Houston Independent School District Research Articles

An integer programming model for the deployment of mobile health clinics

Facility location and resource allocation play an essential role in the operational management of mobile health clinics (MHCs) as optimization of both can help medical service providers improve their service coverage under limited resources. In this paper, we consider the issue of maximizing the coverage of immunization services provided by MHCs in vulnerable communities such as school zones and census tracts. Since demand in communities overlaps with neighboring communities, this leads to the so-called mobile facility location with overlapped demand (MFL-OD). To capture the overlapped demand in different communities, we introduce a novel integer programming model with linear and bilinear constraints (BLCIP) and show that the BLCIP model is NP-hard. A polynomial-time approximation algorithm is proposed for the BLCIP, and the approximation ratio of the obtained solution is estimated. We implement the proposed model and approximation algorithm for a case study in the Houston Independent School District and its associated communities. Preliminary experiments demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed model and the efficiency of the proposed approximation method.

Foregrounding the “Home” in Student Homelessness: Residential Context and Educational Outcomes in an Urban District

Students experiencing homelessness spend their nights in various settings, including shelters, with friends/families (doubled-up), motels/hotels, and unsheltered contexts. Yet there is limited quantitative research on how educational outcomes vary by residential context. We analyze data from over 400,000 students in Houston Independent School District from 2012–2013 to 2016–2017 via fixed-effects models and coarsened exact matching techniques. We find that students who became homeless attended less school and were more likely to drop out than nonhomeless students but had comparable achievement growth and disciplinary infractions. However, outcomes varied significantly by residential context: Doubled-up students fared relatively well on most outcomes, whereas students in shelter had particularly poor attainment. Results highlight the importance of research and practice that attends to differences by residential context.

Narrative Building in State Education Intervention: Framing the Takeover Attempt of Houston Independent School District

This case study uses the approach by the Texas government to attempt a state takeover of Houston Independent School District (HISD) to examine the impact of framing on awareness and acceptance of executive action. This work extends recent studies in Georgia and Massachusetts that find stakeholder relationships, the role of Republican governors, and assigning blame as key components of takeover analysis. Using framing analysis, this case study analyzes the impact that framing the takeover action and approach has on these relationships. These findings present an understanding of how narrative construction makes an executive action consistent with administrative and political power to gain acceptability.

English

Competitive debate programs exist across the globe, and participation in debate has been linked to improved critical thinking skills and academic performance. However, few evaluations have been able to adequately address self-selection into the activity when examining its impact on achievement. This study evaluated the relationship between participating in a debate program and academic performance among high school students (N=35,788; 1,145 debaters and 34,643 non-debaters) using linked debate participation and academic record data from the Houston Independent School District. Academic performance was indicated by cumulative GPA and performance on the SAT college entrance exam. Selection into debate was addressed using propensity score methods informed by sociodemographic characteristics and 8th grade standardized test scores to account for pre-debate achievement. Debate participation was associated with 0.66 points (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.64, 0.68) higher GPA, 52.43 points (95%CI: 50.47, 54.38) higher SAT Math, and 57.05 points (95% CI: 55.14, 58.96) higher SAT Reading/Writing scores. Findings suggest that competitive debate is associated with better academic outcomes for students. Key words: Achievement, program evaluation, testing, observational research, after school/co-curricular.

Forecasting the demand of mobile clinic services at vulnerable communities based on integrated multi-source data

Demand forecasting plays an important role in the deployment of mobile clinic services to vulnerable communities such as school zones and census tracts as it can help the service provider to maximize its coverage under limited resources. In this paper, we consider the issue of how to predict the vaccination delinquency in schools and census tracts. Such an issue is rather challenging as the delinquency is only observed in schools for which very limited information is available; while rich demographic and economic information is available for census tracts, no observations of delinquency have been made at the census tract level. To address the above challenge, we first develop a hierarchical approach to forecast the demand for vaccinations in schools and census tracts. In the first stage of the hierarchical approach, we solve a linear optimization model to compute an association matrix that can align some common features in both census tracts and school zones. Then we use the estimated association to develop a forecasting model to predict the vaccination delinquency in both schools and census tracts. A non-convex quadratic optimization (QO) model is also proposed to find the association matrix and the forecasting model simultaneously. We also introduce an alternative update scheme for the non-convex QO and establish the convergence of the algorithm. Moreover, the two association matrices generated from the proposed approaches can be used to impute the information in the school zone data, which further allows us to apply existing forecasting models to predict the demand in school zones based on the imputed data. A case study from the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and its associated communities is reported to demonstrate the efficacy of the new models and techniques.

