This annual report provides information for the 2022-23 school year on grade-level retention and student performance in the Texas public school system. Student retention and promotion data are reported with data on the performance of students in Grades 3-8 on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading language arts and…

The study of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) within a social and emotional learning (SEL) program is timely as it supports the increasing body of literature on narrowing the educational gaps prevalent among Black students. Current research is lacking regarding if and how educators utilize CRP to support the learning of SEL competencies with…

Antiblackness is a persistent feature of American society with continued implications for the experiences, outcomes, and well-being of Black communities. In the wake of widespread protests against antiblack police brutality and heightened awareness of racial injustices in 2020, federal, state, and local political actors swiftly began a concerted…

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are often characterized as Hispanic enrolling (rather than serving) that practice deficit-based systems that continue to marginalize Latinx and other underrepresented students, especially in STEM fields. Extant research on HSIs stresses the importance of investigating the value of grassroots advocacy groups as…

This report presents the results from the third biennial Texas OER Landscape Survey, administered in 2023 and commissioned by the Digital Higher Education Consortium of Texas (DigiTex) and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The survey aimed to explore the open educational resources (OER) landscape, policies, and practices at…

Context: Research has demonstrated the importance of teacher quality for student achievement above all other school-based factors (Aaronson et al., 2007; Goldhaber, 2002; Rivkin et al., 2005; Rockoff, 2004). Yet while states and districts have allocated significant resources toward professional learning (PL) aimed at improving instruction (Jacob…

Teachers across the nation are leaving the profession at alarming rates. Teachers in specialized areas such as special education are leaving at higher rates than their peers in other certifications. School districts are constantly recruiting, hiring, and training new teachers which reduces the effectiveness of teaching and learning in the…

This study addressed the problem of the dropout rate of marginalized students placed in disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEP). The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to explore West Texas DAEP educators' perceptions of the zero tolerance policy that resulted in the placement of marginalized students in DAEP and…

This study examines implementation of college-and-career-ready (CCR) education standards across five school districts in Ohio, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Drawing on the policy attributes theory, we found that the specificity of districts' approaches to two long-recognized policy levers, curriculum and professional…

In an effort to keep pace with an expanding knowledge-based economy, K-12 schools across the U.S. are increasingly shifting their STEM teacher professional learning programs to help teachers foster student experiences with skills such as problem solving, adaptability, and creativity. This study utilized quantitative and qualitative data to examine…

Despite knowledge of COVID-19's expected impact on the 2020 and 2021 academic school years, policymakers, professional organizations, and test publishers have failed to offer consistent, well-defined or corresponding advice to educational evaluators on how to meet the unique challenges the pandemic has introduced. The directive vacuum that was…

This study addressed researchers call for collecting the perceptions of how Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System implementation and feedback affect prekindergarten teachers' instructional practices and the alignment of the T-TESS instrument to the Texas prekindergarten guidelines because the focus of such research is usually on teachers of…

"Sacred Mission: A Study of Hiring for Mission in Catholic Schools via Self-Described Hiring Practices of Administrators" is a doctoral problem-based learning project examining the value of hiring for mission through a study of Catholic school administrators' self-described hiring practices and the correspondence between these…

"Sacred Mission: A Study of Hiring for Mission in Catholic Schools via Self-Described Hiring Practices of Administrators" is a doctoral problem-based learning project examining the value of hiring for mission through a study of Catholic school administrators' self-described hiring practices and the correspondence between these…

"Sacred Mission: A Study of Hiring for Mission in Catholic Schools via Self-Described Hiring Practices of Administrators" is a doctoral problem-based learning project examining the value of hiring for mission through a study of Catholic school administrators' self-described hiring practices and the correspondence between these…