Creating and commissioning rigorous academic research on innovative ideas and programming is foundational to our approach. We look to existing research to inform our work, and endeavor to contribute new research where we see need.
We conduct in-house data analysis and commission formal research from leading universities and institutions to better understand complex ideas and share relevant findings with the field.
Explore our research reports and case studies, and stay tuned as we continue to research topics essential to the Charles Butt Foundation mission.
A sizable number of teachers leave the profession, then choose to return, and very little insight exists about why they make this choice. This prompted researchers at the Charles Butt Foundation to understand what impacts this decision from the perspective of the teachers themselves.
The impacts of standardized testing reverberate inside and outside school buildings across Texas. Because of this reality, State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) testing has been a consistent domain of the Charles Butt Foundation’s survey research. Our latest report, Texans’ Views of the State Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), synthesizes STAAR-related data from the perspectives of Texans, both parents and non-parents, and teachers using data from our 2020-23 Texas Education Poll and Texas Teacher Poll reports.
At the Charles Butt Foundation, we believe a critical underpinning of a more equitable and prosperous future for all Texans is for every student in every classroom to have an effective teacher every year. Unfortunately, that is not the current reality. Texas struggles to ensure every classroom has a fully certified teacher. In 2021–22, a combined 57% of first-time teachers in Texas held either a substandard intern certificate or emergency permit, (30%) or no certification at all (27%). That is why part of our strategy is centered around making progress in this regard.
Note: Many of the research reports offered here were commissioned and published by our sister organization, Raise Your Hand Texas. We share them here because the subject matter is relevant to the mission and work of the Charles Butt Foundation.