History

Texas Schools Project (TSP) was founded in 1992 by Dr. John F. Kain, while he was a professor of economics at Harvard University. During an early 1990s visit to Texas, Kain learned about the state’s accountability system that required annual testing in core subjects of all public school students in the state. His initial interest centered on using these data to investigate factors affecting the outcomes of minority and low-income students. Ultimately, Kain, in collaboration with Dr. Eric Hanushek, established a database of administrative level education data from Texas that was unequalled in the world, and showed how it could be used to investigate fundamental education issues. Furthermore, this longitudinal database provided a model to other states of the quality of education research that could be conducted using such data.

In 1997, Kain joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and moved the project to the University where he, Hanushek and Dr. Steve Rivkin led a variety of innovative research efforts with what became known as the Texas Schools Microdata Panel (TSMP).  Sadly, Kain passed away suddenly in 2003, but Hanushek and Rivkin carried on his legacy by working with UTD directors, including Dr. Paul Jargowsky, Dr. Daniel O’Brien, Dr. Rodney Andrews, Dr. Greg Branch, and Dr. Trey Miller, to continue to build the project for the benefit of education in Texas and nationally.

TSP was a model for the Texas Education Research Center (ERC), which was established in 2007 as a result of legislation passed in the 79th Texas legislative session. TSP was selected to be one of three inaugural Texas ERCs that facilitate research to benefit education in the state by providing researchers with access to individual administrative data from the Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas Workforce Commission — the agencies that had contributed data to the TSMP. The UTD ERC continues to host and support dissemination for a multitude of research projects informing policy and practice using the comprehensive collection of restricted microdata made available to local and national researchers under the program.

Today, TSP continues to produce and disseminate high-quality academic research to inform policy and practice creating lasting benefits for Texas and the nation. TSP’s current research agenda takes inspiration from the long-term influence of our late director, Dr. Rodney Andrews, whose research leveraged ERC data to identify policies and practices that can improve access and equity across the education system. Current research projects focus on improving student success in postsecondary and career and technical education, improving outcomes and experiences of immigrant and emergent bilingual students, and assessing the role of faculty mentors and the impact of efforts to diversify the professoriate. TSP draws upon its strong network of education policymakers, practitioners, funders and researchers to disseminate findings and implications for policy and practice that emerge from this research to those in a position to make change, so as to maximize the impact of its research.