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…

Talented leaders are essential to building and sustaining successful organizations. This is especially true for schools, where principal leadership plays a major role in fostering student success. Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. Like other types…

In education, practitioners are increasingly looking for strategies to bring data and evidence into decisionmaking and to roll out programs in intentional ways that allow for ongoing improvement. This toolkit acts as a guide to improvement strategies for teams of practitioners at colleges, providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

This study attempted to identify efforts to evaluate programs for gifted and talented students in 122 Texas school districts and to compare these practices with those recommended in the literature and with Texas Education Association guidelines. Areas examined included informal and formal assessment of student and teacher identification practices,…

A review of the literature suggests that student evaluations, contrary to popular belief, can be valid sources of data about teaching performance when care is taken in the planning and administration of the evaluation procedure. This study sought to determine if a difference is made in the assessment of teacher competence when student evaluation…

The Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS) is an appraisal system for Texas teachers that was implemented in 1995. The Continuous Improvement Instructional Planning Process is a systematic approach that teachers and administrators may use to align student performance with objectives related to the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills,…

The Texas legislature has mandated assessment of research programs in the state that receive separate line-item appropriations. The two-phase process involves institutional self-studies and site visits resulting in a final report with recommendations. The first two cycles of the assessment have indicated that process is more critical than result.…

This paper will include critical information for administrators and faculty in higher education for developing an assessment model for an online degree program. Determining the assessment process for the program before offering courses will ensure a smooth transition into the online environment so that faculty and administrators will know that the…

A survey of directors of 61 Texas early intervention programs found that directors felt that program improvement should be the main reason for program evaluation efforts, that evaluating program goals and child progress are the most feasible strategies, and that evaluating program quality and family progress are the most difficult strategies. (DB)

A bilingual handbook for Title I migrant Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) was designed to be used by administrators, teachers, consultants and parents in organizing and training PACs at local, district, and state levels. All information is duplicated in separate English and Spanish sections. The first part discusses the Texas migrant program,…

A study determined and described the various methods used to evaluate faculty by chairs of management and/or marketing departments in Texas schools or colleges of business administration. In addition, it investigated administrator attitudes about merit and performance compensation systems and the potential problems and benefits stemming from their…

This analysis exemplifies Texas as 1 of 22 "adoption states" that select textbooks according to systematic state criteria and interprets this approach in relation to textbook reform efforts. Survey data of state committee members' ranking of criteria during the initial selection phase revealed that the top three criteria were…

This guide provides general guidelines for local school districts in Texas to follow in designing English language arts programs to meet the needs of their students and the expectations of their communities. Instead of providing specific instructional items, strategies, and materials, the guide reflects Texas State Board of Education rules and…

This handbook provides resources for teachers and administrators involved in vocational assessment under the requirements of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. The handbook is organized in seven sections. The first section provides an overview of the background and contents of the handbook. Section II gives an overview of the process of…