The Houston Education Research Consortium is a research-practice partnership between the Kinder Institute and eight 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.
Pre-K Preferences: How and Why HISD Parents Choose Pre-K Programs (Part 3)
The aims of this study are to identify characteristics that drive pre-k enrollment, understand where parents receive their information about HISD pre-k options, and understand parental beliefs about which program characteristics are most important.
Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Texas Workforce
Motivated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 60×30TX strategic plan, this project examined the path to and through college and into the workforce for students in the Houston area and state of Texas.
Will tuition-free college increase college graduation rates?
This study determined the optimal tuition subsidy necessary to increase two- and four-year college graduation in Texas. The study also estimated the per pupil and total cost of potential subsidies, and compared how they might affect college graduation rates.
School-to-Work Linkages in Texas
This report examined school-to-work linkages among bachelor’s degree holders in the state of Texas. Linkage is a measure of how closely connected college majors are to specific occupations in the labor market.
Cycle 1 of HISD’s College Success Initiative and Students’ Preparation for and Enrollment in College
This study examines the relationship between Cycle 1 of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) College Success Initiative and students’ preparation for, enrollment in, and persistence in college.
Transitioning to College and Work: Labor Market Analyses in Houston and Texas (Part 3)
Part 3 of the Houston Longitudinal Study on the Transition to College and Work (HLS) examined supply and demand for labor in the Houston area and Texas; in-demand occupations and skills in the Houston area; and early career wages and unemployment receipt among high school graduates from the Houston IndependentSchool District (HISD).
Transitioning to College and Work: A Study of Potential Enrollment Indicators (Part 2)
Part 2 of the Houston Longitudinal Study on the Transition to College and Work (HLS) examined potential indicators of college enrollment school and district staff might use to identify and support students at risk of not attending college.
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.
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.
Rice University
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