Houston Education
Research Consortium

Summer Melt and Free Application for Federal Student Aid Verification

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) verification and its role in summer melt is examined in this brief.

The incomparability of campus-specific Benchmark Running Records

The purpose of this methodological brief is to examine the comparability of literacy Benchmark Running Records utilized by campuses in HISD.

Inequalities in Postsecondary Attainment by English Learner Status: The Role of College-Level Course-Taking

This report finds that gaps in four-year college outcomes by English learner status are large, but are entirely explained by differences in sociodemographic, academic and school characteristics.

Examining Complexity in Student Homelessness: The Educational Outcomes of HISD’s Homeless Students

In this report, researchers examined the educational outcomes of Houston Independent School District (HISD) students who are homeless from 2012-13 to 2016-17, the years immediately preceding Hurricane Harvey.

Strategies for Increasing Access to HISD Pre-K Programs (Part 2)

This is the second in a series of briefs examining student access to Houston ISD pre-kindergarten programs. The study finds that among 2018-19 kindergarteners in HISD who did not attend HISD pre-k, about two-thirds of students likely qualified for enrollment.

Who Applies to EMERGE?

In this research brief, we focus on the profiles of the 2016-2017 cohort of EMERGE applicants.

Finishing What My Parents Started: College Aspirations among EMERGE Students

This brief describes findings from interviews with high-performing high school sophomores from low-socioeconomic backgrounds who applied and were accepted into EMERGE during spring 2018, before any exposure to EMERGE programming. The goal of this study was to understand how students develop college aspirations and search for postsecondary institutions.

Availability of and Equity in Access to HISD Pre-K Programs (Part 1)

This study attempts to identify the spatial distribution of HISD pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs across the district and better understand how program location may be associated with access and equity issues.

The Role of College Prep Course Offerings and Course-Taking in Long-Term Educational Outcomes

This study analyzes the distribution of college prep course offerings across Texas high schools and which school characteristics are associated with higher and lower numbers of college prep course offerings

The Effects of HISD Summer School

This study provides an assessment of the effectiveness of Houston ISD 2016 summer school, which the district offered both to retained students (which was required and needed for promotion) as well as promoted students (which was not required but available for summer enrichment).