Houston Education
Research Consortium

The Houston Education Research Consortium is a research-practice partnership between the Kinder Institute and 11 Houston-area school districts to guide data-driven, equity-minded policy. HERC uses a jointly developed research agenda that involves both researchers and school district leaders working together on critical issues to improve educational equity. The research center follows a long-term, rather than project-based, collaboration to solve longstanding problems with a focus on informing decision-makers directly.

Our commitment to Houston ISD
As a new superintendent and Board of Managers are appointed to Houston ISD, Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research remains committed to informing district leadership in its efforts to improve student outcomes. Learn more.

Initiatives

The Equity Project

Student Mobility

Long-term English Learners

Prekindergarten

Study on Social and Emotional Skills

Postsecondary Readiness

Wraparound Needs

Research

Examining Equitable Access to Health Resources, Support Staff and Technology Across HISD

This series of briefs examines whether HISD students across campuses have equitable access to health resources, support staff and technology.

BRIEF: September 25, 2023 EDUCATION

Equity in the Classroom: Teacher Qualifications and Student Outcomes in HISD (Briefs 1-3)

This series of briefs focuses on teacher qualifications and student outcomes in the Houston Independent School District.

BRIEF: August 23, 2023 EDUCATION

Understanding the Effect of HISD’s EMERGE Program on Student Outcomes

This brief examines the impact of the EMERGE program on the likelihood of participating students applying to and enrolling in selective colleges.

BRIEF: July 18, 2023 EDUCATION

Staying in the Neighborhood: Examining Distance to Zoned Schools and Access to Transportation

This brief examines how students' living distance from their zoned school and access to district-provided school transportation impact enrollment decisions.

BRIEF: July 6, 2023 EDUCATION

Social and Emotional Skills of Students in the Houston Independent School District (Briefs 2-5)

This series of briefs looks at how social and emotional skills are related to academic outcomes, absenteeism, and exclusionary discipline; the context of SSES skills; and the commonalities and differences between students’ self-ratings and teachers’ ratings of students’ SE skills.

BRIEF: January 31, 2023 EDUCATION

Long-term English learners: How is timing of reclassification associated with middle and high school outcomes? (Part 4)

This brief examines the middle and high school outcomes of long-term English speakers in the Houston region, with a specific focus on how the timing of reclassification was associated with academic achievement and school engagement.

BRIEF: December 7, 2022 EDUCATION

Equity in CTE Program Availability and Access

This study examined the availability and access to Career and Technical Education programs in HISD.

BRIEF: December 2, 2022 EDUCATION

HISD Student Needs Survey: Fall 2021

HISD's 2021 student needs survey measured student needs across five categories: health, mental health, basic needs, home learning environment, and enrichment activities.

BRIEF: November 15, 2022 EDUCATION

Problems with How Texas Measures Continuous Enrollment and Proposed Solutions: A Methodological Report

This report proposes alternative definitions for student continuous enrollment. It also looks at the relationship between continuous enrollment and performance.