Effective instructional coaching won't happen across a district without a well-specified coaching program and a reliable way to guide coaches. Fortunately, there are innovations from research and development efforts that can help districts put into practice the best ideas about instructional coaching. Andrew Wayne and Jane Coggshall describe how…

"Gerrymandering" is known best as a tool to manipulate boundaries for voting districts, but school districts have long used the same tool to manipulate school boundaries. The author used geospatial techniques--mapping various kinds of demographic data onto school boundaries--to examine public school attendance zones and their effect on…

Every community has individuals or groups who manage to find better solutions to problems than their peers, although everyone has access to the same resources and challenges. Those are the positive deviants.

A Texas survey discloses inconsistencies in the student records that are kept and in the policies on their release. Eight recommendations are offered for improving record-keeping practices. (IRT)

John Goodlad's article in the same "Kappan" issue ignores the most promising approach to teacher preparation woes: alternative certification. As a collaboratively developed, thorough teacher preparation program, alternative certification (such as in Texas) demonstrates that universities need not be the primary purveyors of pedagogical…

Response to article in December 2000 "Phi Delta Kappan" by James Scheurich, Linda Skrla, and Joseph Johnson in support of the Texas Accountability System. Discusses flaws in the article's historical possibilities thesis and the inaccurate characterization of accountability as a dichotomy. Advocates Coalition for Authentic Reform…

Reports on a survey of Texas professors of education that shows professors differing considerably from teachers and principals in their perceptions of teacher concerns. (Author/IRT)

Lack of respect for teacher preparation programs is pervasive. Various education associations' recommendations have spawned three kinds of policy activity: state limitations on teacher preparation programs, alternative certification programs, and increased local school district authority for continuing teacher development and recertification.…

Discusses the trend toward centralized decision making in schools brought about by state legislatures specifying curricular details. In the process, authority is shifted upwards to state level, and professionals become demoralized about changing or improving their schools' curricula. Citing Texas legislation and 11 other references, this paper…

A recent Supreme Court decision on a First Amendment case involving a teacher in Texas illustrates how teachers' and other public employees' rights to freedom of speech face serious erosion. The problem is deciding whether grievances fall into the protected area of "public concern" or the unprotected area of a "purely private…

Discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez," handed down 10 years ago, concerning financial equity in the Texas school finance program. Summarizes Justice Powell's majority opinion and Justice Marshall's dissent and introduces the two following articles assessing the decision's…

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and Texas teacher training institutions are squaring off because of Texas SB 994, a law that eliminates undergraduate degrees in education and caps required credit hours in undergraduate teacher education courses. This article interviews Carl Parker, Hendrik Gideonse, Mary…

Explores disconnect between learner-centered teaching practices taught in Texas university teacher education courses and the teaching methods used by the teachers responsible for mentoring student teachers. Offers short- and long-term solutions for bridging the gap between theory and practice. (Contains 12 references.) (PKP)

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that students' rights to participate in extracurricular activities were not on the same level as rights to free speech and found that the state law barring failing students from extracurricular activities was rationally related to a legitimate state interest in educational quality. (PGD)

In "Doe v. Plyler" the court unanimously held that the denial of a free public education to illegal alien children is a violation of the equal protection clause. Examines how the court came to its conclusion. (Author/IRT)