Tag: COVID19

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College Testing Continuing Despite COVID19 Explosion

College testing will go on in Dallas ISD next week as planned despite COVID19 cases in multiple Dallas ISD high school campuses and many colleges making test scores optional for college admissions.

COVID19 cases forced County Judge Clay Jenkins to raise the threat level to Red this week and Dallas ISD COVID19 cases tripled in one week and are currently at more than six times the original number after less than two weeks.

Back To School COVID19 Numbers for DISD
College Testing

College Testing

College tests such as the ACT or SAT have been used for years to assist with admissions decisions, but this year, numerous colleges and universities are making tests optional for admission due to COVID19.

The ACT and SAT entrance exams are the proverbial Coke and Pepsi of college admissions. Both exams are widely accepted by U.S. colleges, which often prompts the question: Which test should I take?

The answer to that question lies in understanding the differences between the two tests.

Both college admissions exams are wildly popular. In the class of 2019, a reported 2.2 million test-takers completed the SAT while 1.8 million students took the ACT. It is unclear how many students took both, but some experts say it has become more common for test-takers to complete both college testing batteries.

The SAT takes three hours, though with an optional 50-minute essay, the time adds up to almost four hours total. The ACT lasts two hours and 55 minutes, though a 40-minute optional writing test stretches it to a little more than three-and-a-half hours.

The SAT features 154 questions vs. 215 for the ACT. Broken down by test components, the SAT has a reading test that takes 65 minutes, a 35-minute writing and language test and an 80-minute math section. The ACT is comprised of a 35-minute reading test, 45-minute English test, 60-minute math section and 35-minute science test.

The SAT does not include an independent science section but incorporates science questions throughout the exam.

The scoring for each test also differs. For the SAT, total scores range from 400-1600; for the ACT, the composite score runs from 1-36. Those ranges do not include the optional essays, which are scored separately from each exam

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Sudie Williams COVID19 Super Spreader?

Sudie Williams and Dallas ISD Generic Logo

Parents of Sudie Williams TAG Magnet school students were informed their child may have been exposed to COVID19 less than nine hours after re-opening for Hybrid Learning.

Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) staff promised a thorough action plan to keep students safe, but in today’s notice note it is a staff member who was infected and will “no longer be on campus.”

Sudie Williams

District officials then went on to downplay the danger of infection despite it not being clear who the staff member was exposed to, how they passed health screenings, etc. Students attend the school from across Dallas ISD – so this event has the potential to spread the virus to multiple other neighborhoods.

Sudie Williams TAG

Sudie L. Williams Talented and Gifted Academy opened its doors to students in August 2018. It currently includes grades four through eight. The curriculum for the TAG magnet academy is patterned after William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted. At the school, the teachers strive to encourage students to pursue their curiosity and creativity. District public relations work states students at Sudie Williams work individually as well as collaboratively in small groups. In addition to academics, students at Sudie Williams TAG focus on character development.

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Back To School COVID19 Numbers

Today is Back to School for the almost 50% of Dallas ISD students who chose to learn in person and we are tracking Dallas ISD’s self reported COVID19 numbers.

Back To School COVID19 Numbers for DISD

Dallas ISD has had several meetings and video series on returning students to campus safely. We know COVID19 has been transmitted to newborns and Dallas was referred to as a summer Hot Zone for COVID19. Given college campus spikes in COVID19 cases it will be interesting to see how Dallas responds.

Back To School Day 1 Data

Current numbers across Dallas ISD are minimal with 42 cases being reported this morning. We plan to update these numbers at least weekly, but will also alert parents if we see a spike in the district.

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Parkland Hospital: Baby Born With COVID19

A baby born with COVID19 was delivered at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. The child appears to have contracted the Coronavirus in the womb.

Baby Born with COVID19

Baby Alexa tested positive at Parkland one day after she was born to Wendy Figueroa who had been admitted to the hospital with a fever, headache and gastrointestinal symptoms on April 30th.

The mother tested positive for COVID19, also known as the Coronavirus.

Because Alexa was about five weeks premature, she was kept in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit while her mom was sent home.

Figueroa had to wait out a 14-day quarantine before being sure she was over the disease. Only then was it safe to bring Alexa home.

Baby Born With COVID19 – The First?

Their case has been published this week in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

There has been ongoing debate about the safety of opening schools and whether or not children were susceptible to COVID19. While Dallas’ COVID19 numbers have declined recently, we are still a hot spot for the disease.