Addressing Food Insecurity through a Health Equity Lens: a Case Study of Large Urban School Districts during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Reduced access to school meals during public health emergencies can accelerate food insecurity and nutritional status, particularly for low-income children in urban areas. To prevent the exacerbation of health disparities, there is a need to understand the implementation of meal distribution among large urban school districts during emergencies and to what degree these strategies provide equitable meal access. Our case study of four large urban school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic aims to address these knowledge gaps. Guided by the Getting to Equity (GTE) framework, we conducted a mixed-methods study evaluating emergency meal distribution and strategy implementation in four large urban school districts (Chicago Public Schools, Houston Independent School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, and New York City Department of Education). We gathered data from school district websites on (1) meal service and delivery sites and (2) district documents, policies, communication, and resources. Using qualitative coding approaches, we identified unique and shared district strategies to address meal distribution and communications during the pandemic according to the four components of the GTE framework: increase healthy options, reduce deterrents, build on community capacity, and increase social and economic resources. We matched district census tract boundaries to demographic data from the 2018 American Community Survey and United States Department of Agriculture food desert data, and used geographic information systems (GIS) software to identify meal site locations relative to student population, areas of high poverty and high minority populations, and food deserts. We found that all districts developed strategies to optimize meal provision, which varied across case site. Strategies to increase healthy options included serving adults and other members of the general public, providing timely information on meal site locations, and promoting consumption of a balanced diet. The quantity and frequency of meals served varied, and the degree to which districts promoted high-quality nutrition was limited. Reducing deterrents related to using inclusive language and images and providing safety information on social distancing practices in multiple languages. Districts built community capacity through partnering with first responder, relief, and other community organizations. Increased social and economic resources were illustrated by providing technology assistance to families, childcare referrals for essential workers, and other wellness resources. Geospatial analysis suggests that service locations across cities varied to some degree by demographics and food environment, with potential gaps in reach. This study identifies strategies that have the potential to increase equitable access to nutrition assistance programs. Our findings can support (1) ongoing efforts to address child food insecurity during the pandemic and (2) future meal provision through programs like the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option. Future research should further examine the rationale behind meal site placement and how site availability changed over time.

“Houston, We Have a Lawsuit”: A Cautionary Tale for the Implementation of Value-Added Models for High-Stakes Employment Decisions

Until recently, legal challenges to the use of value-added models (VAMs) in evaluation and teacher employment decisions in federal court had been unsuccessful. However, in May 2017 a federal court in Texas ruled that plaintiff-teachers established a viable federal constitutional claim to challenge the use of VAMs as a means for their termination in Houston Federation of Teachers v. Houston Independent School District. Houston represents a significant departure from prior federal court rulings that upheld the constitutionality of VAMs to terminate teachers on the basis of poor performance. The Houston court found that the districts’ refusals to release the underlying data of VAM ratings used to terminate those teachers violated the teachers’ procedural due process rights. By denying access to the code, teachers could not protect against the government’s making a mistaken deprivation of their property right to continued right to employment. The authors discuss Houston and its potential impact, limitations, and significance.

Methodological Concerns About the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS): Validity, Reliability, and Bias

The Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS), the value-added model (VAM) sold by the international business analytics software company SAS Institute Inc., is advertised as offering “precise, reliable and unbiased results that go far beyond what other simplistic [value-added] models found in the market today can provide.” In this study, we investigated these claims, as well as others pertaining to the validity or truthfulness of model output, by conducting analyses on more than 1,700 teachers’ EVAAS results (i.e., actual EVAAS output to which no other external scholars have had access prior) from the Houston Independent School District (HISD). We found the EVAAS to perform, overall, in line with other VAMs in terms of validity and reliability, although it yielded possibly more biased value-added estimates than other VAMs due to differences in teacher’s EVAAS scores based on school-level student composition factors.

