THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog The Dallas Morning News:
"Kay Hutchison finally got into education issues in her gubernatorial campaign last week, and, for the most part, I thought she laid out some good ideas. Rick Perry has been all over her for copying some of his ideas. But, you know, I don't care where ideas come from as long as they can benefit kids in school.
Here are a couple of areas where I think her proposals stand out:"
First, she wants to focus on middle schoolers with strategies that will keep them from dropping out once they get to high school. I doubt anyone's been elected governor because of their middle school policies, but she is really on the mark here. As many educators know, kids tend to make progress in elementary school, then fall off once they hit middle school. In some cases, they fall so far behind, they give up and dropout by the time they reach ninth or tenth grade.
What Hutchison proposes is an "accelerated middle school initiative." Here's what her press release says:
"Hutchison will propose an Accelerated Middle Schools initiative to help middle school students who are behind grade level "catch up" by covering core academic curriculum at an accelerated pace. With individualized e-Learning, and a focus on core subjects necessary for graduation, students one or two years behind grade level will be able to catch up to their peers and stay on track."
"Kay Hutchison finally got into education issues in her gubernatorial campaign last week, and, for the most part, I thought she laid out some good ideas. Rick Perry has been all over her for copying some of his ideas. But, you know, I don't care where ideas come from as long as they can benefit kids in school.
Here are a couple of areas where I think her proposals stand out:"
First, she wants to focus on middle schoolers with strategies that will keep them from dropping out once they get to high school. I doubt anyone's been elected governor because of their middle school policies, but she is really on the mark here. As many educators know, kids tend to make progress in elementary school, then fall off once they hit middle school. In some cases, they fall so far behind, they give up and dropout by the time they reach ninth or tenth grade.
What Hutchison proposes is an "accelerated middle school initiative." Here's what her press release says:
"Hutchison will propose an Accelerated Middle Schools initiative to help middle school students who are behind grade level "catch up" by covering core academic curriculum at an accelerated pace. With individualized e-Learning, and a focus on core subjects necessary for graduation, students one or two years behind grade level will be able to catch up to their peers and stay on track."