This study stems from the first annual Needs Assessment Survey created and administered by the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Findings from the survey indicate that families could use additional support in four key areas: healthcare, mental health, housing and food security, and school supplies.
House Bill 5 and High School Endorsements: How Do They Align to College Admissions?
This policy brief describes the Texas high school graduation requirements put into effect through the passage of House Bill 5 in 2013. The brief contends the introduction of academic endorsements, similar to college majors, may create clearer paths to selective college enrollment for students studying STEM.
Long-term English Learners (LTELs): Predictors, Patterns, & Outcomes, Defining LTEL (Part 1)
This is the first in a series of briefs the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) will release on long-term English learners (LTELs).
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.
Kinder Houston Area Survey: 2020 Results
For close to four decades, the Kinder Houston Area Survey has been tracking the changing attitudes and experiences of Houstonians.
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.
For many of the nearly 177,000 students in Houston ISD, access to food, clothing, shelter, health care, school supplies and other resources poses a barrier to success in the classroom. The district is counting on its Sunrise Centers to help meet those needs — and a research partnership to ensure they deliver meaningful impact on student outcomes.
How Houston's only public recovery high school is creating new paths for student success
Of all youth in Harris County, high schoolers had the highest rate of substance-involved health care facility visits and deaths from 2018-22, according to a new report.
Bilingualism is a strength Texas is failing to nurture for hundreds of thousands of students
Nearly one-fourth of all students in Texas public schools are emergent bilingual, meaning their home language is something other than English. Spanish is the most common home language among emergent bilingual students in the state, but over 60 languages are represented.
Making the case for increasing funding for Texas schools that need it most
Seventy percent of Houstonians believe schools need “significantly more” money to provide a quality education to students, a sentiment that has grown stronger since the Kinder Houston Area Survey began asking this question in the early 1990s.
How public pre-K sets Houston’s students on a path to success
In 2023-24, over 50,000 children attended public prekindergarten in the Houston area, bringing overall enrollment near to pre-pandemic levels.
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