10.2190/XAWA-LTQF-MW78-UVQ2 XAWALTQFMW78UVQ2 0 THE RESHAPING OF NONRENEWAL AND TERMINATION PRACTICES REGARDING TEACHER CONTRACTS: A TEXAS FOCUS 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=XAWALTQFMW78UVQ2 1 MILDEN J. FOX, JR. AND IRIS W. AMON Texas responded to national demands for educational accountability in 1981 with the passage of the Term Contract Renewal Act. The absence of a standard statewide code regarding reasons for dismissal has allowed greater administrative latitude in dismissals, while initiating employee challenges in the courts and the state education agency. School officials currently have available a body of literature and law related to proper procedures for termination and nonrenewal of employees. There are some indications that the number of such actions has stabilized in the late 1980s. In some ways, Texas represents a microcosm of national trends regarding the severance of teacher contracts.