We here at The Dallas Morning News do not, traditionally, consider it our role to dictate the details of your sex life.

But if you want your next spawn to rise to the top of his or her class, here’s a bit of advice: Listen to the mistletoe and snuggle up to your loved one some time around Christmas Day.

That should put your kid on track for a mid-September birthday – and a vastly improved chance at being high school valedictorian.

Confused? That advice is based on a little experiment I did recently on the connection between a child’s birthday and academic success in school. But it has larger implications.

In Texas, kids are supposed to enter kindergarten if they’ve turned 5 by Sept. 1. Individual school districts are allowed to sneak in younger kids, and parents can choose to hold their kids out of school for an extra year. But the vast majority of kids start school in that one-year window.

How do those kids turn out years later, when it comes time for graduation?

The News publishes a list of the area’s valedictorians. I pulled all 207 of this year’s into a spreadsheet and used driver’s license records to look up their dates of birth. (I found 165 of them.) […]

Read More… from COLUMN: A year’s wait can make all the difference for your child

When Superintendent Larry Lewis faces opposition to his financial management of Lancaster ISD, his response is to point to the academic progress in his district.

“I can give you data to show that where we were in ’03 and where we are today – that we’ve had tremendous academic improvement,” Dr. Lewis said Friday. “When you look at what we’ve done with students of poverty, of ethnic minority, we’ve seen tremendous growth since we’ve been here.”

But while Lancaster’s TAKS scores have improved, the increases have been smaller than those of almost every other area district.

In 2003, shortly before Dr. Lewis took over as superintendent, Lancaster had the second-worst test scores of any district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area – slightly lower than those of the Wilmer-Hutchins schools.

The only district to score worse than Lancaster was the tiny Masonic Home district, which taught students at a Fort Worth orphanage. Both Masonic Home and Wilmer-Hutchins have since been shut down, following years of academic struggles.

But in 2006, after three years of testing under Dr. Lewis, Lancaster’s scores were still the lowest in the area. […]

Read More… from Lancaster ISD still lags behind; TAKS scores are higher since ’03, but increases among D-FW’s smallest

AUSTIN – The dispute over Lancaster ISD’s proposed four-day school week reached Austin on Thursday as supporters and critics aired their views to the state education commissioner.

Meanwhile, the Texas Education Agency is considering whether to send a team of auditors to the school district to check on worrisome financial data.

“It does appear that there is a significant, or has been a significant budget discrepancy,” acting Commissioner Robert Scott said after Thursday’s meeting, which was closed to the news media.

Mr. Scott will make the final decision on whether Lancaster will be granted a state waiver that would allow the 6,000-student district to offer fewer than the standard 180 school days.

After the 90-minute presentation Thursday, Lancaster schools Superintendent Larry Lewis said he felt it had gone “great.”

“I think they saw the benefits for kids, that it wasn’t just about cost savings and that there are some strong instructional reasons for doing this,” he said. “We are real excited about it and look forward to hearing from him. Regardless of what they do, they heard us today, and our kids got the benefit of the hearing.” […]

Read More… from TEA hears Lancaster’s 4-day school plan, considers audit; District’s finances raise concerns in waiver push

Does Forest Brook High School have a TAKS cheating problem? It depends whom you believe. But new evidence points to yes.

Despite highly suspicious test scores, a February report by the Texas Education Agency declared the Houston school cheating-free – largely because school officials, when asked, said they were unaware of any wrongdoing on their campus.

But last month, a Dallas Morning News statistical analysis found that Forest Brook had one of the worst cheating problems in Texas. Looking at two years of scores, the analysis found more than 350 TAKS answer sheets had answer patterns that were suspiciously similar – in some cases identical – to those of at least one classmate.

Now, newly released test scores give further support to the idea. This spring, the state required outside monitors to oversee TAKS testing at Forest Brook. They watched over every stage of the testing process in an attempt to prevent any potential misdeeds.

The result? Under outside scrutiny, the school’s scores collapsed. […]

Read More… from Monitors came, TAKS scores plummeted; Houston-area school previously was cleared of cheating by state

Lancaster school officials told parents and school board members this week that a proposal to switch to a four-day school week was based on solid research showing academic benefits. But the studies they produced show inconclusive and, at times, negative results.

Superintendent Larry Lewis said he and his staff had used Google to thoroughly research their proposal – dubbed “Four Days to Exemplary” – which he characterized as part of a one-year pilot program to start this fall.

His office supplied three studies to the public that focused on four-day programs in small, remote school districts, including one in Micronesia and another on islands off the west coast of Canada. Much of the research reported little evidence of academic gains. Some of the districts have since abandoned four-day plans.

