College and career readiness: Texas House Bill 5 reform realities in a far-west Texas school district
Abstract
Efforts by the 83rd Texas Legislature (2013), along with decades of state legislative measures to address access and equity for Texas school children, helped create House Bill 5 (HB 5). This policy stipulates that public schools need to more accurately reflect a college and career readiness culture through the expansion of curriculum options for students, the reduction of standardized testing, and the enhancement of school accountability (Texas Education Agency, 2014a). These type of outputs provide the structure and guidance that schools need to streamline a successful student pathway aimed at preparing them for a college and career choice. If students are to make the best possible decision following high school graduation, they need to be exposed to certain pre-college elements. Several sections within HB 5 contain those elements aimed at helping students and family make the best decision. With any educational reform, individual dispositions, knowledge, and skill, along with organizational norms, networks, and relationships between different schools, their districts, and state agencies, affect policy implementation (Malen, 2005). Therefore, this research explores the individual nature of those educational agents (administrators, counselors, and teachers) involved with the implementation of HB 5. Engaging in this research would require the assessment of how well systems attain their goals and other societal effects. This study will use Easton’s Political Systems Theory (1965, 1966, 1979) to analyze the decisions of those persons who implement this policy. Specifically, this research will highlight the realities of principals, counselors, and teachers using case study as the primary method for conducting this qualitative study. This research identifies the exchanges between the environment (high school) and the political system within Easton’s definition.
Subject Area
Education Policy|Educational administration|Higher education
Recommended Citation
Sigala, Tomas, "College and career readiness: Texas House Bill 5 reform realities in a far-west Texas school district" (2016). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI10245379.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI10245379