The growing importance of education practitioner and researcher collaboration was illustrated at the recent Texas Consortium on School Research (TCSR)in Dallas on February 18th. Leaders from 18 Texas school districts demonstrated how the Consortium is facilitating the use of data in their districts to improve student outcomes, focusing on the area of College and Career Readiness.
The meeting reflected the value of TCSR as a Community of Practice, with members presenting insights on how the knowledge and best practices gained through TCSR are being applied, including:
- Houston ISD: Using Research to Align College Readiness Standards
- Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: Texas Pathways Project
- Northside ISD (San Antonio): High School to College: A Teacher to Teacher Connection
- Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and Spring Branch ISD: Vertical Alignment of College Ready Standards: What TCSR Districts and Institutes of Higher Education are Doing
In addition, a number of the TCSR districts participated in a pilot of a “How-To Guide” for the REL Southwest study, How Prepared are Students for College Level Reading?Applying a Lexile® Based Approach. An overview of the study and the development of the “How-To Guide,” specifically the importance of district input, reflected how this collaboration is generating the practical application of research with the goal of increasing student achievement.