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Dallas ISD Jobs No One Wants Or Can Get

Want a Dallas ISD Jobs offer? One Dallas ISD teacher posted about the district’s need for substitute teachers.

Out of work? Behind on rent? Dallas ISD needs subs…

Edit to add: I thought this would helpful for out of work service industry people – people who would risk exposure to work in bars (but now can’t) could work in classrooms instead. If you are passionate about social distancing OR making lots of money – this is not the job for you.

Dallas ISD Jobs Issues

The reaction has been overwhelmingly negative per a second post.

Dallas ISD Jobs Issues

Comments in the thread include people complaining that they had applied, but could not make it through Dallas ISD’s Human Capital Management maze. This elicited a response that insinuated the poster should consider just sending invoices to Dallas ISD – a reference to the audit scandal that has yet to be answered.

Another set of comments seemed to indicate subs do not make enough money or are scabs because teachers are striking. (Note: In Texas teachers do not have the right to strike.) These comments frequently came from persons parroting statements from GOP politicians that because they do not make enough substitute teaching they should collect unemployment instead.

The final group of posters indicated teaching was mostly babysitting and they weren’t interested in being around dirty children.

“Risk my life for 85 dollars a day in a closed enviroment with children, well known for their cleanliness? I’ll pass.” The interesting part about this comment was the poster states in their Facebook profile they are a journeyman electrician, i.e. why would they be able to substitute teach?

Dallas ISD Jobs

The arguments for or against substituting not withstanding, interested parties can find the substitute information here from Dallas ISD.

As previously reported, the Dallas ISD Calendar is set in stone, but it is unclear if Dallas ISD is regular for the first day of school.

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STAAR Scheduled, Meaningless, Not Forgotten

The STAAR scheduled tests are on for the 20-21 school year, but Governor Greg Abbott announced that the grade promotion requirement related to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test has been waived. This waiver for tests gives to fifth and eighth graders is only for the upcoming school year.

Typically, school systems must take into account a student’s score on the STAAR test to determine whether the student can be promoted to the next grade level. The traditional A-F rating system will remain in place, albeit with certain adjustments due to COVID19.

STAAR Scheduled, Meaningless, Not Forgotten

Students enrolled in grades 5 and 8 are required to re-take a STAAR test late in the school year, and sometimes again in the summer, if they do not meet grade level when taken during the spring. With this waiver, there will only be one administration of the STAAR grades 5 and 8 mathematics and reading assessments for the 2020–21 school year. The test will be administered in May to coincide with the administration of other STAAR grades 3-8 assessments.

“As always, our goal is to provide a high quality education for every Texas student,” said Governor Abbott. “This will be a uniquely challenging school year, therefore, this year is about providing students every opportunity to overcome the disruptions caused by COVID-19. By waiving these promotion requirements, we are providing greater flexibility for students and teachers, while at the same time ensuring that Texas students continue to receive a great education — which we will continue to measure with high quality assessments.”

Some will argue with Abbott’s assertion that STAAR provides a “high quality assessment.” There are vast differences between scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test and the Texas STAAR testing bringing into question the test’s overall reliability and validity.

“Parents deserve to know how well their children have learned grade level knowledge and skills in reading and math, especially in a time when education has been substantially disrupted,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. “And educators use this valuable information to make adjustments to support students the following year. But there is no benefit to our children by requiring them to repeat a year based on a single test score given the disruptions of COVID, so we are waiving the grade promotion requirements from STAAR this year for our students.”

If the test can be exempted in the 2020-2021 school year the natural follow up question is why not do away with it altogether as a promotion mechanism? Governor Abbott and Mike Morath seem to want it both ways – they want the expensive test – but are not using its findings due to the “challenging school year.”

The new standard may offer Dallas ISD Calendar some added flexibility if the focus is not on high stakes testing. Locally though it brings into question, the Dallas Texas Excellence Initiative which ties teacher salaries to test scores in part.

Lori Kirkpatrick has several webpages about TEI on her website which may provide useful information opposing Dallas ISD’s viewpoint.

STAAR Scheduled Dates

STAAR Testing Dates

All of the information on STAAR Testing dates is available via the Texas Education Agency website or below.

STAAR Calendar UpdatedDownload
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Opening Day Warning: Baseball Brushback For COVID19 Classrooms?

