It is absolutely clear from talking with Freeport teachers that they have high expectations of all their students. One teacher says, "All students can learn. We don't let up on them. We don't dumb down the curriculum." Freeport teachers insist that they are "teaching to the standards" when they prepare students for the TAAS, because "the test is based totally on Texas and national standards." Their highly focused and energetic teaching helps account for the school's rising test scores, as evidenced in the following observation of an eighth grade language arts class.

The class starts with sustained silent reading and then journal writing. For journal writing, a student who has just read a portion of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, draws an outline of one of her hands. She labels the fingers who, what, where/when, why, and how, and fills in answers about what she just read. In the "palm," she writes a summary of what she read. At the bottom of the page is a chart with sections to fill in about the book's title, beginning, middle, and end. All the students follow the same procedure, and they are deeply engrossed in their work.

After this exercise, the teacher, Ms. Melass, reviews last night's homework assignment with the students. The assignment was to complete the 1998 TASS Reading test. Ms. Melass begins by reading a seven-paragraph passage out loud as they read along. They discuss the root words of difficult vocabulary words. Ms. Melass weaves examples and references to music and TV programs she knows her students like. They talk about inferences and educated guesses. They identify questions that call for generalization, analysis, or inference. Ms. Melass helps students see the difference between details and main ideas. She is dramatic and energetic, and her enthusiasm keeps the kids going.

Ms. Melass, who has filled every moment of the period with energetic instruction, asks the class why they are being relatively quiet. They say that going over the test is boring. TAAS review is keeping them from doing what they like: their project work. Nevertheless, they remain attentive and ready with answers.

Ms. Melass asks students about a particular question: What does it call for? They tell her it calls for inference. One student says, "We will have to predict an outcome." "Then remember," she says, "you will have to use your higher-order thinking skills." They are learning to analyze passages and to think about how they think about doing that.

As students head toward their next classes, Ms. Melass starts singing a TAAS pep song. A student in the hall shouts, "You can't sing." "I know," she says, "but I can teach." The boy high-fives her and says, "Right on!"

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