There are deep and often institutionalized root causes for persistent equity gaps in postsecondary access and attainment in the United States. Many data sources, as well as the dozens of practitioners interviewed for this paper, affirm this. The majority of K-12 public school students are now students of color, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimates…

The purpose of this Equity Brief is to provide some guidance for educators with regard to the challenges around supporting undocumented students in the midst of uncertain times and continued concerns surrounding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Many youth in the DACA Program have made the United States their home and have lived in…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. This brief presents findings from C-SAIL's Implementation Study, which uses interview and survey…

Research evidence suggests that summer breaks contribute to income-based achievement and opportunity gaps for children and youth. However, summertime can also be used to provide programs that support an array of goals for children and youth, including improved academic achievement, physical health, mental health, social and emotional well-being,…

Examines Texas adoption process, described by author as having an inordinate impact on textbook market. Creationist opposition to evolution content in biological textbooks is well organized. Author presents 10 arguments made at hearing by creationists that he describes as a monument to scientific illiteracy. Asserts that creationists' confusion of…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report is…

A decade after "San Antonio v Rodriguez" (1973), a historic ruling on the unjust Texas educational finance system, the state's Education Opportunity Act (1984) finally replaced existing statutory formulas with a weighted pupil average system and committed $2.8 billion to education over the next three years. A statistical analysis shows…

Describes a Texas educational program that uses interactive instructional television to teach fully accredited high school classes, staff development workshops, and preservice and inservice education classes. (MD)

Patchwork quilting is an original folk art in the United States. Pilgrims first used worn out scraps of cloth to make bed covers in an age of scarcity. Featured here are stories on East Texas Quilts, their origins, the love and hard work which goes into the making of a quilt (Ira Barr and others). The techniques needed to construct a quilt are…

Despite time restraints and lack of training, principals are responsible for mounting some kind of public relations effort in their schools. This article provides a checklist for building a successful campaign, including polling staff talents, reaching out to the community, obtaining district assistance, and making the right approach. (MLH)

Conclusions of the five-year Pyramid Project, designed to implement gifted education recommendations of the Richardson Study in four Texas school districts, are reported. Flexible pacing was successfully implemented in a variety of ways, including enrichment in regular and special classes and acceleration. (DB)

This booklet on spelling instruction, developed in response to requests to incoporated spelling into an integrated language arts program, contains information related to the current thinking on effective and appropriate spelling instruction. Following an overview, the booklet discusses the developmental stages of the learner, effective spelling…

Discusses the trend toward centralized decision making in schools brought about by state legislatures specifying curricular details. In the process, authority is shifted upwards to state level, and professionals become demoralized about changing or improving their schools' curricula. Citing Texas legislation and 11 other references, this paper…

A recent Supreme Court decision on a First Amendment case involving a teacher in Texas illustrates how teachers' and other public employees' rights to freedom of speech face serious erosion. The problem is deciding whether grievances fall into the protected area of "public concern" or the unprotected area of a "purely private…

This packet provides information on the balance between the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and modern forestry in Texas. A set of classroom activities about the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and its habitat for grades 3-6, and a booklet, a pamphlet, and a poster are featured. Sections of the booklet include: (1) "The Red-cockaded…