An Opening Day warning for schools? Tonight’s Baltimore versus Miami Opening Day game for the Miami Marlins has been cancelled. How does this relate to the Dallas ISD Calendar? Quarantine cleaning.

This weekend fourteen players and two coaches from the Miami Marlins developed positive tests for COVID19 while playing in Philadelphia. If sixteen adults out of forty can get COVID19 while sequestered from other community members after testing negative prior to the series there is either a cleaning issue or community spread.

While possible, the former seems unlikely, as Major League Baseball is performing daily COVID19 screenings and has access to the best envornmental cleaning companies in the world. That would leave community spread as the primary culprit due to a person or persons not adhering to the strict guidelines for maintaining social distancing and these are adults. How will schools mandate safe practices of children?

As we have noted, COVID19 cases are surging, but Dallas ISD Trustees seem confident that they have the answers with their latest schedule.

Opening Day Warning For Schools

While the Dallas ISD Calendar is currently ready to go for the 20-21 school year, administration has also put out guidelines for entrance into schools on a daily basis.

DISD Arrival Instructions To Avoid Opening Day Warnings

Some school observers have questioned whether or not this is realistic and will remain reality once the school year begins.

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New 2020-2021 Dallas ISD Calendar Revealed

The new Dallas ISD Calendar is here. As a follow up to the previous story on Wednesday. The Board of Trustees has finally spoken on its propositions. The Dallas ISD calendar does have a late June finish, among other things.

Michael Hinojosa withoutDiscussing Dallas ISD Calendar

Dallas ISD Calendar Explained

The Board of Trustees spent hours discussing this new calendar. With an emphasis to keep the same effective learning time, the new school year starts on September 8 and ends on June 18.

Although not explicitly stated, it’s suggested that the first few weeks of school will be online. As explained by the speaker, the main purpose expressed for the late start is to refine and polish online education.

“So its not about health, its not about safety, its not about getting the schools ready for a more safe environment, its about perfecting virtual instruction.” noted Trustee, Dustin Marshall.

Dallas ISD Calendar Changes

The board also discussed eliminating breaks in order to finish the Dallas ISD calendar as usual. However, the board opted to extend to a June 18 finish rather than to shorten breaks. The only break that was cut was Fair days, due to the State Fair being cancelled.

On the contrary one new holiday was added, November 3, also known as election day. Schools act as a place to vote on that day. And in order to keep students and teachers away from potentially infected voters, election day will now be a holiday.

Others things to note:

  • Administrators will get 14 hours of professional development for virtual learning
  • Teachers will get 15-18 hours of training for virtual learning
  • Up to 8 of the first few weeks might be online learning only
  • Grading periods last 9 weeks instead of 6
  • 5 professional development days for will be replaced for instructional time.
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Extended 20-21 School Year Proposed

The 20-21 school year is about to get longer per reports. The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) school board will vote Thursday on a new Dallas ISD calendar that could push the end of the school year to mid-June.

Under the proposal, classes would begin three weeks later than scheduled on September 8. And the last day of school would move back three weeks as well — from May 28 to June 18.

The DISD plans to release a detailed back-to-school plan this week. It will include the precautions the district plans to take when students return to campus, but that may not be enough for some campus educators.

Current 20-21 School Year Proposal for Dallas ISD Calendar

“I have kidney disease and I have a breathing condition, asthma…” said educator Ronny Swank.

A military veteran who teaches middle school, Swank said his dream is to be back in the classroom. “But, I’m so scared, sir, to go back under bad conditions,” he said. “I made my wife a promise that when I walk in that classroom, if I don’t feel safe, I am simply going to walk out.”

20-21 School Year

The current calendar has school opening August 17, but a Dallas ISD Trustees meeting Thursday will decide if the open will be moved back past Labor Day, September 8.

News reports have Superintendent Michael Hinojosa anticipating all campuses re-opened on that date with teachers on campus “unless the situation keeps getting worse.” Given Texas Education Agency statements funding for pupil attendance this may be related to both annual school funding and the push for the 2020 bond package.

Michael Hinojosa Plans For On Campus Learning At Start Of 20-21 School Year
Michael Hinojosa Plans For On Campus Learning At Start Of 20-21 School Year

He was one of the primary voices that kept schools from closing in the spring until the middle of Spring Break which resulted in a handful of COVID19 infections being passed at the school level.

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