The document is from a presentation at the 2014 annual conference of the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT). The presenter noted that the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law was the most far-reaching education legislation in over four decades. To address the requirements of this legislation, the presenter examined the third-generation…

This paper provides preliminary findings on the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) Test given to all Texas public college and university freshman, particularly regarding minority student performance. Of all students, 81% passed all three sections of the test, mathematics, reading, and essay. The passing group represented 87% of Anglos, 59% of…

By including district variables at a third level, this study extended previous two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) of multivariate relationships among Texas school-level characteristics and within-school mean Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores and score differentiating factors (L. L. Hargrove, M. X. Mao, and G. Barkanic, 1996;…

Graduate programs in Educational Administration use a variety of screening strategies, including the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) when selecting and admitting students. In order to earn Standard Principal Certification in Texas, an Educational Administration candidate, in addition to completing a graduate program, must also pass the Standard…

Suburban schools are generally of higher quality than the inner city schools that continue to serve a disproportionate share of black children. This study provided significant evidence that school quality, measured by the mean test scores for individual grades/campuses, has a large impact on the achievement of individual students. The analysis…

Building on two previous studies in 1997 and 1999, this study aimed to: (1) determine whether the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) has had a positive impact on students academic performance; (2) determine the perception of the TASP among key community, junior, and technical college personnel across Texas; and (3) determine the impact on…

The accountability subset of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) was studied over 4 years to identify trends that might explain why the 1999 TAAS passing rate did not decrease as was predicted. Expanding the accountability index in those years to include special education students was expected to cause a decline in the TAAS…

This paper discusses the supply and importance of minority teachers and predicts the effects of admissions and certification exams on the percentage of minorities in the new teacher pool. The analysis is based on the results of tests administered in one state, Texas (a teacher education program admissions test and a certification examination). The…

This paper explores educational productivity in Texas as it relates to the development of an educational productivity model based on information in the Accountability System of the Texas Education Agency. A number of educational inputs were identified that were found to be related to specific educational outputs. Stepwise regression analysis was…

Evaluation of a structured immersion program, operating since 1968 in Uvalde, Texas as part of the United States Department of Education's Project Follow Through, suggests that the structured immersion approach has had a consistent positive effect on the academic achievement of the language minority students involved. Approximately 130 Spanish…

The functional competencies of 131 women offenders incarcerated in Texas were assessed and than compared to the functional competencies of 868 free-world women in Texas surveyed during the Adult Performance Level (APL) Project. The findings support the following conclusions: (1) women in the free-world are more functionally competent than women…

Whether there were differences in motivational and learning environment perceptions of students selected based on their performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) was studied over 3 years in a public school district in Texas. The degree to which affective elements of student behavior varied according to their success on this…

A state-mandated outcomes assessment test for certification of teachers has been administered in Texas since 1986. At Southwest Texas State University, which produces the most certified teachers in the state, the assessment showed that its students were not also among the best. In response to this situation, a presidential committee conducted…