The Texas Commission for the Blind's (TCB's) braille literacy initiative is an agency-based program designed to enhance the braille skills of teaching staff. In addition, TCB has established braille-production stations in 30 of its district offices and offers technical assistance to regional rehabilitation personnel. (Author)

To improve the education available to low achieving students, the Texas State Board of Education has developed new policies regarding accreditation, state regulation, and the provision of technical assistance to schools. The accreditation policy shifts state review away from districts in general and to specific schools identified as insufficiently…

This paper describes the development of the Texas Educator Preparation Improvement Initiative (EPII), a program evaluation process for teacher preparation entities that involved a peer technical assistance program. Planners ensured that: all recommendations would be devoid of punitive measures; assistance would only be provided if requested by the…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

This report summarizes accomplishments of the ESCAPE (Eastern Stream Child Abuse Prevention and Education) Project over its final two years and identifies products developed under its auspices during this period. An introduction describes the project which was initiated in 1982 to establish and reduce the incidence of child maltreatment in the…

This paper reports preliminary results of two models of school reform initiated in Texas during the summer of 1997. The Texas Accelerated Schools Model began with an intense 5-day training of school teams from schools that had completed a "buy-in" process, along with their external coach, The Schoolwide Planning Summer Institutes began…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

This directory lists 160 organizations in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as national organizations that provide educational resources for American Indians. Few American Indians live in Arkansas and Louisiana, but Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico rank among the top 10 states in terms of Native American population. The…

This report of an 18-month planning study presents recommendations concerning the development and promotion of improved child care services for Texas children with and without disabilities. A mail survey of child care centers (588 programs surveyed) and a telephone survey of 495 family day care providers found a need for on-site training and…

This report intends to clarify and strengthen the position of the Texas Regional Education Service Centers by providing a structure to improve the quality of their services. The regional education service centers primarily deliver training and technical assistance to help school districts implement statewide initiatives for school improvement. The…

This packet presents the final report and related supporting material of the federally supported Texas Deaf-Blind Project, which provided technical assistance to families of children with deaf-blindness, as well as public and private agencies, institutions, and organizations providing services to this population throughout Texas. During the grant…

This report discusses the challenges and successes in creating an education system that meets the needs of all students in Texas. The first two sections provide background information on a project investigating the achievement of students with disabilities in high achieving, high poverty Texas elementary schools, and present a framework for this…

Volume II contains six appendices to Volume I, including short summaries of the 18 schools that were studied. Appendices included in this report are: (1) Evaluation Methodology; (2) Promising Reform Strategies; (3) Descriptions of the Research-Based Methods or Strategies Being Used; (4) Short Summaries of 18 Comprehensive School Reform…

A study examined the ways in which practitioners in four states were defining the terms coordination/cooperation/collaboration when directing the monies set aside in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) funding for use in coordination among educators and job training providers. Case studies of the use of 8 percent set-aside monies were conducted in…

Ten of the twenty Education Service Centers (ESC) that provide instructional and technical services to the local school districts in Texas were asked to participate in a project designed to demonstrate infusion and management techniques in career education. Activities were accomplished under the following objectives: (1) establish the…