The Texas Education Agency (TEA) Best Practices Clearinghouse was established by House Bill 1, Section 2.02, under the 79th Legislature. As revised by House Bill 3, Section 1, during the 81st Legislature in May 2009, Texas Education Code §7.009 directs TEA to establish an online clearinghouse of information relating to the best practices of campuses, school districts, and open-enrollment charter schools. The purpose of the Clearinghouse is to provide a centralized location where campuses and districts can share best practices.

The Best Practices Clearinghouse features a bank of approximately 40 best practice summaries collected from campuses, districts, and charter schools that are consistently high performing or that have documented improvement in student performance and/or campus and district operations. Summaries address instruction, dropout prevention, college and career readiness, English language learners, and business/management. The Clearinghouse also links to best practices collected through the Legislative Budget Board’s A+ Ideas for Managing Schools program.

The best practice designation is based on an action research framework in which campuses and districts have: (1) identified an area for improvement; (2) researched and implemented an intervention; and (3) analyzed pre-post and trend data to evaluate and document effectiveness. Reflecting this framework, the summaries provide a set of strategies, tools, and resources used by the campus or district to address a particular goal or area identified for improvement. The summaries include evidence of effectiveness, a summary of procedures involved in implementing the practice, and lessons learned.

Best practice campuses and districts are primarily identified through national and state programs, such as the U.S. Blue Ribbon Schools Program, the Broad Prize for Urban Education, the NCLB Title I Distinguished Schools program, and TEA’s recognition program for Exceptional Use of High School Allotment Funds. Additionally, schools are encouraged to self-nominate and initiate a best practice submission. See the Criteria for Best Practice Submissions on the How to Submit page for additional information.

New best practice summaries are added to the Web site frequently. Please join the TEA Best Practices Clearinghouse Mailing List to receive notification when new summaries are posted.

Resources for Learning (RFL), an educational consulting group, is partnering with TEA in the development of the Clearinghouse.