Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: May 20, 2003

UT System News Release

TAKS Help is on the Way

Grants from Houston Endowment and Meadows Foundation will Support U.T. System's Public School Initiatives

AUSTIN - When statewide results of the multi-level TAKS exams are announced, many students, parents, teachers and school administrators across Texas will be looking for ways to ensure that good results are repeated on the next round of tests and that any low scores are brought up.

The University of Texas System will be able to help with those goals, thanks to grants from Houston Endowment Inc. and the Meadows Foundation that will provide funds for a system-wide initiative to enhance public school education in Texas.

The grants will pay for three special projects in the system's Every Child, Every Advantage initiative -- assistance to 11th grade students in preparing for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, professional development for teachers of subjects covered by the exam, and an on-going research project to evaluate the performance of graduates of the nine teacher education programs in the system.

"Thanks to the generous assistance of Houston Endowment and the Meadows Foundation, the U.T. System will be able to lend a hand to thousands of high school students and their teachers to enhance learning in the core subjects covered by the TAKS," said Mark G. Yudof, chancellor of the U.T. System. "This partnership between the foundations and the U.T. System is an excellent example of how public and private entities can join together to meet pressing needs."

State Sen. Florence Shapiro, chair of the Senate Education Committee, commented: "I am a firm believer in public-private partnerships. It is a very positive development to see the University of Texas System stepping forward to assist Texas students and teachers in meeting the challenge of the TAKS exam, and I am pleased and grateful that philanthropic organizations are joining in this important effort."

State Rep. Kent Grusendorf, chair of the House Public Education Committee, said: "These programs, funded by private foundations, represent wonderful opportunities for both teachers and students to enhance learning while simultaneously helping the state manage its resources in these tight economic times."

Houston Endowment will provide $3.5 million to support all three projects, and the Meadows Foundation of Dallas will provide $252,000 for the professional development project. The grants will fund the projects over a three-year period.

The UT TeleCampus will use part of the funds to develop an online "Student Test Readiness Course" to assist students preparing to take the 11th grade TAKS exit-level exam. The course will include a diagnostic test, which will identify student strengths and weaknesses in the standard knowledge and skill objectives assessed by the TAKS. Course materials, based on the standardized objectives and approved by subject matter experts from universities and public education agencies, will be provided to students. A pilot course is scheduled this fall, with full implementation planned by late in the year.

The TeleCampus will also develop a series of professional development courses to assist teachers of subjects covered by the test. Each course will present the basic concepts covered in a subject area, as well as strategies for preparing lesson plans and classroom instruction. The 11th grade exit-level TAKS exam covers four subject areas - algebra and geometry; biology and integrated physics/chemistry; English III; and early American and U.S. history.

The evaluation of teacher education programs in the U.T. System will be conducted by the National Center for Educational Accountability, located at U.T. Austin. Researchers will collect quantitative data and interview graduates of the programs and school principals to assess the teachers' classroom performance and evaluate how their educational experiences at a U.T. System institution affected their teaching. The Texas A&M University System and the Texas State University System will be consulted about the assessment project.

The goal will be to provide the teacher education programs with information that can help them enhance the preparation of new teachers. Each of the nine general academic universities in the U.T. System has a teacher education program. Each year, the U.T. System produces about 25 percent of the new teachers graduating from universities in Texas.

Note to news media: We understand that the Texas Education Agency plans to release comprehensive TAKS results in late May or early June.

The following web links may be helpful:
Texas Education Agency
The UT TeleCampus
The University of Texas System, Every Child, Every Advantage
National Center for Educational Accountability
Houston Endowment
The Meadows Foundation

Texas A&M University System

Texas State University System

Related U.T. System news releases:

Three University Systems Unite with Houston Endowment to Strengthen Teacher Education (3/18/2003)

UT System Unveils Expanded Public School Initiative (5/9/2002)

National Center for Educational Accountability Established to Achieve Excellence in Public Schools (11/8/2001)