A portion of state-allocated funding for Texas community colleges has been reserved for the completion of outcome metrics, also known as performance-based funding. Texas community college leaders are faced with the challenges of adapting to increasing pressures from performance-based funding, while also ensuing institutional missions and goals are…

Technological innovation is driving fundamental changes in all aspects of our lives. This is especially true of digital content, as our use of e-books, downloadable music, streaming television and movies, and online social networks has exploded. However, the explosive growth in our use of digital content seems so far to have eluded many of the 50…

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…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and the National Association of State Title I Directors (NASTID) drafted this paper to spark local discussions on the coordinated uses of funds to implement technology in the classroom. State and local Title I and Title IID directors can work together to ensure that these ideas are…

The supreme courts of Montana, New Jersey, and Texas have overturned their respective educational finance systems. Provides analyses of the three cases and a discussion of the implications for other states. (MLF)

Operation Excel is a program developed in a Texas school system that teaches principals and teachers the skills of effective teaching and teacher evaluation. The program has resulted in documented improvement in teacher effectiveness. (MD)

Profiles of the 14 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provide information on the structure of these states for public postsecondary education and budgeting. For each state, the following areas are discussed: state-level coordinating and/or governing agency, institutional governing boards, state board for vocational education,…

This manual provides a comprehensive set of definitions, rules, formats, and illustrations for use by public community and junior colleges in Texas to ensure consistent and uniform financial reporting. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the manual, highlighting changes in requirements for Fiscal Year (FY) 1996. Chapter 2 presents general…

This document, prepared by the Texas State Auditor's Office, offers detailed guidelines for conducting a financial audit of community colleges in Texas. Its purpose is to assist governing boards and college management in ensuring that their colleges are receiving high-quality opinion audits on annual financial statements. The guide includes the…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This March 26, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Going Over the Falls" (Brady, John N.); (2) "Lessons in Departmental…

This report presents background information on possible strategies for shortening degree-completion times at Texas universities. A brief discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy is presented, along with a rough estimate of the fiscal consequences of each. The report notes that the percentage of students who complete their…

This report examines the relationship between philanthropy and public schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas served by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL). While begun as a project to build understanding and to support institutional planning, this report speaks also to local school leaders, the…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This March 11, 2005 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Don't Get Goggle-Eyed Over Google's Plan to Digitize" (Herring, Mark Y.);…

This document contains the definitions and elements of institutional cost and funding formulas recommended for Texas public universities, health science centers (nursing faculty salaries only), and public two-year institutions in fiscal years 1998 and 1999. Texas public institutions of higher education will use these formulas to make their…

This guide provides the administrator of a Texas Even Start Family Literacy program with the information and materials necessary to implement and conduct the program. It begins with these introductory materials: vision statement; overview of the Even Start Program; text of enabling legislation; and information on program applications, fiscal…