Factors Associated With Childhood Vaccination Adherence in Kindergartens of the Houston Independent School District.

Adequate childhood vaccination rates are crucial for successful control of infectious diseases. Nevertheless, exemption requests, lack of health care access and information and other barriers can reduce vaccination adherence rates, and increase the risk of epidemics. This study aimed to identify factors associated with kindergarten vaccination adherence in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). This study was a retrospective observational data analysis. The study used data from 155 elementary schools of the HISD. The data sets included were (1) Elementary School Profile Reports (2015-2016) and (2) Annual Report of Immunization Status (2016-2017). Logistic regression was used to examine the association between vaccination adherence in schools and the school's student demographic and economic profile, student behavior indicators, teacher profile, and school rank. A binary variable measuring adequate vaccination adherence rates in schools is the main outcome variable. Lower vaccination adherence among the kindergarten students was associated with higher enrollment, a higher percentage of African American students and students with English as second language, and a lower percentage of gifted/talented students in the schools. The school characteristics that were found to be significantly associated with kindergarten student vaccination adherence in this study are the ones that have historically been associated with socioeconomic determinants of health and socioeconomic privilege. Hence, the findings of this study suggest the need for development of policies and interventions that can help overcome the barriers associated with low socioeconomic status, language, and marginalization in order to improve vaccination rates in school districts. These include culturally appropriate polices and health promotion, patient navigation, and educational interventions that can overcome the challenges faced by socially and economically vulnerable minorities and immigrant communities in order to improve vaccination rates.

Building Public Schools in the City: The Role of Neighborhood Context on Voter Support for School Bonds

This article explores individuals’ vote choice on a public good, namely, public school bonds. I argue that during a period of significant citywide demographic change the ethnic or racial context of voters’ neighborhoods affects their perception of community and, therefore, school programs. This will then shape their inferences about who are the beneficiaries. I test both racial threat and social contact theories to understand the varying impacts of neighborhood diversity on willingness to support this public good. Using a unique 1996 dataset from Houston Independent School District (HISD), I find that neighborhood context impacts vote choice and argue that this is due to perceptions about the beneficiaries of public schools. Evidence indicates that fears and insecurities in a neighborhood about the rise in a minority group at the city level can directly undermine support for the provision of public goods.

The Role of Food Allergy Education in Schools: Measuring Attitudes, Beliefs, and Knowledge

Abstract Introduction Almost 6 million children suffer from food allergies with roughly 2 affected per classroom. However, deficiencies in knowledge and discrepancy in attitudes within school staff when addressing food allergies are associated with barriers to care. In this study, school personnels’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes were measured before and after a food allergy educational workshop. Methods Six schools in Houston Independent School District were randomly assigned into an interventional (n=4) and control group (n=2). Seven-hundred and thirty-three personnel matched for age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and educational level completed the Chicago Food Allergy Research survey before and after a one-hour didactic session. Responses were measured using frequencies and percentages. The group score differences and survey question comparisons were measured with a linear mixed effects model. Results Post-test, the intervention group had knowledge scores 19.58% higher than control (95% CI=16.62, 22.53; p<0.001) with no differences pre-test. Odds of agreeing that injectable epinephrine is important was 874 times higher in the interventional schools post lecture. Within the interventional group, personnel were 207 times more likely to agree to an epi-pen for children post-education. Conclusion A didactic session improved knowledge and attitudes in personnel in the intervention schools. Given the growing prevalence of food allergy, the emphasis on food allergy education is crucial to allow for familiarization of the condition, early recognition of anaphylaxis, and promotion of injectable epinephrine use.

