One North Texas boy, Ennis Rakestraw, Jr., was among them, penning his dream in a letter to his then-fourth-grade teacher. “Dear Mr. Gammon, you are the best teacher ever," reads Derek Gammon.

Way to go, Sophia! The 4th-grader's 7.5 pound cabbage, which she grew after she was given a seedling at school last year, won her statewide recognition and a $1,000 scholarship.

What can I drop? What do we need to focus on?" For the first time last year, every public school teacher in Texas from third through eighth grade had to grapple with those questions. The STAAR 2.0 ...