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The purpose of this research was to identify practices and activities of school board governance in large urban Texas school districts that achieved an academic rating of Recognized during the 2005-06 school year. Specifically, this research was designed to identify the practices that board presidents and superintendents felt were beneficial and necessary in assisting their boards to govern in an appropriate manner. The research questions that guided this process are: 1) How is the board involved in policy development and district planning that contributes to governing the school district? 2) What practices are used in the management, operation, and training of the board and individual board members for effective school board governance? 3) What practices have proven beneficial for effective communication among school board members and between the board and superintendent, and how does the board evaluate its own governing effectiveness? 4) What are critical areas affecting school boards and their ability to successfully and effectively govern? This study used qualitative research methods to examine and identify the strategies and practices employed by superintendents and board presidents in assisting boards to properly and efficiently govern their school districts. Data for this study was collected through publicly accessible information from the Texas Education Agency’s web site and a series of one-on-one interviews with superintendents and board presidents in academically high-achieving large Texas urban school districts. After transcription of the interviews, the resulting data was coded and emerging categories and themes identified through Grounded Theory qualitative research methods and procedures. Based on analysis of the research, board presidents and superintendents identified the following practices for their boards: establishing salaries early in the budget process; regularly contacting local, state, and federal policymakers about educational issues; establishing annual goals and performance criteria for the district and superintendent from a district-wide strategic plan; providing the board with multiple opportunities of involvement each month to meet and discuss district issues; identifying and attending multiple levels of continuous board training; being visible in the community by attending school and community events; providing all board members with extensive and ongoing information from the school district; having clearly defined board operating procedures; and being an advocate for the school district as well as voicing support for the administration. Regardless of the size of the school district, the findings of this research will enhance superintendents’ and board presidents’ understanding of the activities and practices used by board presidents and superintendents in academically high-achieving Texas urban school districts. / text

The goal of current education reform is to increase student achievement (Odden & Clune, 1995). Discrepancies, however, continue to exist in the achievement between the White majority and the minorities of color, including Hispanics as seen in the results of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Although 198 Texas elementary schools received an exemplary rating in 2005 for their TAKS performance, only a handful of those schools with a high percentage of Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, and Limited English Proficient (LEP) student enrollment achieved this coveted academic rating (TEA, 2005). This study attempts to answer the research questions: 1) Which, if any, instructional practices are present in the exemplary-rated campuses with high numbers of Hispanic LEP students compared to acceptable-rated campuses with the same type of student populations? and 2) Are educators aware of and modifying their instructional practices to be more aligned with proven research-based practices? The Best Practice and Benchmark Concept provides the framework for the study. The design includes the use of a survey, interviews, an observation checklist, and an analysis of documents to compare the practices of two exemplary-rated campuses and two acceptable-rated campuses, all spanning grades PreK-5th grade, enrolling at least 500 students, and serving high percentages of Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, and LEP students. Findings revealed differences in the consistent use of best practices, in the methods of instruction (structured and directive versus constructivist), in the positive attitude and commitment of teachers, in the type of research-based programs, and in the instructional settings of the bilingual/ESL students. The finding of mixing structured, directive instruction to promote student success before moving to a more constructivist method of teaching is a practice rarely encountered in literature. All other practices observed have been documented in literature. In addition, educators were indeed found to be modifying their practices to align with those proven in research. Other factors besides best practices which influence student achievement surfaced, indicating the difference in performance between the exemplary and the acceptable campuses could not be attributed solely to the use of best practices. / text

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

As a sixth grade teacher in Wolfin School, Amarillo, Texas the writer is interested in determining to what extent academic success my be predicted by the use of intelligence tests.

This problem is two-fold: first, to determine the relationships between the traditional school marks and the test scores made by the Cleburne High School students on the California Test of Mental Maturity as a means of estimating the academic achievement students probably will attain in particular school subjects; second, to determine whether or not such relationships are of sufficient significance that their use will reduce student failures in Cleburne High School.