The method California uses to count students for funding purposes is an important decision that drives both resources and behaviors. For more than 100 years, California has funded school districts based on the average number of students who attend school each day. Although this average daily attendance (ADA) method was once used by many states,…

Student mobility refers to students changing schools. In this series of research briefs, the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) examines and describes the amount of student mobility in Texas, with particular focus on Houston area public schools. This second research brief focuses on providing an overview of how much mobility takes place…

The "60x30TX" higher education plan for Texas began in 2015 with four goals to be achieved by 2030: (1) 60x30 Educated Population: At least 60% of Texans ages 25-34 will have a certificate or degree; (2) Completion: At least 550,000 students in 2030 will complete a certificate or an associate, bachelor's, or master's degree from an…

This report summarizes the academic performance of students in the AISD secondary dual language program during 2019-2020. Topics include program and student characteristics, performance on the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS), enrollment in advanced placement (AP) courses and performance on AP exams. Due to the…

This paper explores the effects of community college tuition reductions on student enrollment decisions and graduation probabilities. The study leverages changes in community college taxing districts in Texas. The paper examines five community colleges who annexed municipalities into their taxing districts from 1994 to 2012. The study uses a…

College plays a critical role in providing opportunities for economic mobility, yet degree attainment by race is inequitable. Currently, more than half of young white adults hold at least a two-year college degree, compared to 37 percent of Black young adults. Less than a third of Hispanic, American Indian, and Hawaiian or Pacific Islander young…

To support youths' early motivation for higher education and careers, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 5 in 2013 to adopt a new foundation high school program, which allows students to pursue endorsements as they begin 9th Grade. Endorsements prepare high-school students for specific STEM, business, public service, arts and humanities, and…

This report provides information on enrollment in the Texas public school system from the 2004-05 through 2014-15 school years, based on data collected through the Texas Public Education Information Management System. Enrollment data are provided by grade, race/ethnicity, gender, and economically disadvantaged status, and for special populations…

This brief report offers analysis of ACT and SAT results from 2008 to 2013 in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region. The brief focuses on the increase in test participation rates and points to policies that SREB states initiated that affected these rates. Five SREB states currently require 100 percent student participation on the…

This study examined the extent to which Texas school boards of education made efforts to locally modify student speech policy. Using online policy manuals provided by the Texas Association of School Boards, speech policies for 91 school districts were gathered using a purposive stratified sampling procedure and examined for local modifications to…