Tracy, Shane Byron v. the State of Texas — Implications for Literacy and Reading

Sources and Grounding Material

• TRACY, SHANE BYRON v. the State of Texas
• Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• 2026-09-17
• PD-1052-24
• Meet Jill Pavich, M.Ed., NBCT - edPioneer Meet Jill Pavich, M.Ed., NBCT - edPioneer --> $ 0.00 Meet Jill Pavich, M.Ed., NBCT Home Meet Jill Pavich, M.Ed., NBCT Jill Boyd Pavich has a bachelor’s degree in grades 6-12 Language Arts education from Kent State University in Ohio, and a master’s degree in curriculum design from Florida Atlantic University in Florida. She obtained her National Board Certification in 2009 and is both Reading and English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsed. She is course trained in AICE General Paper, AICE Global Perspectives & Research, and AP Seminar. A 12-year veteran of teaching, Jill has a wide range of experiences in the classroom. Prior to her departure from the classroom to consult and train full-time, she spearheaded three, collegiately-geared programs at her high school in Boca Raton, Florida: she was the team leader and curriculum designer for two courses that are part of the Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) program, offered through Cambridge International Exams; and she was a Department Head for the Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone program at her school as well as the team leader for the AP Seminar portion of this pioneering curriculum. In her classroom, Jill developed a “Global Writing Block,” which fuses together these three curriculums for a seamless, cross-curricular approach to writing instruction. She encourages a student-centered approach to learning where students become not only problem-solvers but also problem-finders and deep thinkers. Over the past two school years of implementing this block, Jill’s students maintained an average pass rate of 100% for the AICE courses and an average of 90% for AP . All of her learners are freshmen. Outside the classroom, Jill has dedicated herself to her community of teachers by sharing resources and providing professional support and development opportunities. In 2012, she created a blog for writing teachers called The Global Pen, which has given her the opportunity to share and swap innovative ideas and resources with her local base in Florida, to her peers internationally in locations like Canada, Singapore, and Egypt. Statewide, she has been a lead facilitator for Cambridge University’s ‘Best Practices’ workshops since 2012, and locally, a district ‘Roundtable’ leader since 2014. Jill co-presented at the AP Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, in 2016 for AP Seminar. Jill was a 2016 Dwyer Award finalist for teaching excellence in Palm Beach County, an accolade for which she was nominated by her colleagues. Most recently, Jill has been selected to become an accredited, teacher trainer for Cambridge International Examinations, and she is currently contracted with Cambridge University Press to write the first-ever, General Paper course book. A current resident of Delray Beach, Florida, Jill is mother to her two children–Willow and Over the past two school years of implementing this block, Jill’s students maintained an average pass rate of 100% for the AICE courses and an average of 90% for AP . This blog has been a steady horizon for me in this ‘rocky’ school year!” Atlantic High School, Delray Beach, FL Avid Blog Follower “Last year was my first year teaching AICE GP, and I had a 98.7% passing rate (76 out of 77 passed!) I truly could not have done this without your help.” John I Leonard High School, Greenacres, FL Workshop Participant, Ongoing Email Correspondent “Thank you once again (out of nearly a thousand now) for the resources.
• The Silent Debate: getting quiet as a strategy for speaking up - edPioneer --> $ 0.00 The Silent Debate: getting quiet as a strategy for speaking up Home 21st Century Tools The Silent Debate: getting quiet as a strategy for speaking up The Silent Debate: getting quiet as a strategy for speaking up Sep 10, 2019 | Posted by jillpavich@edpioneer.com | 21st Century Tools , Pedagogy , Remix Archives | 2 comments | Teaching argument in the high school classroom is pretty much a ‘must,’ right? Somewhere between core learning standards in academics and an increasing need for critical thinking and problem-solving in the real world, the-art-of-argumentation-as-unit continues to gain its momentum (and rightfully so!) In my own classroom, just before my students launch into arguments of their own, I take the opportunity to first explore some of the greatest debates of all time. We peer into those monumental court cases, from Brown v. Board of Education (1954) to Texas v. Johnson (1989), but we also highlight those issues so near and dear to students’ interests, such as New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) and Board of Education v. Earls (2002). If there’s a Constitutional right my students most fervently have something to speak up about, though…it’s Amendment 1 (see how I did that?!). Cases like Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988), Riley v. California (2014), and Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011) never disappoint in sparking lively debate about teens’ ability to express themselves while on school grounds or otherwise.   Yet beyond the backdrop of the Supreme Court, amidst the content learned through the study of each case, and just past the argumentative and critical thinking skills gained along the way, two, additional *life* lessons emerge as well. According to Robert Sharpe, of the worldwide writers’ association, English PEN (part of PEN International ): ‘Free speech means no one gets the last word.’ Robert Sharpe, English PEN Amendment 1 reminds us that we have the right to speak, but in doing so, we also give consent to be spoken to.   Our perspective, no matter how clever, isn’t the *only* one, and it’s certainly not the final answer.   (Not even in the Supremest of courts!).   So first of all: as society’s needs grow and evolve, we undoubtedly adjust–dare I say, change –our minds right? Well the First Amendment is our reminder that it’s ok to question what we know, once it begins to feel off-kilter, unpleasant, or downright wrong. And the other lesson flanking the hip of the First Amendment is that we can have the right to free speech all day , but in order for our voice + our arguments to be properly heard, we We peer into those monumental court cases, from Brown v. Board of Education (1954) to Texas v. Johnson (1989), but we also highlight those issues so near and dear to students’ interests, such as New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) and Board of Education v. Earls (2002). Cases like Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988), Riley v. California (2014), and Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011) never disappoint in sparking lively debate about teens’ ability to express themselves while on school grounds or otherwise.   Yet beyond the backdrop of the Supreme Court, amidst the content learned through the study of each case, and just past the argumentative and critical thinking skills gained along the way, two, additional *life* lessons emerge as well.
• From passion to purpose: getting started with student-led projects - edPioneer --> $ 0.00 From passion to purpose: getting started with student-led projects Home 21st Century Tools From passion to purpose: getting started with student-led projects From passion to purpose: getting started with student-led projects Jan 21, 2019 | Posted by jillpavich@edpioneer.com | 21st Century Tools | 0 comments | In a recent post, I talked about why our students are learning without us these days, and how it has a lot to do with an imbalanced emphasis of cognitive work over building those tangible (AKA, ‘soft’) skills which are just as necessary in doing the real work of the world. Now don’t get it twisted here…cognitive work is important. But even if the emphasis of our instruction is on higher order thinking skills (HOTS), a lot of the cognitive work students are doing is exclusively carried out in the name of test preparation. Case in point: consider why we teach students to write an argumentative essay. First of all, it runs the gamut of HOTS, doesn’t it? Among the highlights, they’re learning to: apply information, by including evidence and examples to back their claims analyze information, when they consider the weight and relevance of the evidence they find evaluate information, when they draw conclusions and drive home their point or perspective express themselves clearly and coherently But WHY do we teach them to write an argumentative essay in our class? I’ll be the one to say it, I suppose… We teach students to write arguments so they pass state-wide and/or college-credit exams . Now I know that you know there’s more to it than that. *We* know that those argumentative writing skills will eventually help our students’ future selves: write well in college dispute a charge to their credit card company vie for a position at work heck, run for city council But it will also help them: respond to lively debates taking place in the comment thread of one of their social media posts crowdfund resources for a cause, or in the name of a family member or friend recovering from an unfortunate event secure funding or capital for a potential start-up idea *We* know how these skills will one day transfer. But do they? I’m not sure that relying on their higher order thinking skills to make the connection is worth the risk… So why do we risk relying on one medium or format, ‘the formal essay’, to teach the true value of argumentative skills, as opposed to, say, letting them choose the mediums that’re most relevant to their lives while we choose the skills to practice? I’ll be the one to say it… Because we’re stuck in Disclaimer: I don’t even really love that name, and there’s a whole bunch of malarkey out there about what the ‘proper’ name is to call this concept…’Genius Hour’, ‘20% Time’, ‘Innovation Project’… Whatever, DUDE…so long as it intrinsically motivates tomorrow’s leaders, you can paint it red and call it Rosey, for all I care… But I digress… The mainframe I want to position around this idea–and the reason I stick with the word ‘passion’, I guess– is that whatever the passion is that a student identifies, he or she needs to translate it into real world purpose . (And even more important than the money, guys, he’s on a mission to get the 90% of Americans who reportedly believe in universal background checks to contact their representatives to demand it).
