The COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in early 2020. With it, came a range of concerns, panic, and scrambling for "quick fixes," as families learned to navigate rapid and sometimes confusing pandemic changes. Thirty million Americans were under- or uninsured at the start of the pandemic, so both preventive measures and access to…

Many industrial arts, technology education, and now technology and engineering education leaders have made their mark on the technology and engineering teaching profession. Their legacy is something that members of the profession enjoy and have a responsibility to continue and build upon. This is the sixteenth in a series of articles entitled…

Designing problem-based learning (PBL), especially blended PBL, is very different from designing traditional teacher-centered instruction and requires a new set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. To be successful, teachers must step out of their comfort zone, adopt new roles and responsibilities, and develop new knowledge and skills required in…

This article identifies a number of issues associated with current STEM education reform efforts, especially with regard to efforts to integrate engineering education into the K-12 curriculum. Precollege engineering is especially problematic in STEM reform since there is no well-established tradition of engineering in the K-12 curriculum. This…

Laptops have become ubiquitous in academic libraries, as has the practice of circulating laptops for student use. Several studies have analyzed the how-to of loaning laptops, and a number of surveys have focused on how they are being used. However, little has been written of the practical lessons learned; the trial and error of those on the…

This article presents the state education finance and governance profile of Texas. In 1854, the Permanent School Fund (PSF) was established by a legislative appropriation of $2 million. Today, the PSF has an approximate balance of $25 billion and continues to receive revenue from state taxes on land and minerals. The State Board of Education…

Engagement is crucial for 21st-century students, and nowhere more so than at the middle school level. Middle school is a time of transitions for students--from a single, self-contained classroom with one teacher who knows every student well, to six or even eight classrooms in which teachers see more than 100 students every day; from a pedagogy…

The U.S. District Court ruling in Rodriguez vs San Antonio Independent School District, which struck down Texas' school finance system as inequitable and unconstitutional, provided the impetus for publishing this interim report. The report documents the growing cost of State-supported public school programs--the primary concern prior to the…

This qualitative study highlighted student perspectives on barriers to success at a community college located in a south Texas city. The study examined barriers to student success, the knowledge that successful students possess to overcome the barriers, and the actions that successful students undertake to overcome the barriers. Padilla's (2004)…

Texas small schools have promising programs, innovative practices, and pressing problems. They utilize mainstreaming and provide special materials for the gifted and talented. Problems are primarily in the areas of hiring and retaining teachers, financing programs, and energy costs. (CM)

The study and evaluation of migrant education in Texas is the beginning of a program to provide relevant information for critical decisions concerning priorities, program planning, and program management. Of the 90 Texas schools studied, 45 had specially-funded programs for migrant children. Historical and background information for migrants in…

Over the last decade the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES) has stimulated and sponsored research related to the status, problems, and future prospects of Mexican Americans in Texas. This document lists the over 40 reports which were part of 6 TAES research projects. It also contains relevant TAES and Texas A&M research reports…

This report consists of information gathered from in-person surveys concerning substance abuse with adult residents (n=1,665) living in the Texas-Mexico border cities of Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo, and McAllen and with residents (n=504) of 51 different colonias in Hidalgo and Cameron counties (colonias are rural, unincorporated neighborhoods…

Job announcements often work to either encourage or discourage prospective applicants. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if gender bias existed within the job announcements for interscholastic athletic administrators. The study's results revealed that over a two-year period there were 301 advertisements for positions in the state…

The study proposed strategies and suggested solutions to relevant problems for secondary migrant students. Information on needs and problems of the migrant student was gathered from former laboratory studies and a comprehensive review of the literature. Researchers went directly to the persons involved with the problems of the migrant secondary…