Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and…

Policymakers and researchers often talk about "autonomous schools" as if there's a single, agreed-upon definition of what that means. In reality, there's no standard design for autonomous school policies, and school autonomy can mean a lot of different things. The policies that states have enacted vary widely in terms of their goals, the…

The National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI) is a nonprofit organization committed to improving educational outcomes that traces its roots back to the early 1990s. NMSI's College Readiness Program (CRP) is a long-standing program with the goal of promoting STEM education in high schools to improve students' preparation for college. The three-year…

The portfolio strategy is a change strategy for public education in a district or metropolitan area. It is founded on the idea of re-missioning government agencies from rigid bureaucratic entities that mostly manage compliance requirements and interest group politics to a new role: overseeing performance and a diverse range of school choices…

"Ripe for Change: Garden-Based Learning in Schools" takes a big-picture view of the school garden movement and the state of garden-based learning in public K--8 education. The book frames the garden movement for educators and shows how school gardens have the potential to be a significant resource for teaching and learning. In this…

The Student Operational Aggie Doppler Radar Project (SOAP) involved 95 undergraduates in a research and education program to better understand the climatology of storms in southeast Texas from 2006-2010. This paper describes the structure, components, and implementation of the 1-credit-hour research course, comparing first-year participants'…

This report highlights 10 of the most advanced and talked-about teacher evaluation systems nationally: Delaware; Rhode Island; Tennessee; Hillsborough County, Florida; Houston, Texas; New Haven, Connecticut; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC (referred to throughout just as Washington); Achievement First (a charter management organization,…

There is wide agreement that the well-paying jobs of the future will require postsecondary credentials. But for many students attending community college, developmental (or remedial) classes in reading, composition, and/or mathematics--the courses that students often must complete before they can enroll in courses that confer credit toward a…

This report discusses the outcomes for Austin Partners in Education (APIE) educational programs in AISD, including program descriptions, student academic progress, and participant survey results for the 2012-2013 school year.

This publication is the result of an 18-month project that brought together teams from six states--Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas--along with their national organizations in a groundbreaking partnership to identify collective bargaining language and policies that support high-quality professional development.…

College and career readiness has become a unifying principle for education reform leaders across the country. A majority of states have made it a top policy priority, with an increasing number of national foundations and education reform advocates supporting this work. To help state leaders build strategies for sustaining their education agendas…

This paper lists the standards for a course in driver education approved for Texas schools. The guidelines cover administration and supervision; teacher certification; teaching assistants; course requirements; scheduling; instructor hours, class size, and age level; driver education course records; signatures; control of standards; and procedures…

This document examines emerging issues and opportunities for community-based organization (CBO) involvement in welfare reform. The document begins with a brief section of background information on past CBO involvement in helping families move from welfare to work. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the following issues: (1)…

Described are aspects of the Avance Educational Programs for Parents and Children, a non-profit, community-based organization in San Antonio, Texas, with the general goal of strengthening and supporting low income Hispanic families. Introductory remarks focus on the organization's goals, target population, funding, and services. Subsequent to a…

This handbook provides background information and practical suggestions for home economics cooperative education teacher-coordinators in Texas. It is intended for teacher-coordinators using the six courses of study in occupational home economics prepared by the same agency. Addressed to the teacher-coordinator in a narrative format, the handbook…