Links for Texas School Administrators

The following links contain useful information for school leaders. Having access to the right information is half the battle. What you do with it is another story.

Texas Education Code (on-line)
The TEC gives current Texas statutes relating to public education in Texas. Chapter 37 contains discipline requirements.



Texas Administrative Code
The rules adopted by the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the Commissioner of Education are part of a larger body of state agency rules that are collected and published by the Office of the Secretary of State as the Texas Administrative Code (TAC). Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are included starting with chapter 110. See Chapter 74 for Graduation requirements.



Texas Open Meetings Act Gov Code 551
Important information about requirements for Public School Board Meetings.



Public Information Act Gov Code 552
Everything needed to answer questions about information that must be made available for members of the public about the operation of schools and districts in Texas.



Q&A's about Texas Open Meetings and Public Information
Questions and answers from the Attorney General's Office on these topics.



Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
Links to TEA's site that contains the Essential Skills and Knowledge a student must know, by discipline and grade level.

2007-2008 Student Attendance Accounting Handbook
Information and rules for determining and recording student attendance.

Academic Excellence Indicator System AEIS Reports
Yearly reports for campuses and districts on student performance, demographic info, and financal reports.

Texas School Finance Website
Current news and updates on information about Texas School Finance.

Texas Vaccine Requirements for School Children
Great place to review vaccine requirements for new students to public school.

Advanced Placement Programs

College Board
SAT Testing information

The Future of Teacher Compensation

Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators
These Standards of Ethics for Educators should be reviewed by every person working with students every year!!

Texas Election Code
Information about conducting an election in the State of Texas.

Texas Ethics Commission
The agency is responsible for administering and enforcing Title 15, Election Code, concerning political contributions and expenditures, and political advertising; Information about how to file as a candiate and required reports.

On-line Ethics Training for State Officers and Employees in the Executive Branch of State Government
Good information about ethics requirements for any school district employee working at the District level.

A Short Guide To the Prohibition Against Using School District Resources for
Political Advertising in Connection with an Election
Some good advice to review before you print any "information" about a potential bond project.

Office of State Comptroller of Public Accounts
Truth in Taxation a guide to setting 2007 school district's tax rate. Good information on the process and timeline as used in 2007.

Record Managment Publication for Texas Public Schools
Posted by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Gives details specific for school Districts about how long to maintain records.
This schedule establishes mandatory minimum retention periods for the records listed. No local government office may dispose of a record listed in this schedule prior to the expiration of its retention period. A records control schedule of a local government may not set a retention period for a record that is less than that established for the record on this schedule. The originals of records listed in this schedule may be disposed of prior to the expiration of the stated minimum retention period if they have been microfilmed or electronically stored pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Code, Chapter 204 or Chapter 205, as applicable, and rules of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission adopted under authority of those chapters. Actual disposal of such records by a local government or an elective county office is subject to the policies and procedures of its records management program.

Records Management PDF

http://www.ucea.org/
The University Council for Educational Administration is a consortium of major research universities with doctoral programs in educational leadership and policy. The dual mission of UCEA is to improve the preparation of educational leaders and promote the development of professional knowledge in school improvement and administration. UCEA headquarters is currently hosted by the University of Texas at Austin.

Texas School and District Accountability Data Links

The following links have accountability data for Texas school districts.

Campus and District Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS)
Note: The latest AEIS reports are always for the prior school year. Some information maybe two years behind. These reports show enrollment figures, SAT and ACT testing information, demographic information about students and teachers, and buget expeditures for campus and district programs.

2007 Accountability Manual

Campus and District Ratings
These are the ratings given to campuses and districts by the Texas Education Agency. Rating are derived from multiple indicators. Results on the TAKS test is a key component in determining a rating. These ratings are included on the AEIS report for each school and district in Texas. For a detailed explanation see the latest TEA Accountability Manual.


Adequate Yearly Progress Reports (AYP)
AYP ratings are given to Districts and Campuses by the federal government as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The AYP ratings are different than those used in the AEIS reports given by TEA. The two ratings can vary because the indicators used to determine these ratings are different. Its helpful to know that the results of the same TAKS test is still the main indicator used to produce both AYP ratings and Texas AEIS ratings. Select a year then select District data tables. You can select to see all the campuses AYP ratings in the selected district. If you select District and Campus list you will download a 190 page list of all campuses in Texas. For a more detailed explanation of the AYP rating criteria please link to the 2007 AYP Guide.

