BILL ANALYSIS
By: Branch
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
As globalization intensifies, Texas must take the lead in constructing an educated workforce that will ensure success for the future of the state. It is important that the methods in which teachers communicate information relate to the 21st century classroom. Currently, there is no specific establishment geared toward the advancement of instructional methods for Texas students. House Bill 3260 will gather education experts from around the state to found a center that will study and develop advanced teaching methods.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
The bill provides that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in collaboration with public school educators and faculty and staff of institutions of higher education, shall establish and operate a center for the study and development of advanced instructional methods and standards intended to provide for the educational needs of students in public schools and institutions of higher education and the workplace needs of employers in the 21st century.
The bill provides that, in carrying out its mission, the center shall provide services to officers and employees, as applicable, of school districts, charter schools, regional education service centers, the Texas Education Agency, the State Board of Education, the State Board for Educator Certification, and institutions of higher education by studying and developing methods to improve standards, instruction, and assessments in public schools and institutions of higher education and disseminating information concerning those methods, supporting the design and implementation of technology-based instructional strategies and of professional development for educators in using those strategies, and based on the best available research, adopting and disseminating recommendations for improving the effectiveness of instruction in public schools and institutions of higher education through the use of technology-based instructional strategies.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.