As the political arena becomes increasingly polarized, the legal arena is playing a more important role in the creation of education policy in the United States. One critical stage in the legal process for such efforts is at briefing where "amici curiae," or friends-of-the-court, may introduce additional arguments for the court to…

Research has explored the use of evidence-based practices within schools but less is known about evidence-based decision-making among school district central office administrators. This study explored how individual and school-level characteristics of administrators were related to the implementation of evidence-based practices. Findings suggested…

This article reinforces the use of research for faculty who prepare K-12 educators and leaders for social justice. The author conceptualizes auto-ethnography as a form of professional development and maintains that faculty must first experience an internal revolution before they can expect to model it, especially in a Hispanic Serving Institution…

Teacher leadership is a key to school reform (Fullan, 2005), yet it is not a widely practiced educational application (Crowther, 2009). Collay (2006) called for education faculty to assist teachers in developing powerful professional identities, but in order for university faculty to become partners in preparing teacher leaders, programs must…

The process of building a culture of evidence involves using data to understand where students are experiencing problems, designing strategies for remedying those problems, implementing them, and then evaluating the effectiveness of those implemented strategies. This case study is about two programs that were implemented within the last two years…

It's not exactly a well-kept secret: Despite the drumbeat for data that has echoed through the jungles of education for over a decade, its nuanced use to make decisions for students is rare. And even though state and national longitudinal data initiatives from the US Department of Education (ED) have increased the pressure, relatively few schools…

The purpose of this collection of multiple case studies was to examine teachers' perspectives and practices to determine whether instructional strategies implemented in their classrooms to promote literacy skills for students with autism spectrum disorders were described as research-based practices. Although extensive research has been conducted…

This study examined the effects of scientifically research based (SRB) teaching strategies on the learning of students living in poverty in a Educational Service Center (ESC) Region VI of East Texas. By interviewing teachers within academically successful campuses with high economically disadvantaged student populations, an accurate assessment was…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

This study examines what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design and improve the impact of programs and services. The study is based on a survey on the use of student data by faculty and administrators at 41 community colleges participating in Achieving the Dream:…

Investigates the claims of scientific objectivity that support recent changes in policies toward early-literacy instruction in the states of Texas and California. Uses a framework to assess the validity of this claim through the analysis of 10 major studies of phonological awareness. Finds the two states' curricular policy statements to be highly…

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,…

A dissemination conference on occupational research in Texas focused on research completed during the past two years, research in progress, and newly funded research projects for fiscal year 1980. Among the presenters were L. Millard Collins, who spoke on the importance of research and communication problems; Alton Ice, who spoke on the need to…

Test-based accountability systems aim to direct the behavior of educators toward the improvement of student achievement. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act codified accountability as the national educational blueprint, requiring schools to increase test scores incrementally so that all students are proficient in reading and math by 2014. Yet,…

This document is the second in a series of evaluation reports by the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas at Austin, assessing the state of teacher centering in Texas and the effects of the University of Houston's Project on School-Based Teacher Educators (SBTE), initiated to create a network of teacher…