Texas Scholars Magazine by Digital Publisher

/mission Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Your Future is in Your Hands... what will you do with yours?

Be a School Administrator!

Be a Teacher!

Your leadership qualities, coupled with your passion for VUfTReZ`_ R_U j`fc UVdZcV e` ^R\V R UZWWVcV_TV RcV cVRd`_d hYj j`f dY`f]U eYZ_\ RS`fe VRc_Z_X j`fc AcZ_TZaR] 4VceZWZTReZ`_

Project P.a.C.E., accredited by the Texas Education Agency, is an alternative route to teacher certification for those individuals who already have a bachelor’s degree. Project P.a.C.E. is a rigorous, fast-paced educator preparation program of the Region One Education Service Center, is designed to prepare and certify highly qualified individuals to teach in Texas public schools. Candidates must have access to a computer, internet, and email.

The Region One ESC Integrated Leadership Principal Preparation Program (ILP³) TR_ ^R\V Ze YRaaV_ :=A Zd R_ accelerated alternative certification program of the Region One Education Service Center, is designed to recruit, prepare, mentor, and certify aspiring campus administrators.

ILP Minimum Requirements/Option 1

If you already hold a Master’s Degree, earn a Principal’s Certificate

A Master’s Degree from an accredited college or university; R ^Z_Z^f^ 8 A 2 `W $ ! `_ R % ! dTR]V, a valid Texas Teacher certificate; R ^Z_Z^f^ `W # jVRcd `W eVRTYZ_X ViaVcZV_TV Z_ R A< "# setting; R ^Z_Z^f^ `W # jVRcd `W dTY``] ]VRUVcdYZa ViaVcZV_TV

ILP Minimum Requirements/Option 2

Earn your Principal’s Certificate AND a Master’s Degree

A Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university; 2 ^Z_Z^f^ 8 A 2 `W # & `_ R % ! dTR]V, A valid Texas Teacher certificate; 2 ^Z_Z^f^ `W " jVRc `W eVRTYZ_X ViaVcZV_TV Z_ R A< "# setting; 2 ^Z_Z^f^ `W " jVRc `W dTY``] ]VRUVcdYZa ViaVcZV_TV, acceptance into a Walden University Master’s program.

Master’s Degree through Region One ESC’s partnership with Walden University

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Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Successful candidates will complete: R_ Z_eV_dZgV acV RddZX_^V_e ecRZ_Z_X ac`XcR^ eYV summer prior to their internship year R `_V jVRc aRZU dTY``] SRdVU Z_eVc_dYZa `c "# "% hVV\ unpaid clinical teaching internship @_X`Z_X W`TfdVU ecRZ_Z_X dVddZ`_d R_U acVaRcReZ`_ for the TExEs during the internship year. :_eVc_d dfTTVddWf]]j T`^a]VeZ_X R]] ac`XcR^ deReV requirements will be recommended for a standard Texas teaching certificate.

Don’t wait-call today to secure your spot in the next ILP3 or Project P.a.C.E. Cohort Class!

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Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Photo by Harlingen CISD

Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Texas Tex xas a Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Here is an overview of the general sessions conducted during the MASBA Annual Conference and Expo: Friday, January 23, 2015 (8:30am â€“ 9:30am) First General Session: The EMERGE Program: Access to Opportunity presented by: Rick Cruz, Assistant Superintendent of College Readiness for the Houston Independent School District The Mexican-American School Board Members Association (MASBA) is committed to helping school board members come together to find solutions, discuss legislative and current affairs as they relate to education and the Mexican-American culture. Texas school districts are experiencing an unprecedented growth and in many cases may lack the understanding and resources in order to ensure the most appropriate and effective curriculum implementation directly related to the Mexican- American culture. Therefore, MASBA has designed a very specialized and targeted conference held in January of each year. This conference offers Texas school board members the opportunity to receive training and information which will assist them to deal and work in an effective and proactive manner with the challenges they confront on a daily basis, and in particular how to promote and advance the importance and relevance of the Mexican American culture in public education. MASBA and the training it provides is recognized and certified by TEA for purposes of attaining the CEU Credits required of school board members. MASBA is also involved in promoting and advocating public education policies and programs which have a positive and beneficial impact on school districts, and may also stand up against those which may have adverse results on districts and their students. MASBA honors the legacy of 40 years of historic growth our founders provided and stands united with our members and Texas school districts to provide leadership, vision and support for a growing number of school board members that represent school districts with demographic profiles related to a large number of Mexican-American students. Our roots are imbedded in the Civil Rights Era. Therefore, our charge was to ensure that children were not taken advantage of through legislation, governance, policy or regulation, in order to comply with the desegregation of the nationâ€™s public school system. In this ever changing world, much of this charge is still alive in what we do and how we serve in protecting the best interests of children 20

Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

The HISD EMERGE program prepares low-income students with high potential to attend and graduate from the nation's top colleges. The program was founded in 2010 by Rick Cruz and a group of volunteer teachers and community members. Since then, the program has had tremendous success in helping students reach their potential. Students in the program have received over $20 million in scholarship offers to many of the nation's top colleges, including Harvard, Stanford, Rice and MIT. A majority of these students are first in their families to go to college and are receiving full scholarships to do so. The program is currently operating out of 24 HISD high schools and has plans to expand to additional school sites and districts in the future. As Assistant Superintendent of College Readiness for the Houston Independent School District, Rick Cruz works to prepare the district's 210,000 students for post-secondary success. This includes overseeing programs and initiatives related to secondary counseling, PSAT/SAT, AP, IB and dual credit. In his first year in this role, Rick helped the district increase scholarship and financial aid offers by $70 million and increase performance levels in the SAT and AP exams. He is also the founder of EMERGE, a program that prepares students with high potential from undeserved communities be successful at the nation's top colleges. A native of Mexico who graduated with distinction from Yale University, Rick worked for five years as a bilingual teacher in Houston ISD before assuming his current role. In recognition of his contributions to improving the lives of under-served youth, the Mayor of Houston awarded Rick the city's Hispanic Heritage Award and declared September 25, 2012 to be "Rick Cruz Day".

Friday, January 23, 2015 (9:45am – 10:45am) Second General Session: Accountability and Assessment Reconsidered in Texas

Friday, January 23, 2015 (Noon to 1:15 pm) Key-Note Luncheon General Session: STEM presented by: Dr. Richard Tapia, Rice University

presented by: Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D., Director Texas Center for Education Policy, UT - Austin A confluence of factors have resulted in a statewide conversation regarding the reasons why Texas should seriously reconsider its current framework surrounding testing, accountability, and assessment. In particular, it has consisted of a system of rewards and punishments. This presentation argues that Texas needs to move toward an informational framework in policy as both a foundation and precondition for making necessary adjustments to Texas’ current system of high-stakes accountability. Despite a handful of recent legislative adjustments to Texas’ high-stakes system of accountability, the overall framework has not been fundamentally altered. It remains deeply flawed for reasons that Valenzuela (2005) outlined a decade ago: “[F]or attaching highstakes consequences--in the areas of retention, promotion, and graduation--to a single measure of students’ academic abilities; for attaching high-stakes consequences to schools and districts and thereby encouraging a reductionist, test-driven curriculum; and for promoting a uniform and objectivist way of knowing, to the detriment of other cultures, languages, and approaches to knowledge. (p. 2) Another building critique also documented by Valenzuela has been the linkage of test scores to the school privatization agenda. Standardized testing is therefore still the single most significant factor in determining the performance of students, teachers, administrators, schools, and districts. Until a new testing framework is implemented that differs substantially from Texas’ current high-stakes system, the harms addressed above will continue to affect students statewide. This presentation examines what a new accountability framework must include, while simultaneously illuminating the current movement and politics behind this shift. Authentic, performance-based assessment is further cast as a viable, research-based alternative in terms of how classroom teaching is to re-shape itself under the alternative accountability framework that is the primary focus of this conversation.

