This study examines implementation of college-and-career-ready (CCR) education standards across five school districts in Ohio, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Drawing on the policy attributes theory, we found that the specificity of districts' approaches to two long-recognized policy levers, curriculum and professional…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children in Texas and across the United States. The theme of this issue is IDRA's 45th Anniversary. Contents include: (1) Beginning with the End in Mind…

The purpose of this study was to identify the instructional coaching activities most used by instructional coaches in southeast Texas school districts and to test if there was a relationship between the use of instructional coaching and perceived improvement in the instructional practices of teachers and student achievement. The participants for…

Despite the fact that the population of English Language Learners (ELLs) is rapidly increasing, there is ample evidence that indicates that most teachers can benefit from training for teaching ELLs effectively. The purpose of this study is to examine teachers' knowledge of instructional practices for ELLs, research on bilingual programs,…

The purpose of this deconstructive case study was to conduct a Foucauldian power/knowledge analysis constructed from the perceptions of three teachers at an intermediate school in South Texas regarding the role of the teacher evaluation process and its influence on instructional practices. Using Foucault's (1977a) work on power/knowledge, of…

How does professional learning look and feel in high-poverty schools where every student makes at least one year's worth of progress every year? How do schools and leaders put all the varied components of professional learning together so that they support all students learning every day? What professional learning grounds and sustains educators…

Schools and districts are inundated with data from a variety of sources. As a result, using data to guide instructional planning can be daunting for teachers and schools. While schools and districts are dealing with shrinking budgets and growing demands for high student achievement, an investment in school-based coaching can provide exponential…

With the omnipresence of technology in society came the inevitable integration into education. This manuscript provides results of a statewide survey of developmental mathematics instructors' technology preferences and priorities across all levels of developmental mathematics courses. The study was part of a larger project designed to explore the…

The purpose of this study was to examine education leaders' knowledge of core and current issues in special education and how this knowledge is acquired. The study also examined the educational leaders' beliefs and practices regarding collaboration, response-to-intervention, and inclusion. Finally, the study examined the social justice issues that…

The study was designed to collect and document both quantitative and qualitative data based on instructional services provided to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study examined the types of professional development and training provided to teachers of students with ASD and gathered the perspectives of local education agency…

Winners and finalists for the annual Broad Prize for Urban Education have consistently outperformed peer districts serving similar student populations. What makes the difference? These districts consistently demonstrate a learning loop that influences the district's ability to learn, which ultimately influences student opportunities to learn.…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

In the study of the Technology Immersion model, high-need middle schools were "immersed" in technology by providing laptops for each teacher and student, instructional and learning resources, professional development, and technical and pedagogical support. This article reports third-year findings for the teacher component of the…

In the year 2000, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas A&M University System teamed up to create an initiative called the University Faculty Fellows Program. Spearheaded by Texas A&M International University in Laredo, the program paired up faculty from the university with area Advanced Placement (AP) teachers in a variety of…

Many state educational administrators are currently working to define secondary career and technical education (CTE) content standards that specify the knowledge and skills students are expected to master in CTE program areas. The two-phase project on which this report is based explored (a) the progress and status of states in developing statewide…