Effective instructional coaching won't happen across a district without a well-specified coaching program and a reliable way to guide coaches. Fortunately, there are innovations from research and development efforts that can help districts put into practice the best ideas about instructional coaching. Andrew Wayne and Jane Coggshall describe how…

Background: To understand and apply the results of multisite impact studies, it is necessary to know the extent to which the components of an intervention were implemented as they were designed in each context (e.g., Carroll et al., 2007; Hill, Corey, & Jacob, 2018). Rigorous and cost-effective measures of implementation fidelity can help…

Responsive coaching at engage2learn is an innovative, and with this and previous reports--an evidence-based solution. This 2021-2022 study compellingly validates the efficacy of the engage2learn program through an exploration of NWEA MAP® Growth™ and STAAR test scores for Math and Science, Grades 6-8. LXD Research, an independent research firm,…

The education system's purpose is to enable every student to have the knowledge and skills to reach their full potential -- which requires students are college and career ready. But for far too many students, the system is falling short. A recent report found 60 percent of high school graduates were not college or career ready. Closing this gap…

This qualitative case study sought to examine the perceptions of school administrators about a new system of district core values, their efforts to incorporate such system into their respective schools, and the impacts of this incorporation. This phenomenon was analyzed in the context of a suburban school district located in southeast Texas. Using…

We examined three large freshman cohorts from Texas State University, a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), to identify risk factors that might affect academic retention. Risk factors supported by empirical studies such as first-generation, ethnicity, gender, financial aid need, high school performance, and living off campus were examined. We also…

The current paper discusses the implementation and scaling of an early education program (Texas School Ready; TSR). Implementation and scaling of the TSR program were initially met with challenges such as participant/site recruitment, participant retention, and staff training. These 3 challenges are highlighted along with the ways in which…

This paper summarizes a three-year quasi-experimental evaluation with school-level assignment of a social-emotional learning (SEL) program for high school students who are at-risk of dropping out before college graduation. The field-initiated program aimed to increase students' social and emotional skills, develop their character, and increase…

This study examined a state-wide, policy-directed teacher evaluation model implemented across public schools and educator preparation programs. Such models are grounded in a theory of action that situates teacher learning within social relationships, yet does not account for the complexity of systems. Results challenge policy's implicit theory…

Research findings suggest that instructional technology coaching may be a critical lever in closing the gap in the usage of technology, sometimes referred to as the digital use divide. In the 2017-2018 school year, we provided 50 schools in 20 school districts across five states, with a grant to support an onsite, full-time instructional…

This is the third paper on the topic of outcomes-based funding written by Dennis Jones for Complete College America. The first paper, "Performance Funding: From Idea to Action" (ED535356), proposed a set of design and implementation principles to help states develop and implement their own outcomes-based funding models. The second paper,…

State accountability systems have been a primary school reform initiative in the US for the past 20 years, but often produce unintended negative consequences. In 2004, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) implemented the Performance Based Monitoring and Analysis System (PBMAS), which included an accountability indicator focused on the percentage of…

Background: Educators are under mounting pressure to address increasing standards for student performance, which includes meeting the needs of an equally increasing diverse student population. Building educators' capacity to respond to these growing demands necessitates a professional development model that will address individual teacher's needs…

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged…

Though scholars agree that professional development (PD) is a key mechanism for implementing education policies that call for teacher change, and that PD generally needs to be content-focused, active, collaborative, coherent, and sustained, the application of this framework has yielded mixed results. In this qualitative study, we employed…