Career and Technical Education (CTE) balances the pull between the practical and theoretical by applying academic knowledge to real-world problems, preparing students for a wide array of careers. Unfortunately, confusion and stereotypes still reign when it comes to what career and technical education is and is not, even as public sentiment shifts…

The most prominent option for finding a solution to the shortage of workers with STEM knowledge has been identified as specialized STEM schools by policymakers in the United States. The current perception of specialized STEM schools can be described as a unique environment that includes advanced curriculum, expert teachers, and opportunities for…

Today's students are often called "digital-age learners"--reflecting their technological savvy and free-agent approach to learning. With their iPods, iPhones, computer games, social media pages, and text messaging, these digital-age students have access to resources and knowledge beyond traditional school structures and practices. These…

The project described in this report was designed to: (1) address the lack of adequately trained faculty members needed to introduce geriatrics within colleges of pharmacy, (2) facilitate the use of existing materials within the educational program provided pharmacy students, (3) teach a geriatric pharmacy course twice at each of Texas' three…

The Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) provides $75 million for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI). This Initiative, originally launched and funded at the same amount in FY 2014, is overseen by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. This report is a companion to "The Condition of College & Career Readiness." This paper traces the college enrollment, retention, re-enrollment, and…

This Texas edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

Innovation and ingenuity have long been hallmarks of the U.S.' economy. Our competitive strength is built on the legacy of great innovators--from Alexander Graham Bell and Lewis Latimer to the Wright brothers and Steve Jobs. The U.S. has prized its status as a leader in developing creative thinkers and entrepreneurs, but by many estimates, it is…

Parent involvement is widely acknowledged as a central component in both overall school success and the academic success of individual children. Recognizing this, the federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates that states, districts and schools make extraordinary efforts to enhance effective parent involvement. Now, more than six years after the…

A growing number of American students are nonnative English speakers. These students are vulnerable to early school exit and schools are facing more and more such students each year. Presently, about 56% of all public school teachers in the United States have at least one English language learner (ELL) student in their class, but less than 20% of…

Data on Texas teachers underscore the need for teacher education programs to prepare increasing numbers of teachers, and for those teachers to be better prepared with strong subject content knowledge and skills to address the diverse student needs they will encounter in the classroom. This paper presents a data profile of the Texas teacher,…

All students need to develop essential academic skills and to acquire a knowledge base on which to build lifelong learning. To this end, Texas has implemented sweeping reforms of the state's public education system in the form of House Bill (HB) 72. This legislation essentially revamped every aspect of public education. This report gives a summary…

This report evaluates a project for secondary school education teachers in northeastern Texas. The objectives of the project were to: (1) train the secondary and middle school teachers of special education to use the Science Activities for the Visually Impaired/Science Enrichment for Learners with Physical Handicaps (SAVI/SELPH) curriculum; (2)…

This report was prepared by the Texas Education Agency in response to Section 39.183 of the Texas Education Code. In a phase-in approach written into law, the limit of 22 students to 1 teacher applied in the 1985-86 school year through the 1987-88 school year to kindergarten through grade 2 only. The law extended this limitation to kindergarten…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Texas edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…