The purpose of this research study was to determine the relationships among PSAT scores and TAKS scores in selected Texas high schools in order to inform state policy makers, school district administrators and teachers as they strive to implement policies to improve student achievement. In addition the findings of this study can be vital for curriculum planning pre-K-16. The population for this study was the 3,243 sophomores at the 55 Texas high schools involved in the Texas AP/IB Center's PSAT Pilot Program. The schools participating in this program were selected based on the high proportion of students from low-income homes and the lack of an AP program or low AP program participation. Students at participating high schools were predominantly minority and from homes identified by the Texas Education agency as low socioeconomic status. This study's significance is based on its potential to provide school district administrators additional information on which to base decisions regarding budget allocations for Advanced Placement programs. With greater stress on high-stakes testing and greater competition to enter higher education, Texas school districts will have initial data upon which to strengthen curricular offerings. Additionally, this study will provide policymakers at the state and local level the data necessary to make decisions when marketing and promoting the Advanced Placement program. Research findings of this study included: 1. The degree of association between PSAT score and TAKS scores was moderate. 2. Caucasian students consistently outperformed their minority counterparts on all examinations. 3. Economically disadvantaged students achieved lower scores than their more affluent counterparts on all tests. 4. Females outperformed males on most exams, but the results are not conclusive.

We are living in a conceptual world which we build through both informal and systematic interaction. Concepts enable us to simplify and organize our environment and communicate efficiently with others. The learning of concepts is represented by a general idea, usually expressed by a word, which represent a class or group of things or actions having certain characteristics in common, is a matter of central concern for designing effective instructional conditions in the school setting. Thus, concept attainment is a cornerstone of social studies to help students to make informed and reasonable decisions and therefore is a fundamental and challenging aspect of social studies content. Previous studies had not focused specifically on concept questions and nonconcept questions. The purpose of this study is to determine whether 8th, 10th, and 11th grade students perform better on social studies questions which were classified as concept questions compared to questions which were classified as nonconcept questions. This study also attempts to identify the relationship between correct answers on concept questions and students' demographics. This study used a non-experimental descriptive, correlational, and causal-comparative research designs. This study used secondary data analysis, which involves a re-analysis of data collected for another study or purpose. The data for this study was gathered from Texas Education Agency, for all students who took the Spring 2006 and Spring 2009 version of the Grade 8, Grade 10, and Grade 11 Social Studies TAKS Tests. A statistical significant difference was found between the percentage of correct concept question and nonconcept questions. Students had higher achievement on nonconcept questions than concept questions. The researcher compared students' correct answers for concept questions between years, the result indicated that students scored higher on concept questions in 2009 than 2006. Also, there was a significant difference between male students and female students. Male students had a higher mean of concept questions than female students. In addition, Grade 11 had a higher mean on concept questions than Grade 10 and Grade 8. The researcher found significant differences among ethnicity. Asian students and White students scored better on concept question than other ethnic groups. The researcher also examined the correlation between concept questions and nonconcept questions. The result indicated that there was a significant positive high correlation between choosing correct answers for concept question and nonconcept questions. Last, native speaker students had a higher achievement on concept questions than ESL students.

