The well known 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" recommended that individuals preparing to teach should meet high education standards and demonstrate an aptitude for teaching and competence in an academic discipline--adding also that college and university teacher preparation programs should be judged by how well their graduates meet these…

"The Rewards of Perseverance" tells the story of a district with a clear vision, stable leadership, and deliberate evolution in response to change. Located just north of Houston, AISD has faced daunting challenges since the 1990s--including a significant increase in high-need students, and more rigorous state tests. At the same time, the…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) seeks to address the inequality in schools and to correct achievement disparities prevalent in education, but little is known of NCLB's effect on students in special education. This study assesses the impact of NCLB on special education by asking educators, administrators, and staff who serve students in special…

The Texas statewide assessment of academic skills in 1997 indicated that >55 % of the student population failed to master the mathematics objectives set by the test criteria and 42 % of the mathematics teachers at the secondary level in the East Texas region were categorized as underqualified to teach mathematics at that level. The issue of…

This study examines trends in Black student achievement and in the Black-White achievement gap over the period 2000 to 2007, employing data from ten states drawn from the NAEP Grade 8 mathematics assessments. Results are obtained for three levels of aggregation: the state, school poverty stratum within the state, and schools within poverty…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Fair Funding and includes: (1) Fair Funding of Texas Schools is Even More Critical in Tough Economic Times (Albert Cortez); (2)…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Teaching Quality and includes: (1) Ensuring Teaching Quality in a Civil Rights Context (Bradley Scott); (2) An Unspoken Culture…

Recent scores on state tests show that middle grades students have made some progress in meeting their state's academic standards over the last half-decade. Yet a closer look at state standards indicates that too many Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have set them too low. Quite a few states have taken steps to improve their…

The purpose of this bulletin is to help teachers, supervisors, administrators, and other educators improve the English skills of culturally different youth. In an effort to gather available research and successful classroom practices, the Secondary Schools Section of the U.S. Office of Education invited a group of leaders to participate in a 3-day…

Today, in the United States of America, preparing accomplished teachers who are committed to equity may be among the most important keys to the survival of their democratic way of life. In a society in which the ability to learn is increasingly essential to individual and societal success, the ability to teach powerfully--that is, to teach in ways…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with Texas and 15 other member states to improve education at every level--from pre-K to postdoctoral study--through many effective programs and initiatives. SREB's "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education, which call for the region to lead…

The Science and Mathematics Alliance for Recruiting and Retaining Teachers (SMARRT) is a collaborative partnership pursuing aggressive strategies to recruit high quality minority teachers to teach in high-need schools in urban school districts. This partnership is dedicated to recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality teachers with strong…

Texas has made good progress in education since the school reform movement began in earnest 15 years ago. State test scores are up for all groups of students in all grades in all subjects. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Texas is close to the top in student performance in math, and has finally begun to make real progress in…

One of the most important provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the requirement that all teachers of core academic subjects be "highly qualified" by the end of school year 2005-2006. Key principles for recruiting and preparing future teachers have been identified as raising academic standards for teachers and lowering…

This paper is one of four individual case study reports presenting the qualitative findings from a five-year investigation of the impact of accountability reform on students with disabilities in four states, eight districts, and twenty schools. This case study report presents qualitative data collected over a four-year period--2001-2004--from…