School personnel-student racial congruence and the achievement gap

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationship between student achievement and racial congruence of school personnel and students to help educators and policy makers narrow the achievement gap.Design/methodology/approachThis quasi-experimental, correlational study used publicly available data from 158 elementary schools in the Houston Independent School District. The authors analyzed the level of congruence of school personnel and students in relation to reading, math and science scores with the fifth-grade students.FindingsControlling for the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, separate univariate ANCOVAs on the outcome variables revealed significant effects of racial congruence levels on reading scores, F(2, 153) = 3.73, p = 0.026 and math scores, F(2, 153) = 3.977, p = 0.02.Research limitations/implicationsThe operationalization of racial congruence had not been previously used. African-Americans and Hispanics were labeled as non-white, Asian-Americans (who do not show the achievement gap) were grouped with white students, and other minority groups were excluded. The study was a natural experiment without randomization or intervention.Practical implicationsFindings can be used to narrow the achievement gap by encouraging recruitment of Hispanics and African-Americans educators and influencing administrators as they decide where to place hired personnel.Originality/ValueUsing a much larger sample size than previous studies, this study found a factor to narrow the achievement gap.

School-based Study to Identify and Treat Adolescent Students at Risk for Tuberculosis Infection.

Screening for and treating tuberculosis (TB) infection in children and adolescents is an effective way of decreasing future TB cases. However, current approaches leave many children at risk for TB unidentified. We recruited adolescent students from 2 public high schools (a magnet and a low-income) in the Houston Independent School District. Compared with the magnet school, the student population at the low-income school was larger, primarily Hispanic and economically disadvantaged. Students were educated about TB, and parents completed a risk factor questionnaire. Students with TB risk factors were tested using 2 interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs). Those with a positive IGRA received a 12-dose regimen of weekly isoniazid/rifapentine (3HP) administered via direct observation at school. Nine hundred twenty-five students received TB education; 73% of their parents submitted the TB questionnaire. Eighty-six percent of students (n = 415) with a TB risk factor identified on the study questionnaire agreed to IGRA testing. Sixteen students had at least one positive IGRA (1% [magnet], 4.1% [low-income]; P = 0.005). Recent student travel to a high-risk country (7) or contact with TB disease (2) were associated with IGRA positivity (P < 0.05). All students with a positive IGRA accepted, tolerated and completed 3HP treatment at school. School-based TB education, screening, testing using IGRAs and administration of 3HP treatment is feasible to improve the identification and treatment of adolescent students at risk for TB.

Huelga Schools in Houston: Community-Based Education in the Struggle for Legal Recognition, 1970

ABSTRACTThis essay provides an overview of the huelga schools established in Houston, Texas, in 1970. For 2 years, from 1970 to 1972, the Mexican American community opposed the Houston Independent School District’s plan to integrate the schools by pairing so-called White Mexican Americans with African American students. While they protested this decision, Mexican Americans also established huelga or strike schools in order to provide their children with basic skills in education and to explain the meaning and significance of their political actions. This is the history of the huelga schools established in the 1st months of this struggle.

The Compositional Effect of Rigorous Teacher Evaluation on Workforce Quality

Improving public sector workforce quality is challenging in sectors such as education where worker productivity is difficult to assess and manager incentives are muted by political and bureaucratic constraints. In this paper, we study how providing information to principals about teacher effectiveness and encouraging them to use the information in personnel decisions affects the composition of teacher turnovers. Our setting is the Houston Independent School District, which recently implemented a rigorous teacher evaluation system. Prior to the new system teacher effectiveness was negatively correlated with district exit and we show that the policy significantly strengthened this relationship, primarily by increasing the relative likelihood of exit for teachers in the bottom quintile of the quality distribution. Low-performing teachers working in low-achieving schools were especially likely to leave. However, despite the success, the implied change to the quality of the workforce overall is too small to have a detectable impact on student achievement.

Guided by Theory, Informed by Practice: Training and Support for the Good Behavior Game, a Classroom-based Behavior Management Strategy.

Moving evidence-based practices for classroom behavior management into real-world settings is a high priority for education and public health. This paper describes the development and use of a model of training and support for the Good Behavior Game (GBG), one of the few preventive interventions shown to have positive outcomes for elementary school children lasting through to young adulthood, ages 19-21, including reductions in the use of drugs and alcohol, school-based mental health services, and suicide ideation and attempts. We first describe the conceptual framework guiding the development of the model of training and support. Data on implementation of the model, from an ongoing trial of GBG being conducted in partnership with the Houston Independent School District, are then presented. We end with a discussion of the lessons learned and the implications for the next stage of research and practice.