The purpose of this study was to assess learning in sixth grade students’ by gain scores in science and mathematics while participating in the integrative curriculum modules developed by the Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health (PEER) Program. The PEER Program is a collaboration between the College of Education and Applied Sciences, and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University. Two Integrated Curricular Modules provided the experimental treatment in this study. The alliance of the PEER Program and Texas A&M University has developed a middle school integrated curriculum based on sixth grade mathematics, science, English, reading and social studies TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills)-based objectives. This multimedia curriculum incorporates the five disciplines into an adventure narrative featuring characters similar in dynamics to its targeted population, with problem-solving activities aimed to spark learning interests of students and emphasize skill development. Integrated learning allows students an alternative method to traditional or conventional ways of learning by conceptualizing the subject matter into more than one medium. Selected students who participated in this study were pre-tested with Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)-related instrumentation based on TEKS objectives. Their scores were recorded and some students were then selected to participate as the treatment group where they were taught the PEER Program’s integrated curriculum, patterned to correspond to TEKS’ objectives. Post-tests were administered to both groups, and gain scores were collected to evaluate and determine if there was evidence that the PEER Program was successful in improving the mastery of the TEKS objectives in mathematics and science. Results varied in this study with findings that supported the notions that the integrated PEER experimental modules had a positive, negative, and no effect on the experimental populations compared to the control, or untreated population. It is inconclusive to whether the integrated modules were effective in raising and improving test scores based on the preparatory curriculum. Inconsistencies in the results from this study imply that further research is needed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of teacher stress and anxiety as reported by middle school classroom teachers in a selected school district in Education Service Center, Region 20, Texas. The selected district included 13 middle schools where a total of 825 teachers were surveyed. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine if there were significant differences (p>0.05) in response to questions involving selected demographic variables. Findings in the study included the following: 1. There was a statistical difference (p>0.05) in state and trait anxiety scores between teachers of TAKS subjects and teachers of non-TAKS subjects. 2. Within the two groups of teachers of TAKS subjects and teachers of non- TAKS subjects, there were statistical differences (p>0.05) in the state and trait anxiety scores, which support that a correlation exists between state and trait anxiety. 3. There was no statistical difference in state and trait anxiety scores between teachers of TAKS subjects and teachers of non-TAKS subjects in selected demographic variables used for the study. The following are recommendations for further study: 1. Only middle school teachers were used in a selected district for this study. A larger scale study should be conducted to enhance empirical data to determine if teacher stress and anxiety are impacted by state-mandated tests for all grade levels. 2. This study focused on data collected from 13 public schools. Similar studies should be conducted on private and charter schools. A comparison can then be made to determine if these schools show comparable results in teacher stress and anxiety. 3. The study involved only schools within the city limits. Further research could include studies in rural areas to determine if teachers exhibit similar state and trait anxiety scores as do counterparts within city schools. 4. Selected demographic variables in this study were found not to have a significant difference in teacher stress and anxiety between teachers of TAKS and teachers of non-TAKS subjects. Further studies should be conducted to determine if other demographic variables contribute to teacher stress and anxiety.

Inclusion of students at all levels is a challenge. The acceptance of this challenge, however, has been mandated by the No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Co-teaching is one among the service delivery models of inclusion implemented in the general education classroom (Rea & Connell, 2005; Weiss & Lloyd, 2002). This study compared the achievement of general education students in general education classes to the achievement of general education students in co-teach classes to determine if there is a significant difference in the achievement of general education students because of participation in a co-teach classroom instructional arrangement. The population of this quantitative study consisted of secondary general education students from a large suburban school district in Texas conducting science and social studies courses in both co-teach and non-co-teach classrooms. The t-test for the two independent samples was used to determine the statistical difference between the mean Science scores and the mean social studies scores of the treatment group and the comparison group on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills in science and social studies. An alpha level of .05 was used as the standard of significance on all tests. Two-way ANOVA was used to determine student achievement differences in treatment and/or comparison groups by gender, ethnicity, English language learner status, and socioeconomic status. Post-hoc analysis of the impact of ethnicity was also undertaken. Results indicate that general education students performed at higher levels in regular Science classes than in co-teach science classes. Results also concluded that general education students performed at higher levels in regular social studies classes than in co-teach social studies classes. Significant student achievement variations were also found to be correlated with each of the other variables considered. Recommendations for further research and stakeholders were provided.

Texas has one of the highest populations of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the U.S., with a complex system for their placement, education, and assessment. Spanish speaking, Hispanic ELLs represent a large proportion of this population. The long-term academic achievement of these ELLs identified in elementary is not well known, especially under the policy changes of No Child Left Behind. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling, this study compares student achievement, as measured by high-stakes testing, of Hispanic ELLs enrolled in Bilingual Education, English as a Second Language, and their non-ELL, demographically similar peers. Data will be examined at four time points spanning 3rd-9th grade, to suggest implications of Texas educational policy on student achievement. / text

With the increasing stress on teachers and students to meet and raise mathematics standards in schools, especially in the secondary level, the need for strong curricula and supporting materials for teachers has grown. A good curriculum, however, must do more than align with state standards and teach to the state exams; it must encourage students to enjoy mathematics. In an effort to help ease the plague of math anxiety, this thesis presents an eighth grade curriculum, called MathTAKStic, not only directly aligning with the Texas state standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge Skills (TEKS), but also encouraging students to pursue higher level thinking through active learning and logical thinking. To test the curriculum and find out its usefulness, several lessons were taught at a middle school. Although the scores of those learning with the curriculum were not always better than others, MathTAKStic led to a greater increase in students’ performance compared to those who were not exposed to the lessons, an increased interest in math and a plethora of ideas for the future. These results were concluded based on a comparison of students’ scores from the previous year to the current year on the Texas standardized test. Overall, the increase in passing scores of MathTAKStic students preceded other classes in the same school.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify performance differences on the TAKS mathematics assessments in grades three through eight across race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status in the years 2004, 2007, and 2010. The guiding research question was: ?What are the differences in mathematics achievement by mathematical objective as depicted by the Texas achievement tests during the years 2004, 2007, and 2010. To respond to the guiding research question, three independent studies were performed to examine race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status individually by mathematical objective. Statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were performed for race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status at a .05 level of significance. Independent samples t tests were administered to determine differences across gender. For study one, statistically significant differences of objective means were identified across every grade and objective with the exception of objective five (probability and statistics) in grade seven between Asian American students and African American students. Study two examined gender and found that no statistically significant differences exist between male and female students. The findings of study two identified that male students were scoring slightly higher across most objectives in 2004, but by 2010 scores between male and female students were more equivalent with male students scoring slightly higher in grades three through five and female students scoring slightly higher in grades six through eight. Study three examined TAKS mathematics data across socioeconomic identifiers and found that significant differences were mostly found in grade three across all objectives between students not identified as economically disadvantaged and students receiving free meals. After grade three, the number of significant differences drastically decreases with all objectives except for objective six (mathematical processes and tools). Significant differences were present across race/ethnicity and across socioeconomic status, but not across gender. An examination of within group data did not identify any statistical significance.

