In education, practitioners are increasingly looking for strategies to bring data and evidence into decisionmaking and to roll out programs in intentional ways that allow for ongoing improvement. This toolkit acts as a guide to improvement strategies for teams of practitioners at colleges, providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to…

This paper will include critical information for administrators and faculty in higher education for developing an assessment model for an online degree program. Determining the assessment process for the program before offering courses will ensure a smooth transition into the online environment so that faculty and administrators will know that the…

This study attempted to identify efforts to evaluate programs for gifted and talented students in 122 Texas school districts and to compare these practices with those recommended in the literature and with Texas Education Association guidelines. Areas examined included informal and formal assessment of student and teacher identification practices,…

The Texas legislature has mandated assessment of research programs in the state that receive separate line-item appropriations. The two-phase process involves institutional self-studies and site visits resulting in a final report with recommendations. The first two cycles of the assessment have indicated that process is more critical than result.…

School districts have two basic routes to incorporate online courses: Develop their own online curriculum or buy into an existing virtual school program. Decision makers might consider six strategic questions before moving ahead with their plans to build their own online course offerings. These questions deal with sizing up of existing providers,…

Phase II of a three-phase study developed a statewide overview of compensatory education in Texas and examined instructional practices and other variables related to a broad definition of student success. Questionnaires (developed in Phase I) received from 3,235 campuses (a 55% return) collected descriptive information on compensatory programs and…

A survey of directors of 61 Texas early intervention programs found that directors felt that program improvement should be the main reason for program evaluation efforts, that evaluating program goals and child progress are the most feasible strategies, and that evaluating program quality and family progress are the most difficult strategies. (DB)

Profiles of the 14 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provide information on the structure of these states for public postsecondary education and budgeting. For each state, the following areas are discussed: state-level coordinating and/or governing agency, institutional governing boards, state board for vocational education,…

This paper offers a literature review of materials concerning inclusion of students with disabilities, and reports on the 3-year development of an inclusion program at one elementary school in Texas. The literature review is organized into sections which address legislative initiatives and law, special education programs with mainstreaming, the…

In 1985, Apple Computer, Inc., and the Houston Independent School District began a project to create a model School of the Future at the F. M. Black Middle School. As described in this guide, the project was designed to demonstrate how microcomputers and related technology can make the process of instruction more efficient and effective. The…

This final report describes a Texas educational improvement project designed to: (1) increase the amount of geriatric content in the curricula of community college associate degree nursing (ADN) programs; (2) further the development of baccalaureate nursing faculty in a Historically Black College/University (HBCU); and (3) facilitate other Texas…

This guide is designed as an aid for the adult education administrator in the pursuit of continuous excellence and quality improvement in adult education programs in Texas. The Acknowledgments section provides an introduction, background, history, and overview of the adult education National Reporting System (NRS); overview of the NRS measures and…

The documents enclosed in this report provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the progress made in developing a network organization capable of supporting nanoscience education for the public on a national scale. There is a logic to the studies that were done and to the reports that are included in this notebook. The following are the…

A bilingual handbook for Title I migrant Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) was designed to be used by administrators, teachers, consultants and parents in organizing and training PACs at local, district, and state levels. All information is duplicated in separate English and Spanish sections. The first part discusses the Texas migrant program,…

The 1982-83 report on the Individualized Bilingual Instruction (IBI) Interstate Training Project evaluates Project activities in Washington and Texas, funded through Section 143 of the Migrant Education Interstate and Intrastate Coordination Program. The purpose of the Project is stated: to disseminate the Pasco (Washington) School District's…