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Survey: 81 percent of parents agree with direction of district
0An independently conducted survey shows that nearly 81 percent of Dallas ISD parents agree or strongly agree with the direction of the district. The survey results show a notable increase from the Spring 2014 survey results, when 70 percent of parents said they agreed or strongly agreed with the direction of the district. More than 18,000 parents responded to the survey conducted by National Service Research, which is based in Fort Worth. Paula Blackmon, Dallas ISD senior executive for intergovernmental relations and community engagement, said the survey is a part of the district’s effort to engage parents and gather their feedback on…
BOMLA teachers to fuel change at ACE school with TEI foundation
0Toni Harrison-Kelly and Angela Fulbright have been friends for 15 years. Both work at the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy, with Fulbright teaching geography, history, and AP world history, and Harrison-Kelly teaching engineering and technology courses. They both say they love the environment at BOMLA, an all-male academy that encourages leadership and brotherhood. “I see, every day, how a great school culture and highly-motivated, skilled teachers can positively impact student achievement,” Harrison-Kelly said. Because they know what effective teachers can accomplish together, the friends decided to voluntarily transfer and teach next school year at Sarah Zumwalt Middle School, one of…
Next school year starts Aug. 24 for students
0The 2015–16 school year will start for students Aug. 24, 2015 and end June 2, 2016. The calendar calls for teachers to report for the new school year on Thursday, Aug. 13. Other important dates of the approved calendar, which includes 175 days of instruction, include: Campus staff development: Aug. 17 – 21, 2015 Labor Day: Sept. 7, 2015 Fair Day: elementary – Oct. 9, 2015 and secondary – Oct. 16, 2015. Note: Two fair days are scheduled at the request of the State Fair of Texas to accommodate the district’s 160,000 students. First semester staff development days: Oct. 19, 2015…
High school students gain on end-of-course English I exam
0Dallas ISD high school students showed marked improvement on the 2014-15 English I end-of-course (EOC) exam. The percentage of students passing the English I exam on their first attempt gained 3 percentage points up to 59 percent, up from 56 percentage points in 2013-14. The increase was even more pronounced for the District’s African American students, who narrowed the achievement gap in English by improving 8% points (from 48% to 56%). “The English I results are encouraging because this is just one more data point showing the growth of our students,” said Deputy Superintendent Ann Smisko. “The challenge is to…