EDUCATION RESOURCE STRATEGIES - Laying the Groundwork for District Success - Texas’ Targeted Approach in a Changing Landscape

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle

Education Resource Strategies examines how state education leaders can enable district implementation through targeted, evidence-based resource reorganization. It highlights Texas’ research-based vision for educational excellence since 2016, its supporting legislation, and the Texas Education Agency’s role in translating policy into practical district guidance. The brief also describes how Texas provides technical assistance, direct grants, and accountability via output and outcome indicators. Using Lubbock ISD as an example, it connects legislative shifts to improved teacher and student experiences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

EDUCATION RESOURCE STRATEGIES

Laying the Groundwork for District Success - Texas’ Targeted Approach in a Changing Landscape

Transformation Begins With Evidence-Based Legislation

Texas Context and Student Needs

Key Texas Legislation Supporting the Strategy

EDUCATION RESOURCE STRATEGIES Laying the Groundwork for District Success Texas ’ Targeted Approach in a Changing Landscape Meeting the intensified needs of students today will require strategic changes to how people, time, and money are organized in schools. But school and district leaders often can’t undertake these significant resource shifts on their own; state leaders play a key role in creating the enabling conditions necessary for districts to make these changes. And, with recent workforce transitions at the U.S. Department of Education, states have even more responsibility and opportunity to rethink the way they can organize resources to help districts implement their strategies. Texas is a powerful example of a state that has started to undertake the work necessary to create these conditions. Since 2016, Texas has set a clear research-based vision for educational excellence that focuses on ensuring that all students—especially those furthest from opportunity—can succeedi. Since then, Texas has adopted legislation that encourages districts to adopt practices that research shows improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps. Critically, Texas recognizes the need to support districts in implementing legislation through the Texas Education Agency (TEA) . Texas’ work is exemplary of how state education agencies can support school and district transformation by: • Providing practical guidance to districts. • Identifying the key strategic shifts that schools and districts must make to adopt these evidence-based practices. • Strategically investing in direct district grants, technical assistance, and other tools and supports to promote the adoption of these practices. • Evaluating progress by tracking key output and outcome indicators aligned to these strategic shifts and holding districts accountable for outcomes using a strong accountability system. • Scaling the work by creating opportunities for successful district leaders to share best practices, tools, and resources. 1 EDUCATION RESOURCE STRATEGIES Figure 1: ERS Approach for How States Can Support School and District Implementation When states adopt these practices, they support districts in implementing powerful system changes that impact teachers’ and students’ experiences and real outcomes for their students. This brief illustrates how Lubbock Independent School District (ISD), a leading-edge district serving more than 25,000 students in West Texas, has leveraged state support to embark on an ambitious innovation plan in support of its students and school community. Transformation Begins With Evidence-Based Legislation As its student population has continued to grow and diversify, Texas has been focused on adopting legislation that research shows closes achievement gaps and drives education outcomes. 2 EDUCATION RESOURCE STRATEGIES Texas Context: Texas’ public education system is one of the largest in the U.S., with more than 1,200 school districts, nearly 9,000 campuses, and, in the 2024-2025 school year, an enrollment of more than 5,544,255 students. Texas also has large populations of economically disadvantaged and emergent bilingual students that have continued to grow over time. Texas is a sizeable piece of the U.S. public education systemii as a whole: • 1 in 10 U.S. public school students go to school in Texas. • 1 in 4 emergent bilingual students in the U.S. public education system go to school in Texas. • Nearly 3 in 10 of all economically disadvantaged students go to school in Texas. The following legislation serves as the foundation for Texas’ strategy for improving student achievement: • House Bill 3 : Landmark 2019 legislation that focuses on several key policy areas, including: o Raising the minimum salary schedule and creating the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) to reward strong teachers. o Establishing the College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) bonus program, which provides funding

FAQs

What role do state leaders play in helping districts implement strategic changes?

State leaders create enabling conditions districts need to make major resource shifts. They also provide guidance, tools, funding, technical assistance, and accountability to support implementation.

What vision and policy direction has Texas pursued since 2016?

Texas established a research-based vision for educational excellence focused on ensuring all students—especially those furthest from opportunity—can succeed. It also adopted legislation encouraging districts to adopt evidence-based practices that improve outcomes and close achievement gaps.

Which types of support does Texas provide to districts through TEA?

Texas provides practical guidance, identifies strategic shifts for districts, invests through direct district grants and technical assistance, tracks output and outcome indicators, and scales success by sharing best practices from district leaders.

How does Texas’ legislation support student achievement and instructional improvement?

Key bills include House Bill 3 for teacher incentives, career readiness funding, extended school year incentives, and early literacy requirements; House Bill 1416 for accelerated instruction; House Bill 1605 for reviewing instructional materials and providing vetted resources. House Bill 2 expands TIA designations and additional days funding, among other provisions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle