Content Centers

Currently there are five Content Centers supporting the Regional Comprehensive Centers in their work with state education agencies to implement the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, each Content Center has a specific area of expertise in which they provide research and technical assistance services. These content areas are assessment and accountability, high schools, innovation and improvement, instruction, and teacher quality.

Regional Comprehensive Centers

The Regional Comprehensive Centers are part of a federal network of 16 centers serving individual or clusters of states across the nation. The comprehensive centers, which are funded by the US Department of Education, help state education agencies implement fully the federal No Child Left Behind Act, improve student achievement, and close the achievement gap.

---

Student Assessment Newsletter

The Student Assessment Division of the Texas Education Agency publishes a newsletter twice a month to provide Texas educators regular, current information about the state assessment program. This page contains links to all of the published newsletters.

Center for Education: Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences And Education

The Center for Education, which is part of National Academies, promotes evidence-based policy analysis. This site offers studies, reports, workshops, and Web sites, that are intended to provide information on critical issues facing education today including standards, assessment, teaching, technology, preparation of youth for productive futures, and the improvement of educational research.

American Educational Research Association

The American Educational Research Association, founded in 1916, is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.

Southwest Educational Research Association

The Southwest Educational Research Association (SERA) is a regional educational research association dedicated to furthering the advancement of research in education. SERA has an annual meeting each year for three days in which professionals share research findings and ideas in a conference setting.

Resources for Methods in Evaluation and Social Research

This page lists free resources for methods in evaluation and social research. The focus is on how to do evaluation research and the methods used: surveys, focus groups, sampling, interviews, and other methods. Most of these links are to resources that can be read over the web. A few are for books that can be sent away for, for free if you live in the United States, as well as read online.

Scientifically Based Research

Federal Register: Notice of Final Priority (January 25, 2005; Vol. 70, no. 15)

This 2005 posting in the Federal Register provides the working definition of ‘scientifically based research’ from the U.S. Department of Education.

What Does Scientifically Based Research Mean for Schools?

The December 2003 issue of SEDL Letter, published by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, features this article exploring what scientifically based research means for schools, particularly in mathematics and science education.

Contestation and Change in National Policy on "Scientifically Based" Education Research

The October 2003 issue of Educational Researcher, published by the American Educational Research Association, includes this article, which is one of the featured links on this page. This article provides helpful background on scientifically based research policy.

Using Research and Reason in Education: How Teachers Can Use Scientifically Based Research to Make Curricular & Instructional Decisions

This publication was produced by the RMC Research Corporation under a contract with the National Institute for Literacy and is made available by the National Partnership for Reading.

An Educator's Guide to Scientifically Based Research

This guide, published by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory, addresses topics such as why scientifically based research in education is such a hot topic today and how research evidence should be evaluated. It includes criteria for scientific research as set forth by No Child Left Behind and the National Research Council. This guide also outlines seven steps to conducting scientifically based research (SBR) and ways to identify high quality researchers.

Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported by Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide

This guide, published by the U.S. Department of Education, seeks to provide educational practitioners with user-friendly tools to distinguish practices supported by rigorous evidence from those that are not.

Using Scientifically Based Research in Schools

The October 2005 newsletter of the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement features articles and information on using scientifically based research in schools.

No Child Left Behind

Definitions for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Assessment

The purpose of this document is to explore the world of assessment within the context of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The definitions provided will help those with little knowledge of assessment to understand the essentials of practice and theory. The information is meant for assessment users so they can interpret the purpose of tests and test scores appropriately and explain them to others and is not meant to provide in-depth knowledge.

Council of Chief State School Officers—No Child Left Behind

As one in a network of strategies designed to support state educators in meeting these challenges and in taking full advantage of these opportunities, the Council of Chief State School Officers is compiling a rich collection of annotated NCLB resources.

Center on Education Policy—No Child Left Behind

This section of the Center on Education Policy's Web site on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) features a collection of links to and abstracts for a collection of reports related to NCLB.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make hundreds of Federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the FREE web site.

No Child Left Behind

The U.S. Department of Education's web site provides information about the No Child Left Behind legislation including an overview, information on stronger accountability, more local freedom, proven methods, choices for parents, and an A-Z index.

The Center for the Education and Study of Diverse Populations

More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make hundreds of Federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the FREE web site.

The Texas Achievement Gap

The U.S. Department of Education's web site provides information about the No Child Left Behind legislation including an overview, information on stronger accountability, more local freedom, proven methods, choices for parents, and an A-Z index.

The Texas Education Agency's NCLB site

This site, which is a resource maintained by the Texas Education Agency, provides a comprehensive collection of information and updates related to No Child Left Behind and its implications in Texas.

The Texas High School Project

The Texas High School Project is a $130 million public-private initiative to demonstrate that every Texas student can succeed in high school and graduate ready for college, work and citizenship.

The United States Department of Education

ED was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. Its original directive remains its mission today — to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation.

The What Works Clearinghouse

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) collects, screens, and identifies studies of the effectiveness of educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies).