Greater utilization of certain Literacy by 3 classroom practices is associated with the increased likelihood of a campus exceeding district average growth in reading. Though the Literacy by 3 program has been in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) since the 2014-2015 school year, this study is the first to examine the relationship…

To meet the growing online and face-to-face library instruction needs of a large research university, a team of librarians set out to develop asynchronous online instruction of sufficient quality to supplement and replace classroom teaching. This report describes the best practices that were identified from a review of the literature, the…

In November 2019, the Legislative Budget Board published a management and performance review of the Houston Independent School District. Among its recommendations was one that concerned professional development for teachers of English learners (ELs). Specifically, the report recommended: "[S]urveying teachers of ELs to determine where they…

This paper addresses the use of video for a flipped classroom with a case study. The instructor makes the lecture videos available to the students prior to class, and utilizes the class time for discussion and student questions. We evaluate this approach with an introductory psychology course that was taught repeatedly in a traditional way and as…

The Writer's Workshop is an approach to writing instruction using a workshop model. It is being implemented in kindergarten to fourth-grade in the Houston Independent School District. The Writer's Workshop sought to improve students' writing through teacher preparation by accommodating weaker students in research-based approaches that treat…

To close the performance gap for students with disabilities, teacher and student-focused interventions have been implemented through the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Autism and Behavior Services. The teacher-focused intervention entails support and professional development opportunities to improve teacher efficacy to close the…

This i3 scale-up study examined the implementation and effectiveness of a 3-year literacy intervention developed by the Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI). The study was a school-level cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 55 elementary schools from four states. Implementation results showed a high level of fidelity of intervention…

In January 2007, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) inaugurated the Teacher Performance-pay Model, 2005-2006, becoming the first school district in the nation to implement a performance-pay system of this magnitude based on individual teacher effectiveness. The experience gained in the first year and consultations with national experts…

Strategic Reading and Writing (SRW) is a reading and writing intervention course available to sixth- through tenth-grade students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) who did not meet Grade Level standards on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) grades 3-8 reading the previous school year or who fell below the…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) currently offers two bilingual programs and two English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for English language learners (ELs). These programs facilitate ELs' integration into the regular school curriculum and ensure access to equal educational opportunities. Bilingual programs are offered in…

The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the impact of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Literacy Empowered (LE) initiative on the reading, literacy, and performance in core courses among high school students. Literacy Empowered is a districtwide initiative that provides support for high school students through the expansion of…

The purpose of the ASPIRE Award Survey was to gain insight regarding the level of knowledge and perceptions of Houston Independent School District (HISD) teachers and staff after seven years of implementation of growth-based performance pay in HISD, as well as their perceptions regarding the overall concept of teacher performance pay.…

Using a pre-post design, this study evaluates the association between participating in a science game (NDE) and science energy knowledge and science interest. A survey was used to explore teacher perceptions of the game on their instructional practices. Outcome measures were collected at the individual level and the game was played at the team…