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4 Document(s) [ Subject: Virtual schools ]

Committee: House Public Education
Title: Interim Report
Subjects: Education Agency, Texas | Educational accountability | Educational technology | Mental health services | Physical education | School finance | School safety | Special education | Teacher salaries | Texas Virtual Schools Network | Virtual schools |
Library Call Number: L1836.86 Ed84h
Session: 86th R.S. (2019)
Online version: View report [34 pages  File size: 1,813 kb]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 86th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:
  • HB 3, which relates to public school finance and public education. Monitor the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) implementation of the bill, including the extensive rulemaking process and broad unintended consequence authority of the commissioner. Examine the pay raises districts have provided to staff and the various approaches adopted to differentiate these salary increases according to experience.
  • HB 1842, 84th R.S.; HB 22, 85th R.S.; SB 1882, 85th R.S.; and HB 3906 which relate to public school accountability, assessment, interventions, and district-charter partnerships. Monitor the ongoing progress of the TEA's implementation and rulemaking of the A-F rating system, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), and public school sanctions and interventions.
  • SB 1873, 85th R.S., which relates to reporting certain school district health and safety information.Review the report on physical education prepared by the TEA and determine what, if any, next steps are needed based on the data collections.

    Related to Behavioral Health (Joint charge with Committee on Public Health)
  • HB 18, which enhances school safety and mental health resources for students and school personnel and works to reduce the stigma around mental health conditions. Monitor the process by which state agencies coordinate to implement the legislation and their compliance with various requirements, including providing required guidelines and resources to schools.
  • HB 19, which places non-physician mental health professionals at education service centers to provide resources for educators and administrators in school districts and charter schools.
  • HB 906, which creates the Collaborative Task Force on Public School Mental Health Services.
  • SB 11, which creates the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium to facilitate access to mental health care services through telehealth and expands the mental health workforce through training and funding opportunities. Monitor the creation of the consortium and agencies' rulemaking processes. Review how school districts are spending their school safety allotment.
2. Determine if any barriers exist in providing a digital learning environment for all children, including an evaluation of the competitive marketplace for blended learning products and services. Evaluate the effectiveness of the Technology and Instructional Materials Allotment (TIMA) in providing districts the resources necessary to equip students with instructional materials and technology, including in the review all programs and initiatives funded by set-asides from the TIMA. Monitor the performance and accountability of the state's full-time virtual schools and online courses provided through the Texas Virtual School Network.
3. Monitor the progress of the TEA's compliance with the Corrective Action Response required by the United States Department of Education, the implementation of the state's Special Education Strategic Plan, and the state’s compliance with other federal requirements regarding special education, including maintenance of state financial support for special education. Recommend solutions to barriers the agency, school districts, students with disabilities, and parents face in accessing a free and appropriate public education and in meeting the milestones of the plan and any measures needed at the state level to ensure that students with disabilities are being located, fully evaluated, and appropriately identified for special education instruction and services.
4. Monitor the State Auditor's review of agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction. The Chair shall seek input and periodic briefings on completed audits for the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years and bring forth pertinent issues for full committee consideration.
Committee: Senate Education
Title: Interim Report
Subjects: Career preparedness | Charter schools | College preparedness | Distance education | Education Service Centers | School choice | School discipline | School districts | School principals | Teacher training | Virtual schools |
Library Call Number: L1836.82 Ed83
Session: 82nd R.S. (2011)
Online version: View report [22 pages]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Study public school management practices, including the use and options for shared services for both academics and operations. Examine the role of Regional Education Service Centers. Specifically, review the types of services being provided and their ability to assist school districts with improving efficiencies.
2. Study educator and principal preparation programs through colleges of education and alternative certification. Make recommendations to improve these programs. Examine strategies to improve recruitment of high-quality teachers. Examine alternative approaches to improving teacher retention. Study the benefits of comprehensive induction and mentoring programs.
3. Study the growing demand for virtual schools in Texas. Review the benefits of virtual schools, related successes in other states, and needed changes to remove barriers to virtual schools.
4. Study the impact of extended learning time on school success. Evaluate the different programs offered, best practices, school implementation, and incentives for building community partnerships that allow a variety of academic and career-related learning opportunities. Examine the effect of after-school programs on academic performance, school attendance, behavior, and promotion to the next grade level, and the relationship between the availability of after-school programs in an area and the high school dropout rate.
5. Study the performance and accountability of charter schools, best practices of high-performing charter schools, and barriers to replication. Review policies and practices for authorizing high-quality charters and closing poor-performing charters. Study the benefits of and costs related to increasing the number of charters, as well as establishing additional authorization boards to grant new charters
6. Study the impact of school choice programs in other states on students, parents, and teachers. Explore the use of education tax credits and taxpayer savings grants, and examine potential impacts on state funding.
7. Conduct a comprehensive review of school discipline practices. Specifically, review and make recommendations on:
  • The effectiveness of Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEP) and Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Programs (JJAEP) in reducing student involvement in further disciplinary infractions and in promoting positive educational achievement;
  • Disproportionate school discipline referrals, including suspension, expulsion, and Class C misdemeanor citations;
  • The issue of "Zero Tolerance" in secondary education school discipline, the use of alternative education campuses, and the barriers to graduation. Also include the role that specialized school police departments play in these systems. Consider the impact on the juvenile justice system and the adult prison system;
  • The number of students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) referred to juvenile or municipal courts, suspended, expelled, and placed in Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEP). Examine data-sharing practices between DFPS, TEA, and local education agencies, and make recommendations to increase communication between schools and DFPS to increase educational outcomes for children in foster care;