“We have researched this to the hilt for our kids,” Dr. Lewis told nearly 1,000 parents and students Thursday night.

Many parents at the forum questioned the applicability of the research Dr. Lewis produced. […]

Read More… from Doubts on 4-day school; Lancaster ISD: Studies touted by officials reveal a lack of academic gains

Facing a budget crunch, Lancaster schools are considering a move that has traditionally been reserved for districts in fiscal crisis: cutting down to a four-day school week.

The sudden move, which requires state approval, would set students and teachers free on Fridays in exchange for longer school days the rest of the week. District officials say the new calendar would save about $1.9 million a year and help eat into a shortfall looming over next year’s budget.

Reaction to the unusual proposal among parents and other residents has not been positive.

“I’m outraged,” said Greg Stephenson, father of two Lancaster students. “They need to be considering changing to a six-day week, not cutting back. These kids need more time at school, not less.”

The district’s financial troubles come almost exactly three years after similar problems emerged in the neighboring Wilmer-Hutchins school district. The similarities are worrying to some.

“It’s scary – residents should definitely be very worried,” Lancaster school board member Carolyn Morris said of the district’s financial condition. […]

Read More… from Lancaster ISD may cut back to 4 days; District says move would save $1.9M, but outrage, fears of W-H repeat arise

An Amarillo teacher leaked a portion of this spring’s TAKS writing test to his colleagues because he wanted his school’s students to have a better chance at passing, a state investigation has found.

The teacher said that he leaked the information because he believed that educators in other districts were doing the same and that Amarillo students were “as deserving of prior knowledge of TAKS test information as students” in those other Texas districts, according to an investigative report released by the Texas Education Agency.

David Tamez, an elementary bilingual teacher, told investigators that he obtained the test information by volunteering to serve on a statewide committee of educators who help determine which questions make it onto the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills each year, the report states. He alleged that members of those committees regularly smuggle out secret TAKS information to share in their home districts – a contention TEA officials vigorously dispute.

“You know good and well what people are doing,” Mr. Tamez said, according to a tape recording of his interview with investigators. “They’re writing down prompts; they’re writing down information.”

The TEA inspector general’s office is recommending a further investigation to determine whether Mr. Tamez’s claims of widespread improprieties are valid. […]

Read More… from TEA: Teacher leaked part of TAKS; Exclusive: Amarillo educator says he wanted to help school, contends others do the same

Amid all the confusion surrounding an internal investigation at the Texas Education Agency, the state auditor’s office has decided to take its own look at how the agency hands out lucrative contracts.

“Perhaps they can talk to all the parties involved and resolve all this,” said TEA spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe. “Good luck.”

State auditor John Keel confirmed Tuesday that his office had opened an investigation but said that he could not comment further.

Although it will probably be weeks or months before the new investigation is concluded, it could help to settle the confusion that surrounds the internal investigation’s report – in particular one footnote that has implications for Robert Scott, TEA’s acting commissioner.

He was criticized last month when the TEA investigation found evidence he improperly intervened in a contract awarded to a friend of his named Emily Chick Miller.

Mr. Scott vigorously denied the charges, and he responded last week by saying he was the victim of a case of mistaken identity. He said investigators may have confused him with a different education official with the same name – an administrative employee who works in the Waco regional education office that handled the contract.

That second Mr. Scott now also denies he did the things the report alleges the first Mr. Scott did. […]

Read More… from State auditor to probe TEA; Contract inquiry comes on heels of internal investigation

I know this column will be misunderstood, so let me be clear from the start: Dallas’ School for the Talented and Gifted is a terrific school.

TAG, as it’s known, is the school system’s bright shining star. If I had kids, I’d be happy to send them there.

Great teachers, great students – the whole nine. Don’t interpret anything that follows as a criticism of the school.

But to claim, as Newsweek did recently, that it’s the best high school in America is silly. It stretches the boundaries of reason.

Each year, the magazine issues a new set of its oddly precise rankings. (Ever wondered where the 543rd-best high school in America is? Georgia, apparently.) Schools that rank high celebrate their success. Those that drop curse their misfortune.

This year – for the second year in a row – TAG finished No. 1 overall. And right behind it was Dallas’ Science and Engineering Magnet, which shares a building with TAG. District officials were understandably proud to lay claim to the two best high schools in the country.

But here are five reasons why Newsweek’s list isn’t worth the glossy paper it’s printed on. […]

Read More… from COLUMN: Magazine’s list of best high schools is overrated