Just for the Kids MISD data link.
Just for the Kids is a part of the National Center for Educational Accountability and also a part of ACT inc. the company that produces the ACT test. Just for the Kids produces a web site that compares your school to a list of ten other demographically similar comparison schools. These comparison schools are the top performing schools within this similar demographic group. Components such as the percent of low socio-economic students, the percent of Limited English Proficiency students, and generally the size of the school are used to form the groups for comparison. This data allows school leaders, parents and teachers to make the sometimes difficult comparison of their school's performance on TAKS to the ten high performing comparison schools. Comparision schools are located in the same state.

JFTK does not look solely at the percent of students in a school passing the TAKS test, rather they focus on the percent of students that have scale scores on the TAKS test at a level they consider "College Ready". A scale score of 2100 is set as the passing level for TAKS. The Texas Education Agency considers a score of 2400 as meeting the "Commended Performance" and generally speaking JFTK's college readiness level is close to that. JFTK looks at the Opportunity Gap or the difference that exists between your school's percent of students reaching the commended performance level and the average level of your ten comparison schools.
The site offers good data and an excellent opportunity to compare your school to top performing schools.

Some could argue that a higher scale score on a TAKS test is not the best criteria for determining whether a student is college ready, but that is the best data available to make that comparison here.

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
This site contains good data on high school to college enrollment figures in Texas shown by district.

Report on Texas Graduating Class of 2006 and College Admission Testing

Leadership Assessment

The following links may provide useful information on leadership assessment.

Myers- Briggs Type Logic

Jung Typology Test

Leader Values Self-Assessment

Journal of Leadership Education
JOLE is an official publication of the Association of Leadership Educators. The purpose of JOLE is to provide a forum for development of the knowledge base and practice of leadership education. The journal is intended to promote a dialogue that engages both academics and practitioners.

Principal's Leadership Skills Assessment

The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards for School Leaders
(ISLLC) was created by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) to develop the Standards for school leaders. The ISLLC Standards were written by representatives from states and professional associations during 1994-95. NPBEA is currently involved in an update of these standards.

Leadership Style Survey
This on-line survey gives you feedback about your consideration for Relationships vs Structure. (Blake & Mouton 1964)

Emotional Intelligence Test
Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth - Mayer & Salovey, 1997.

Research and Statistics

The following links are good for obtaining information for educational research.

Statistical Resources on the Web for Education

Clearinghouse for Educational Policy and Management CEPM
This site hosted by the College of Education at the University of Oregon CEPM includes reviews and access to books, monographs, and synthesis papers on topics of interest to educational policymakers, school administrators, researchers, and other personnel.

Educational Resources Information Center ERIC
ERIC contains free access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials and, if available, includes links to full text. ERIC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

The Educator's Reference Desk

The International Archieve for Education Data
Important national and international data collections that report on education.

Research Resources (Search Engine) Great for finding data bases.

National Center for Educational Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences, is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education.

Landmark's Citation Machine
Helps format your references in APA MLA style.

The Owl at Purdue (Writing Resources)
Good site for ideas about writing style and writing process.

Texas State Data Center (Office of State Demographer)
This site has good data from the 2000 census for Texas. It has information broken down by counties and region. The demographer has several PowerPoint presentations with useful information about population trends and projected growth patterns in Texas. Great information for District planning.

American Educational Research Association
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and, by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.

Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence
The purpose of CREDE's research is to identify and develop effective educational practices for linguistic and cultural minority students, such as those placed at risk by factors of race, poverty, and geographic location. In collaboration with the University of California at Santa Cruz, CAL prepares and disseminates materials for CREDE.

Consortium for Policy Research in Education
CPRE unites five of the nation's top research institutions in an effort to improve student learning through research on education reform, policy, and finance.

National Research and Development Center
the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement, through its five National Institutes, supports university-based national educational research and development centers. The centers address specific topics such as early childhood development and learning, student learning and achievement , cultural and linguistic diversity and second language learning, post secondary improvement, adult learning, and education policy.

Social Statistics Briefing Room (US Gov)
Provides easy access to current Federal social statistics. It provides links to information produced by a number of Federal agencies. All of the information included in the Social Statistics Briefing Room is maintained and updated by the statistical units of those agencies.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress
NAEP, or the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is often called the "Nation's Report Card." It is the only measure of student achievement in the United States where you can compare the performance of students in your state with the performance of students across the nation or in other states. NAEP, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, has been conducted for over 30 years.

