Using rich Texas administrative data, we estimate the impact of middle school principals on post-secondary schooling, employment, and criminal justice outcomes. The results highlight the importance of school leadership, though striking differences emerge in the relative importance of different skill dimensions to different outcomes. The estimates…

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine enrollment in string orchestra instruction across Texas. Three central research questions guided the investigation: (a) How well is orchestra represented in districts and schools across the state of Texas? (b) What are the characteristics (FRPL eligibility, locale, student race/ethnicity,…

Equity between racial/ethnic groups has become an important factor in education, and scholar-practitioners have focused on closing the equity gap in both student academics and discipline. Research has shown the inequity in student discipline dating back to the 1950s when schools began to integrate and Black students were allowed to attend the same…

Despite decades of concern about disparities in educational outcomes for low SES students and students of color, there has been limited rigorous study of programmatic approaches for reducing these disparities in elementary or middle schools. We conducted integrative data analysis (IDA) of the combined data from eight Institute of Education…

The purpose of this study was to determine if attending a single-sex, STEM-focused school was related to science and mathematics achievement among a sample of African American and Latina eighth-grade girls in one school district. A nonequivalent group, post-test only design was utilized in the study to mitigate the effects of selection bias. We…

Despite decades of concern about disparities in educational outcomes for low SES students and students of color, there has been limited rigorous study of programmatic approaches for reducing these disparities in elementary or middle schools. We conducted integrative data analysis (IDA) of the combined data from eight Institute of Education…

Given math's importance, states are adopting a range of K12 policies to improve math outcomes. As these and other policies unfold, policymakers need to monitor intended outcomes and ultimately gauge impact. They need answers to basic questions: Are more students taking and passing algebra and advanced math? Are performance gaps changing between…

This study tracked college and workforce outcomes for students who began 8th grade in fall 1998 and attended a Texas public school. Students were tracked for 17 years, through summer 2015, when they were approximately 30 years old. Of the 38,322 eighth-grade students in Harris County, 30 percent finished a postsecondary certificate or degree.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not adopting a blended learning model led to significant difference in the Algebra I standardized test scores on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End-of-Course (EOC) exam between secondary students who experienced a blended learning model in their classrooms and…

Purpose: The authors demonstrate the usage of data visualization for conveying educational administration research, with a specific focus on differential principal turnover. They model when and how principals move, over time, between six categories of turnover. Design/methodology/approach: The authors construct several easy-to-interpret alluvial…

This study was grounded in the social cognitive career theoretical framework (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The purpose of this four-year longitudinal study was to examine the factors that may have contributed to students' motivation to develop STEM interest during secondary school years. The participants in our study were 9th-11th grade high…

Region 14 Comprehensive Center and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) are collaboratively implementing projects to address high leverage problems such as instructional leadership professional development, school-based mental health supports, and evidence-based reading instruction. This profile provides a summary of these selected projects and an…

This research study analyzed the impact of an early college readiness program (ECRP) on students' academic performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading and mathematics assessments in Grades 3, 4, and 5. ECRP is a college readiness system designed to support students to reach postsecondary education. The ECRP…

This study examines the educational outcomes of Latino men in Texas by conducting a descriptive policy-focused disaggregate analysis of longitudinal data from the 8th Grade Cohort Longitudinal Study and the Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS). Based on our analysis, we provide context and understanding of the progress made towards meeting…

Little is known about the naturalistic development of mindfulness in adolescence and how it relates to changes in emotional well-being. The current longitudinal study examined the development of one dimension of mindfulness, nonreactivity to difficult inner experience (or in more colloquial terms, being able to notice, but "take a step…