Richard Tapia, 2010 awardee of the National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists and engineers, is a mathematician in Rice University’s Computational and Applied Mathematics Department. He holds the rank of University Professor, the university’s highest academic title awarded to only six individuals in the university’s history. Among his many other honors is election to the National Academy of Engineering, the first Hispanic to receive this honor, and honorary doctorates from Carnegie Mellon University, Colorado School of Mines, University of Nevada, and Claremont Graduate University. Two professional conferences have been named in his honor: the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference and the Blackwell-Tapia Mathematics Conference. Tapia served on the National Science Board from 1996-2002. Because of his leadership Rice University is recognized as a national leader in the preparation of women and underrepresented minority doctoral degree recipients in science, engineering, and mathematics. Saturday, January 24, 2015 (8:30 am to 9:15 am) Third General Session: Closing the Gaps for Hispanic Students presented by: Dr. Raymund A. Paredes, Texas Commissioner of Higher Education and CEO of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Dr. Paredes spent most of his academic career at UCLA where for 30 years he taught as an English professor and served for ten years as vice chancellor for academic development. In addition, he served as special assistant to the president of the University of California System in outreach efforts to improve access to higher education for students from educationally disadvantaged communities. Prior to joining the Coordinating Board, Dr. Paredes was director of creativity and culture at the Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Paredes has served on the national board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters; he also served as a trustee of The College Board and Mercy College of New York, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Cultural Trust. continued on next2015 page... 21 Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring

In 2007, he was named one of Hispanic Business Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics. Dr. Paredes was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He attended The University of Texas at Austin, receiving a B.A. in English. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, including a 14-month tour with the First Infantry Division in Vietnam. After separation from military service, he resumed his education, receiving a master’s degree in American Studies from the University of Southern California and his Ph.D. in American Civilization, from The University of Texas at Austin.

Saturday, January 24, 2015 (11:00am to 1:00pm) Fifth General Session and Key-note Luncheon: Join us as we announce the sponsorship commitment by ERO as the inaugural MASBA Adamantium Sponsor

Saturday, January 24, 2015 (9:30am to 10:45am) Fourth General Session: Developing a Grassroots Latina/Latino Education Policy Agenda in Texas presented by: Patricia D. López, Ph.D., Associate Director of the National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAP) and Co-Chair of the SHC-MALC Latina/o Education Task Force & Celina Moreno, Esq., Legislative Staff Attorney, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and Co-Chair of the SHC-MALC Latina/o Education Task Force As MASBA facilitates conversations on education issues during the 84th legislative session it is crucial that these dialogues include the insights of Mexican American/Latino organizations. In a climate riddled with corporate reformers and special interests, many Mexican American/Latino organizations in Texas struggle to carry out their commitment to reverse downward trends in educational equity and attainment. This environment similarly impacts legislators’ decision making process and the kinds of policies that make their way out of the Texas State Legislature. Accordingly, this panel will discuss the work of the Latina/Latino Education Policy Task Force, a community-based effort endorsed by members of the Senate Hispanic Caucus and Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) that includes numerous state- and local-level Mexican-American/ Latino organizations. MASBA members will be informed on the SHC-MALC Latina/Latino Education Task Force’s research-based process data that culminated into the development of a Grassroots Education Policy Agenda for the 84th legislative session.

Keynote Address by Brian Godinez, ERO Architects, Chief Marketing Officer ERO Architects, a leading architectural firm designing 21st century learning environments, has elevated its support for the Mexican American School Board Members Association (MASBA) by becoming the first Adamantium Sponsor for 2015. “Formalizing our support for MASBA is the next step in our commitment to the organization,” said Brian Godinez, chief marketing officer for ERO. “Becoming the Adamantium Sponsor demonstrates our commitment to helping improve K-12 public schools and ensure that Mexican American students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and impact our global economy. ERO believes in investing in programs with a common goal to strengthen the education, environment and opportunities for students.”