  • Evidence based models used for addressing juvenile delinquency prevention that is targeted to non-adjudicated, but at-risk youth, in the school disciplinary system. (Joint Charge with Senate Committee on Criminal Justice)
8. Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Education, 82nd Legislature, Regular and Called Sessions, and make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, and/or complete implementation. Specifically, monitor the following:
  • SB 6, 82nd R.S., relating to the establishment of the instructional materials allotment;
  • SB 8, 82nd R.S., relating to the flexibility of the board of trustees of a school district in the management and operation of public schools;
  • HB 1942, 82nd R.S., relating to bullying in public schools;
  • The implementation of legislation related to the state's accountability system and other reforms enacted by HB 3, 81st R.S., and SB 1031, 80th R.S..
Committee: Senate Education
Title: Interim Report
Library Catalog Title: Report to the 82nd Legislature / Senate Committee on Education.
Subjects: Academic promotion and retention | At-risk youth | Charter schools | Children with disabilities | Dual credit high school programs | Dual language programs | Educational accountability | Educational technology | English as second language | English immersion instruction | Limited English speakers | Middle school students | Middle schools | School dropout statistics | School dropouts | School finance | Special education | State mandates | Teacher certification | Teacher incentive plans | Teacher quality | Teacher retention | Teacher salaries | Teacher shortages | Teacher training | Teachers | Textbooks | Virtual schools |
Library Call Number: L1836.81 Ed83
Session: 81st R.S. (2009)
Online version: View report [64 pages  File size: 1,615 kb]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Review the performance and accountability of the state's charter schools. Specifically, study the following:
  • Options for increasing the number of outstanding charter schools;
  • Best practices employed by high performing charter schools and make recommendations for ways to implement these strategies in other charter and public schools;
  • Feasibility of operating charter schools focused on providing high quality education for students with disabilities, such as autism;
  • Charter school initiatives in other states, specifically including incentives for public education campuses to become charter schools;
  • Options for development and funding of a charter schools facilities program.
2. Review the state's education policy and initiatives regarding middle grades. Make recommendations to ensure a comprehensive state strategy for preparing students at the middle grades for high school retention and success. This review should include an examination of school-based strategies and best practices that encourage at-risk youth to finish school and that deter delinquency, drug abuse and violence.
3. Review teacher compensation, evaluations, professional development, certification and training programs. Specifically, review the following:
  • Teacher compensation including the Minimum Salary Schedule, incentive pay, merit pay, and stipends;
  • How teacher evaluations can be effective mechanisms for increasing student achievement and improving instructional practices by including multiple measures, particularly student achievement data based on growth. Evaluate how teacher evaluations can direct district decisions on providing professional development, mentoring, intervention, and possible dismissal in response to underperforming teachers;
  • State sponsored professional development initiatives including the alignment of professional development with curriculum and real work experiences and the value of professional development for bilingual, ESL and special education teachers in increasing student achievement.
  • Need to adopt statewide standards for teacher certification and in-service training programs for regular and special education teachers at both the pre-service and in­service levels to ensure all teachers are highly qualified to teach students with disabilities.
4. Examine cost drivers in education including state requirements that impact school district budgets. Recommend opportunities for achieving cost efficiencies.
5. Study the efficacy of immersion versus dual-language instruction of English as a second language students. Make recommendations for improving programs and instituting best practices.
6. Study the effectiveness of Texas school districts' special education programs. Review the range of needs of special education students, districts' ability to provide an appropriate education for these students, and assess the effectiveness of programs currently funded for special education. Make recommendations for improvement.
7. Review dual credit courses including the cost of delivery, funding mechanisms, and possibility of a statewide dual credit system. This review should also include an examination of the rigor, quality and consistency of dual credit courses. (Joint charge with Senate Higher Education Committee)
8. Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Education, 81st Legislature, Regular and Called Sessions, and make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, and/or complete implementation. Review the implementation of legislation related to the state's accountability system including the revised dropout rate calculation, textbooks, and the virtual school network. Specifically, monitor the following:
  • HB 3, relating to public school accountability;
  • HB 2488, relating to open-source textbooks, and HB 4294, relating to textbooks and the use of technology;
  • HB 3646, relating to public school finance and programs; and
  • SB 174, relating to an accountability system for educator preparation programs.
Committee: House Higher Education
Title: Interim report
Library Catalog Title: House Committee on Higher Education, Texas House of Representatives interim report, 1998 : a report to the House of Representatives, 76th Texas Legislature.
Subjects: Affirmative action | Automatic admissions | Cultural diversity | Distance education | Higher education | Higher education affordability | Hopwood lawsuit | Student aid | University admissions | University enrollment | University finance | University graduation rates | Virtual schools |
Library Call Number: L1836.75 ed84h
Session: 75th R.S. (1997)
Online version: View report [66 pages  File size: 2,311 kb]
Charges: This report should address the charges below.
1. Review the effects of the Hopwood decision and the responses to the decision by institutions of higher learning, including professional schools. Monitor the implementation of HB 588, 75th R.S., and policies of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and assess the impacts of such measures.
2. Determine the adequacy of the plans of institutions of higher education and the Higher Education Coordination Board to accomplish projected enrollment increases over the next two decades. Determine the adequacy and cost effectiveness of the plans. Examine the contributions expected of non-traditional methods, such as reducing the number of years to degree, distance learning, and multi-institutional learning arrangements.
3. Review the use of special funds in higher education, including funds for the "back-to-basics" initiative, to ensure that they are used effectively and appropriately. Evaluate the success of the recently implemented higher education funding formula.
4. Study the trends in costs of a post-secondary education, financial aid, and family incomes; evaluate the effects on access to higher learning by persons of all socio-economic levels.
5. Review the Western Governors' University initiative and assess its potential value for Texas institutions.
6. Conduct active oversight of agencies under the committee's jurisdiction, including a review of the State Auditor's finding of material weakness in higher education administration of student financial aid programs.

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