Elizabethtown College, arrived in the United States three years ago from Mexico, she changed the way she identified herself. She wasn’t just Mexican anymore, she was also Latina, she said.
A difficult process at first, it took her a while to adapt to the new culture, language, food and school. Specifically in high school, where she attended an institution with not many Latinos, she felt she didn’t belong there. Also, struggling with learning English sometimes was a challenge for her to share ideas and thoughts, she felt incapable and insecure about herself.
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This Week’s Featured Sponsor |
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TALAS sponsors make this newsletter and other TALAS activities possible. Please support them. Click on the logo to learn more! |
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Imagine Learning, we believe every child deserves the chance to enjoy learning and the right to fulfill their unique potential.
For more than fifteen years, our foundation has been helping students acquire, develop, and strengthen the language skills necessary to fully participate in academic settings and prepare for college and careers.
Today, we provide a complete suite of adaptive digital curriculum and assessment solutions for PreK–8 that delivers unmatched excellence in language development—accelerating learning across subjects for all students.
Imagine Learning is passionate about igniting engagement, maximizing personal relevance, amplifying confidence and inspiring breakthroughs for students and educators.
David Webb – Regional Partnership Director, Texas – 214.883.2880
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