The federal mandate for "highly qualified" teachers, along with heightened scrutiny of public education, has resulted in the development of state-mandated teacher certification examinations across the nation. Since teacher education programs in Texas are held accountable for the success rates of program completers on the Texas…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, atrisk, English language learner, immigrant, and migrant…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a statistically significant mean difference in math and reading student performance by types of schools. The types of schools were identified as all-male and all-female public middle schools. Specifically, this study examined the impact of public single-sex schools on the mathematics and…

The Net-Talk is an online forum in which AISD staff and students can voice their opinions and share ideas with the Superintendent. This report summarizes the most popular topics in the 2011-2012 student Net-Talk.

This causal-comparative study evaluated a 30-week chess instructional program implemented within special education math classes for students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in a suburban middle school located in the southwestern United States. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was utilized to compare the adjusted means for the comparison…

Seventeen state-sponsored residential math and science schools have been created across the country to direct talented teens toward STEM careers. Admission is selective, based on competitive grades, standardized test scores, and references. Most of the schools also require preadmission interviews. However, selection interviews may be challenged as…

Ever since the founding of this country, equality, freedom, and justice have been the underlying values of America's political and educational systems. More than 150 years later, higher education policymakers in the United States began to incorporate these values into their admissions decisions by including ethnic and racial diversity as a stated…

Within the U.S. public school system, English Language Learners (ELL) represent the fastest growing student population. Many of these students struggle to access grade-level content due to Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Although policy regarding LEP status varies state-to-state, most states impose a short time limit on how long a student can…

This article explores changes in multicultural knowledge and skill to which beginning art teachers are held accountable through standardized teacher testing in Texas. Standardized testing of preservice art teachers' knowledge and skill has been the basis of the state's certification of beginning art teachers and accreditation of art teacher…

Federal Title I funding has been allocated to districts since 1965 in an effort to provide schools with a high population of identified low socioeconomic students with additional resources to close the achievement gap. The basis for this study was to ascertain whether the Title I funding that schools received was having a positive impact on…

The researchers examined the most recent year of data (i.e., 2008-2009) from the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System regarding accountability ratings and student characteristics (i.e., ethnicity, programmatic enrollment, mobility) in elementary schools (n = 4,110). Accountability ratings (i.e., Exemplary, Recognized, Academically…

The purpose of this study was to analyze which selected factors or sets of selected factors predict the success of students in the eighth grade by using their scores on the Reading, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies sections of the TAKS exam. The factors that will be researched for eighth grade students are socioeconomic status, school…

Researchers in the field of educational administration have given little attention to the role of the associate principal. The research reported in this dissertation sought to fill that void through a close examination of the roles of the associate principals on two campuses in two different school districts. In addition to illustrating the role…

This annual report provides information for the 2010-11 school year on grade-level retention and student performance in the Texas public school system. Student retention and promotion data are reported with data on the performance of students in Grades 3-10 on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading and mathematics tests. [For…

This study was designed to investigate the differences between two groups of fifth grade students' performance on the 2010 fifth grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) math test. The sample consisted of a group of fifth grade students receiving the traditional instruction from their classroom teacher and a group of fifth grade…