The content area of social studies has not been given as much attention as its counterparts despite its inclusion in the state wide TAKS exam in Texas. All students in grades 8, 10, and 11 are required to take the social studies portion, and must pass it in order to graduate. The consequences of such a test and the importance of social studies in the everyday lives of students make this content area important. In addition, since ESL students constitute a considerable segment of the student population in our schools nowadays, it is essential that educators understand the challenges these students face and the experiences they go through in such content areas and tests; thus, their performance in the TAKS exam is examined in this study. The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance of ESL students in the social studies TAKS exams in grades 8 and 11 in relation to content (represented by the five objectives of the test), and question item format (limited to two text-enriched question types: excerpt-based, and bullet-point questions). The study also sought to find the effects of demographic variables on student performance. The results of the study can further familiarize educators with the challenges ESL students face in social studies to be able to assist them succeed in their classrooms and on standardized tests. This study utilized secondary data analysis with a set of data provided from the Texas Education Agency. The data included information of the students who took the Spring 2003, 2006, and 2009 social studies TAKS exams, which allowed the researcher to conduct longitudinal analysis to further support the results. Overall, the study was non-experimental and descriptive in nature. A statistical significant difference was found between the percentages of correct answers by objective. ESL students performed better on objectives 3 (economics) and 5 (social studies skills), while lagging behind in objective 1 (history). The results were also confirmed in the longitudinal study that showed that although ESL students’ performance increased in all five objectives, there was statistically significant difference in the performance of ESL students among the objectives. In relation to question type, ESL students chose more correct answers for the bullet-point questions than they did for the excerpt-based questions with statistical significance. Longitudinal analysis of excerpt-based questions only showed that ESL students who took the exam in 11th grade three years after taking it in 8th grade, achieved higher. Finally, the results of the study show that the three demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status had an effect on the performance of ESL students. Overall, males scored higher than females, economically non-disadvantaged students outperformed disadvantaged students, and Hispanic ESL students had the lowest scores of all the ethnic groups.

Public education in the United States is currently enveloped in an era of intense accountability. At the national level the No Child Left Behind Act, demands accountability in any district or school receiving federal funds One of the goals of the No Child Left Behind legislation had its roots in the Texas education accountability statute of 1999, when former governor George W. Bush signed into law a mandate that became known as the Student Success Initiative. That law required students in the 3rd grade to pass the state reading assessment in order to be promoted to the 4th grade, beginning in the year 2003. The same group of students would be required to pass their 5th and 8th grade reading and math exams to be promoted to the next grade level. The initiative continued for all students. In opposition to the those policies, the body of research regarding grade-level retention concludes that the practice of grade retention is ineffective in increasingstudent achievement (Jimerson, 2001, Harness, 1984, McCoy, 1999). This study examined the Student Success Initiative in Texas. The goal was to determine whether retention in 3rd, 5th, or 8th grade made a signification difference in subsequent TAKS scores in comparison with students who were placed in the next grade level by the official Grade Placement Committee. Data was analyzed from three large urban school districts in Texas. Results were consistent across the three school districts. Students who were retained in third grade performed better the subsequent year in third grade, but those successes did not continue consistently through the 5th and 8th grade years. Students retained in 5th grade for math performed poorly on subsequent tests, as did students retained in the 8th grade for reading or math. However, the group of students that was retained in 5th grade due to failure of the TAKS Reading test exhibited success in the subsequent year as well as the 8th grade year. Overall, TAKS students who were retained did not perform better than students who were placed in the next grade level as they progressed through 8th grade. / text