Outstanding Service & Leadership Award Presentation:

Adamantium is most precious and valuable metal known to man. It is regarded as indestructible. Adamantium is a metal alloy which originates in the Marvel Comics Universe best known for being the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and bone claws. MASBA is proud to announce ERO Architects as the inaugural Adamantium Sponsor. ERO Architects is a long time supporter of the MASBA vision. The MASBA/ERO relationship will allow this vision to be established and recognized throughout Texas, positioning MASBA to pursue higher level endeavors in the near future. Moreover, this partnership will solidify that ensuring and advocating a quality education for all students will be indestructible. The combined commitment to education excellence of MASBA and ERO Architects is truly a force to be reckoned with.

David G. Hinojosa, Esq. MALDEF Albert Cortez, Ph.D., IDRA

www.MASBA.info

Texas Scholars Magazine | Winter/Spring 2015

Saturday, January 24, 2015 (6:00pm to Midnight)) Saturday, January 24, 2015 (6:00pm to Midnight))

Celebrate with us as we present Celebrate us as we present Senator with Gonzalo Barrientos Senator Gonzalo Barrientos the 2015 MASBA 2015 MASBA Lathe Campana Award

La Campana Award

www.MASBA.info www.MASBA.info

The Honorable The Honorable Former Senator Former Senator Gonzalo Barrientos Gonzalo Barrientos

The prestigious MASBA "La Campana Award" is The prestigious MASBA "La Campana Award" is awarded annually at the MASBA Conference to an awarded annually at the MASBA Conference to an individual who has distinguished him/herself in the area individual who has distinguished him/herself in the area of education and has been instrumental in advancing of education and has been instrumental in advancing the the goals goals and and mission mission of of MASBA. MASBA. "La "La Campana" Campana" symbolizes the essence of the call symbolizes the essence of the call to to action action or or cause cause to to which the recipient has responded as a leader which the recipient has responded as a leader and and advocate advocate for for quality quality education education and and other other core core values values which MASBA is about and stands for. which MASBA is about and stands for.

TASB BENEFITS TASB C O O PBENEFITS E R AT I V E C O O P E R AT I V E

O'Hanlon, Rodriguez Betancourt & Demerath O'Hanlon,Attorneys Rodriguez Betancourt & Demerath and Counselors at Law Attorneys and Counselors at Law

Former Former Senator Senator Gonzalo Gonzalo Barrientos, Barrientos, retired retired after after serving more more than than 30 30 years years in in the the Texas Texas House House of of serving Representatives and and Texas Texas State State Senate Senate -- 21 21 years years in in Representatives the Senate Senate and and 10 10 in in the the House. House. During During this this time time the period, he he passed, passed, authored, authored, sponsored/co-sponsored sponsored/co-sponsored period, approximately 700 700 pieces pieces of of legislation, legislation, including including more more approximately than a dozen bills to assist at risk students and to reduce the drop-out rate such as Communities in School. Along with another public education champion, State Representative Irma Rangel, he on the Senate side co-authored and sponsored the top 10% legislation, which granted high school students who graduated in the top 10%, automatic admission to state colleges and universities. This has, throughout the years, significantly increased the enrollment of minority students at the large flagship universities such as U.T. and A&M and others. Much of the other pieces of legislation which Senator Barrientos was responsible was in areas of Affordable Housing; Housing; Public Public Safety; Safety; Environment; Environment; Transportation, Transportation, Public Public Health; Health; Civil Civil Rights; Rights; Protection Protection for for the the Elderly; Elderly; and and overall overall better better quality quality of of life life type type legislation. legislation.

NAH L SPOORTS FLOORING ,

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Music Music and and entertainment entertainment to to follow provided by follow provided by Pio Pio Trevi単o Trevi単o La La Campana Campana Award Award Banquet Banquet sponsored sponsored by: by:

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Texas Scholars Magazine Winter/Spring Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District does|not discriminate on the2015 basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, disability, or any other legally protected status in employment or provision of services, programs, or activities.