In June 2013, the 83rd Texas Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 5, which established a new high school program--the Foundation High School Program. The new high school graduation program was required for all entering Grade 9 students in all Texas public school districts in 2014-15. The Foundation High School Program was designed to give students…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed performance pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. As D.A.T.E. continues in its second year of operation with approximately…

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, is a federally-funded system of grants that focuses on preparing low-income students to enter and succeed in postsecondary educational programs. GEAR UP grants extend across 6 school years and require that funded districts begin providing grant services to students no…

This study examines why 51 schools declined an invitation to participate in a state-funded educator incentive initiative, the Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) program. Using data from an ongoing evaluation of the TEEG program conducted by the National Center on Performance Incentives (NCPI) under contract with Texas Education Agency, this…

The federal Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, project strives to equalize low-income students' access to higher education by increasing their participation in rigorous coursework, providing expanded opportunities for low-income students and parents to learn about postsecondary educational opportunities…

In response to a request of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, public universities and community, technical, and state colleges in Texas were asked to provide examples of efficiencies implemented on their campuses between Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 and FY 2003. For purposes of this request, an efficiency was defined as an activity that…

Because increased need for child protective services exceeded the Texas Department of Human Services' capacity for timely response, a 2-year Case Decision Project was implemented with the aim of applying automation to parts of the case investigation process. The project produced a Case Investigation Decision Support System with two sections: a…

Developed to share information presented at a Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Regional Exchange (SEDL/RX) conference, this document includes reports and related materials on educational computing applications in southwestern school districts and states. Basic computer terminology is defined, and software evaluation instruments are…

From 1989 until 1998 the U.S. Department of Education administered the National Workplace Literacy Demonstration Program. During that period, over $130 million supported some 300 projects where adult education programs partnered with thousands of businesses, agencies, and organizations to provide work-based skills to employees. While only seven…

Findings of a study that evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of 10 state-authorized parent education and involvement pilot programs in Texas are presented in this paper. Data were derived from demographic report forms, 369 parent opinion surveys, student opinion surveys, 105 teacher opinion surveys, cost surveys, and final evaluation…

Representatives of several states met to identify basic elements of a tracking system designed to ensure that disabled and at-risk infants and their families receive continuous and appropriate services to improve health and developmental outcome. Discussants explored six clusters of questions concerning the following: realistic goals and…

The Southwest Institute for Developmental Disabilities conducted surveys of families of people being served at two state schools and of employees of those schools about expected school closures. All 871 families, guardians, or primary correspondents with families members at the Fort Worth (FW) or Travis (T) State Schools as of March 31, 1992 were…

This long range plan was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), P.L. 98-480 and to guide the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in the fulfillment of its statutory mission. The plan provides a framework for the establishment or expansion of programs to carry out the purposes mandated by…

The Governor's Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) program was federally- and state-funded and provided three-year grants to schools to design and implement performance pay plans from the 2005-06 to 2007-08 school years. GEEG was implemented in 99 high poverty, high performing Texas public schools. This report builds on the previous GEEG evaluation…

This report presents preliminary findings of a 5-year study evaluating the effectiveness of state-funded prekindergarten programs in Texas. The two components of the study included in this report are (1) a statewide survey of 507 school districts, focusing on prekindergarten program characteristics, implementation, and parents' perceptions of the…