TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009   * H1N1 Flu Update * Nation's Report Card in Math: Minority Eighth-Graders in Texas Rank High   H1N1 Flu Update: We know that educators, students, and their parents are concerned about the H1N1 flu and how to combat it, so we offer here some news and tips gleaned from state-agency sources.   The Texas Department of State Health Services says Texas can expect to receive 15 million doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine by the end of January, but so far the state has been allotted a small fraction of that total--506,200--for the first two weeks of October. State health officials say they expect the availability of the vaccine to continue to be low for the first few weeks, with volume predicted to increase later this month. Initial vaccine quantities are not high enough for public vaccination clinics to be held.   The Department of State Health Services is delivering the vaccine in nasal-mist form to approved providers for use in vaccinating two- and three-year-olds, while an injectable form of the vaccine is being distributed for the vaccination of pregnant women, four-year-olds, and children four years through 18 years of age who are at higher risk of serious consequences if they get the flu.   For links to toolkits on school-based responses to the flu hazard, you can visit the following page on the DSHS Web site: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/txflu/flu-schools.shtm.   So far this school year, according to the Texas Education Agency Web site (http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=5402), 25 school districts and seven charter schools in Texas have shut down entirely for some period of time because of the H1N1 flu outbreak, while another six school districts have shut down one or more campuses.   Nation's Report Card: The Texas Education Agency yesterday celebrated the first-place showing of eighth-grade African-American students in Texas on the 2009 national math test conducted for the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Texas students in this subgroup tied for the top ranking in the nation with those in Massachusetts. Texas Hispanic eighth-graders scored well above average as well, ranking fourth in the nation. A TEA press release noted that "most, if not all, the states that rank above Texas have less diverse student populations." Overall, TEA said, Texas students ranked 18th among the 50 states as measured by NAEP's eighth-grade math results.   The NAEP, administered to a representative sample of students in each state, serves as a common national yardstick among states whose own standards of proficiency vary widely. Unfortunately, the NAEP math results nationwide showed only slight improvement since 2007. The results were a particular disappointment for anyone who hoped they would show accelerating achievement gains attributable to passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. In fact, the pace of improvement on NAEP tests seems to have slackened since NCLB passed.