Elizabeth Sander

Houston

Education Reporter at Houston Chronicle

Suburban Education reporter (she/her) @houstonchron. Past: @expressnews @columbiajourn - Contact me at [email protected]

Articles

Houston's most affordable private schools

2 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander

For many families interested in applying for a cut of Texas' new $1 billion school voucher plan, the area's most expensive private schools, even with financial aid, may remain out of reach. But Houston is home to more than 150 private schools, and at least 32 of those have tuition rates under $11,000, meaning that a voucher would cover almost the entire cost.
See how your Fort Bend ISD school scored in new accountability ratings

4 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander |Anastasia Goodwin

In the latest release of the Texas Education Agency’s accountability letter grades, data shows that Fort Bend ISD, which straddles Harris and Fort Bend counties to the southwest of Houston, dropped down to a C in the 2022-2023 school year.
The best and worst Houston-area school districts, ranked by TEA scores

5 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander

saw school districts across the state plummet letter grades under the state's new accountability system. In the Houston area, there were only four A-rated districts during the 2022-2023 school year, and none of the 19 school districts exclusively in Harris County received an A rating.
Far-right school board candidates rejected by Houston-area voters

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander

Spring Branch ISD is the outlierThe only outlier in Houston area elections was All three candidates with conservative endorsements won their respective races against a slate of liberal-leaning candidates from the north side of the district. Incumbent trustee Caroline Bennett, newcomer and dyslexia advocate Jennifer Hyland and newcomer Walter Agnew Jr. won their races.
See how your Klein ISD school scored in TEA's new accountability ratings

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Anastasia Goodwin |Elizabeth Sander |Shakari Briggs

Klein ISD maintained its B rating with the release of the 2022-2023 Texas Education Agency accountability ratings. Serving 54,000, Klein ISD has 50 schools from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. Article continues below this adIn a statement on the district’s website, officials said the 2023 TEA ratings don’t reflect today’s reality. “Schools and districts were judged on a system they had no chance to prepare for with the major changes," distict leaders wrote.
Cy-Fair ISD restores some bus routes amid safety concerns

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander

Some of Cy-Fair ISD's 30,000 students disenfranchised by last-minute changes to transportation routes last year will have access to busing for the remaining four weeks of this school year, leaders said. Cy-Fair ISD officials announced last week that they were adding back 16 bus routes of the 79 that were cut to stave off a $138 million budget deficit last year, impacting 1,171 middle school students.
See how your Cy-Fair ISD school scored in TEA's new accountability ratings

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Anastasia Goodwin |Elizabeth Sander |Shakari Briggs

Similar to other Texas school districts, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD dropped a letter grade with this week's release of the 2023 Texas Education Agency’s accountability ratings, barely earning a B rating. With more than 90 campuses and nearly 119,000 students, Cy-Fair scored an 80, 10 points down from its 2022 rating.
See how your Katy ISD school scored in TEA's new accountability ratings

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Anastasia Goodwin |Elizabeth Sander |Shakari Briggs

Despite falling from an A to a B in the 2023 Texas Education Agency’s grading system, Katy ISD remains one of the top-rated traditional ISDs in Harris County, eclipsed only by Tomball ISD. Its grade of 88 makes 96,00-student Katy ISD the highest-ranked district in Texas with over 70,000 students. About 90% of Katy ISD’s campuses received passing ratings in 2023.
TEA grants and new tech are giving some Texas schools a leg up on dyslexia

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander |Claire Partain

Two rules guided a recent professional development session for 20 Humble ISD led by a Harvard education researcher last month. First, no shoes during training, a rule designed to keep the session casual. Second, be willing to pivot if something isn’t working. Article continues below this adThat one was so important leaders had it printed on T-shirts for the dyslexia department.
The best and worst performing Houston-area charter schools in 2024, ranked

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Elizabeth Sander |Anastasia Goodwin

Across the Houston area, charter schools far outperformed traditional public schools at the middle and high school level. Although that was not the case at all campuses, as charter elementary schools generally performed worse, according to data from the Children at Risk ratings from the 2023-2024 school year.