* We should fully define «highly qualified teacher» for Texas not just in regulatory terms, but in terms of the qualities and performance that are expected, which will necessitate a re-evaluation of the strategic policy
document, «
Learner - Centered Schools for Texas: A Vision of Texas Educators», adopted in 1997, as well as the transformation of educator employment terms from «contract» to «at will», with enhanced compensation based on performance tied to student
achievement.
The rubrics are aligned to the research based practices
documented by Drs. Patricia Gandara and María Estela Zárate in their recent publication titled «Seizing the Opportunity to Narrow the
Achievement Gap for English
Learners: Research - based Recommendations for the Use of LCFF Funds» from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.
This course is designed to help future and current teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary school students to (1) understand, develop, and implement a range of effective, practical strategies for assessing and
documenting the academic
achievement of their students, including English
Learners, students with identified / unidentified exceptionalities, and students eligible for free or reduced price lunch (TPEs 1.1, 2.2, 3.5, 4.4, and 5.1 - 5.8); (2) develop the skills and habits of mind necessary to use assessment results to plan effective instruction for every student (TPEs 3.5, 4.4, and 5.1 - 5.8); (3) learn how to present and discuss assessment results with other education professionals and with students» parents (TPEs 1.2, 2.6, 3.2, 4.5, 5.1 - 5.8).