Disparity in the Availability of Injectable Epinephrine in a Large, Diverse US School District

Food allergies affect 2.5% of the US population. Results of studies show that minorities have the highest prevalence of food allergies. The Houston Independent School District (HISD) has an urban, socioeconomically diverse population and the role of ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) with availability of epinephrine has not been explored in this population. This study sought to understand the association of SES and the presence of epinephrine in urban schools. A 6-item questionnaire about food allergy characteristics was sent by e-mail to one nurse per elementary school in the HISD to identify the number, characteristics and treatment of food allergic reactions, and the presence of epinephrine injectors. The reactions and presence of injectors were assessed for the previous school year. Schools were categorized by socioeconomic variables as "low" or "non-low" based on National School Lunch Program student participation. Poisson, logistic, and linear regression analyses were used for group comparisons. One or more children with food allergies were reported in 97% of responding schools, but only 43% of schools reported having epinephrine injectors. A larger number of injectors in schools were associated with students of higher SES (r(2)= 0.701; P < .001). There were 6 times more injectors in non-low SES schools than in low SES schools (P < .03). Low SES and limited English proficiency were associated with decreased epinephrine injectors in schools. In the HISD, epinephrine injectors were more likely to be found in non-low SES schools versus low SES schools. Because minority students are disproportionately highly represented in low SES schools, there appears to be a disparity in the availability of injectable epinephrine for minority students in HISD schools.

The Effectiveness of the National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitat Program: Fourth-grade Students’ Standardized Science Test Scores and Science Grades

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Schoolyard Habitat Program (SYHP) had an effect on the science standardized test scores or science grades of fourth-grade primary school students in Houston, TX. To conduct the study, five pairs of Houston elementary schools were selected as either treatment or control schools. The treatment group included a total of 148 fourth-grade students whose teachers reported using the NWF’s SYHP. The control group consisted of a total of 248 fourth-grade students whose teachers used a traditional science curriculum. To measure academic achievement, scores on a standardized science test and science grades were compared between the treatment and control students. Results from this study indicated Caucasian students scored higher than minority students on the Stanford standardized science exam. Significant differences existed in the Stanford standardized science exam scores between male and female students for the treatment group only. Overall, the results from this study also showed that the SYHP was equally as effective at science instruction as the traditional curriculum within the Houston Independent School District (HISD) after teachers gained familiarity with using the habitat for instruction.

The SAS Education Value-Added Assessment System (SAS® EVAAS®) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD): Intended and Unintended Consequences

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS® EVAAS®) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as “the most robust and reliable” system available, with its greatest benefit to help educators improve their teaching practices. This study critically examined the effects of SAS® EVAAS® as experienced by teachers, in one of the largest, high-needs urban school districts in the nation – the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Using a multiple methods approach, this study critically analyzed retrospective quantitative and qualitative data to better comprehend and understand the evidence collected from four teachers whose contracts were not renewed in the summer of 2011, in part given their low SAS® EVAAS® scores. This study also suggests some intended and unintended effects that seem to be occurring as a result of SAS® EVAAS® implementation in HISD. In addition to issues with reliability, bias, teacher attribution, and validity, high-stakes use of SAS® EVAAS® in this district seems to be exacerbating unintended effects.

Developing a Collaboration with the Houston Independent School District: Testing the Generalizability of a Partnership Model

Moving evidence-based practices into real-world settings is a high priority for education and public health. This paper describes the development of a partnership among the Houston Independent School District, the American Institutes of Research, and the Houston Federation of Teachers to support research on and program sustainability for the Good Behavior Game, a team-based classroom behavior management strategy that has shown positive impact in randomized field trials. The conceptual framework guiding partnership development is presented, followed by an application of the framework in Houston. Lessons learned and implications for the next stage of research and practice are then discussed.