Presentation US vs Other G8 Countries

The United States vs Other G8 Countries
This report, Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G8 Countries: 2004, draws on the most current information producedby these projects available at the time of production (fall 2003 to spring 2004) to present a set of education indicators that describes how the U.S. education system compares with those in other economically developed countries.

Highlights From the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 is the third comparison of mathematics and science achievement carried out since 1995 by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), an international organization of national research institutions and governmental research agencies. TIMSS can be used to track changes in achievement over time. Moreover, TIMSS is closely linked to the curricula of the participating countries, providing an indication of the degree to which students have learned concepts in mathematics and science they have encountered in school. In 2003, some 46 countries participated inTIMSS, at either the fourth- or eighth-grade level, or both.

Coaching and Developing High Performance Teams

As Leaders in MISD, we are attempting to build schools with genuine collaborative cultures. We envision our schools functioning as "learning communities" where teachers collectively consider data to determine how their teaching is impacting student learning. In order to develop and nurture these learning teams, leaders in MISD are studying the art of coaching and mentoring teams. The follow links provide some valuable information for leaders working to help teams perform more effectively.

The Secrets of Creative Collaboration

Building a Committed Team

What is a Professional Learning Community

Professional Learning Communities (Assessment)

Big Dog's Team Page

Team Assessment

Teachers as Leaders

Professional Learning Communities

The following links are related to staff development and PLC sites.

Making Time for Teacher Professional Development

Building a Professional Learning Community

PLC's An Idea Worth Considering?

PLC's An Eight-Year Study

PLC's An Exploration

PLC's A National Perspective

All Things PLC

Michael Fullan

The FIVE Dysfunctions of a TEAM

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
Inattention to results
Fear Of Conflict
Absence of Trust

Teams that have Trust...

•Admit weaknesses and mistakes
•Ask for help
•Accept questions and input about area of responsibility
•Give one another the benefit of a doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion
•Take risks in offering feedback and assistance
•Appreciate and tap into one another's skills and experiences
•Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics
•Offer and accept apologies without hesitation.
•Look forward to meeting and other opportunities to work as a group

Teams that have Conflict...

•Have lively interesting meetings
•Extract and exploit the ideas of all members of the team
•Solve real problems quickly
•Minimize politics
•Put critical topics on the table for discussion.

Teams that Commit

•Creates clarity around direction and priorities
•Aligns the entire team around common objectives
•Develops an ability to learn from mistakes
•Takes advantage of opportunities
•Moves forward without hesitation
•Changes direction without hesitation or guilt

Teams that Hold Each Another Accountable..

•Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve
•Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning on another’s approaches without hesitation
•Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards
•Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management and corrective action
•Doesn’t require team leader to be the sole source of discipline.

Teams that focus on Results...

•Retains achievement oriented employees
•Minimizes individualistic behavior
•Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely
•Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interest for the good of the team
•Avoids distractions

From The FIVE Dysfunctions of a TEAM by Patrick Lencioni

MISD Leadership Beliefs

Magnolia Education

This posting is a preview to the site that we will create to discuss leadership theory, trends and current research pertaining to k-12 education in Magnolia ISD and the State of Texas.

MISD LEADERSHIP BELIEFS

VISION
We believe a Leader in MISD champions the vision and goal of the District – for
all stakeholders.

SERVANTHOOD
We believe a Leader in MISD will be a servant to all as they empower others to achieve.

DECISION-MAKING
We believe a Leader in MISD will make decisions at the appropriate level consistent with the vision of the District; decisions
will be data driven, based on sound theory and practice, and foremost focused on what’s best for the short and long term interests
of the students.

TEAMWORK
We believe a Leader in MISD will establish and nurture effective and cohesive teams, committed and empowered to accomplish
the District’s vision and goals.

DEVELOPMENT OF OTHERS
We believe it is the responsibility of Leaders to develop and empower individuals to their
fullest potential.

CHARACTER-CENTERED
We believe a Leader in MISD must understand how to articulate and lead from personal character principles and ethics in
relation to the vision and goals of the District.
.
QUALITY
We believe a Leader in MISD has an obligation to expect and promote quality from all; and to establish quality control strategies
throughout the organization.

TRUST
We believe a Leader in MISD will develop a climate of shared trust for all stakeholders in
the organization.

COMMUNICATION
We believe a Leader in MISD will be an ambassador of the District’s vision and goals by providing effective communication
about the progress, direction and effectiveness of the organization in relationship to achieving the goals of the District.

COMMITMENT
We believe a Leader in MISD passionately internalizes the vision and goals of the District and seeks to accomplish those goals
from a reference point of personal commitment.