• Webinar - edPioneer Webinar - edPioneer --> $ 0.00 The edPioneer Webinar Series Professional Development. In your PJs. Home Webinar COMING UP TwitterTEACH Workshop Preview RECENT WORK Curriculum Support Webinar In this webinar, I share a wealth of instructional strategies and immediately implementable materials for teaching argumentative writing . Along the way, I offer tips and advice for creating theme-based units , and blending district and state writing requirements and standardized test prep expectations into courses like AICE Cambridge and AP Capstone without sacrificing time or rigor. Drop on by again and again…this webinar is available for viewing whenever you need it compliments of edPioneer 😉 Blaze the Trail Interested in making things happen? Looking forward to dusting off the path with you! Tribe Vibe...Connect Here! Let's blaze the trail together. Join Today. Clean Slate Background Check See your record before anyone else does. Run a Clean Slate scan → → © 2017 — edPioneer Consulting, LLC ----All Rights Reserved. Theme by HB-Themes. ABOUT Jill Pavich, M.Ed., NBCT TESTIMONIALS WEBINARS BLOG LIBRARY SHOP Frequently Asked Questions Blaze the Trail Interested in making things happen? Looking forward to dusting off the path with you!
• Understanding Perspectives - edPioneer Understanding Perspectives - edPioneer --> $ 0.00 Understanding Perspectives Home Assessment Understanding Perspectives Understanding Perspectives Sep 9, 2016 | Posted by jillpavich@edpioneer.com | Assessment , Frequently Asked Questions , Instructional Strategies , Lesson Planning , Research , Resources and Materials , Sharing , Writing | 0 comments | Teacher: “Ok, teams, for your research, you’ll need to examine the issue through multiple perspectives. Mmm-kay?” Student ( during presentation of research ) : “When I did my research from the environmental perspective, I found that…” In courses like AP Seminar or AICE Global Perspectives & Research, this is all too often the talk. And let me tell you the dog’s honest truth…during my first year as an AP Seminar teacher, I seriously thought this was right. Problem is, ‘ environment’ isn’t a perspective . It’s a LENS . With IN that lens you may have varying perspectives as to whether topic X is environmentally awesome or not, but the environment itself is NOT the point of view. Want to learn more about LENSES? Sign up for the edPioneer mailing and gain instant access to this 3-5 day unit, which introduces the concept of lenses to your writers! Sound like a mix-up you’re either teaching or allowing in your class right now? Don’t stress. It’s almost a rite of passage NOT to know what the difference between ‘lens’ and ‘perspective’ is during Year One. Hence the reason for this blog post…to pave a smoother for you than I had. Annnnd it’s because I like you, really. For the sake of a wider audience, let me back up a minute to set the scene-proper… In each of the AP and AICE research-writing classes mentioned, students are responsible for completing a team research task as one of their requirements; specifically, they work together in groups to identify a research question, then they investigate (and attempt to solve) it. As the teacher noted in the sketch above, students are to examine the issue from multiple perspectives before arriving at a conclusion and/or offering solutions. The wires of ‘lens’ and ‘perspective’ tend to get crossed when groups are forming and students are dividing up research responsibilities. As they talk about the lens they’re interested in, they start using this word interchangeably with the perspectives their finding within that lens . A lens is used to narrow the scope of a student’s research efforts; he/she is then responsible for unearthing multiple perspectives WITHIN that lens. After identifying these varying viewpoints, students must then analyze them before arriving at a judgment about the issue as a whole. Yes, you heard that right…a perspective is a POINT OF VIEW…score! Makes so much more sense now,