College Station—A report released by the Texas Educational Excellence Project (TEEP) finds that African American students continue to improve their performance in Texas. While improvements are being made throughout the state, some school districts are making more impressive gains while other districts show room for much needed improvement. Statewide averages allow TEEP to pinpoint and rank the school districts that are doing the best in terms of educating African American students. This allows other school districts to consider the policies and programs used by the top districts in order to improve the quality of education and student performance. TEEP researchers are aware that there are differences across the various districts that must be considered. The researchers use an analytical technique that allows them to control for such factors as environmental constraints, financial resources, teacher qualifications, and district policies. This method provides insight into how these constraints affect the performance of African American students. Troup Independent School District is an excellent example of the success that can be achieved when consistent, personal measures are taken to improve the education of students. Troup, which ranked first among Texas school districts in this report, is a small district with an average enrollment of approximately 1000 students of which 17% are African American. Because a considerable percentage of the African American population that Troup serves is of low socioeconomic status, Troup faculty spend a great deal of time tutoring the students “one-on-one” in order to ensure they learn and retain the necessary information to progress from one grade to the next. After trying and carefully evaluating other programs, the district decided that its students were best served by personalized attention. Troup also administers benchmark testing three times each year to evaluate student performance. Troup accredits the success of its students to their practice of high expectations for all students. In reference to African American students in particular, administration notes, “we simply just do not expect less out of them”. Tatum Independent School District ranks second among schools that successfully educate black students, with 27% of enrolled students being African American. Tatum uses a structure of benchmark timelines, administered every six weeks, wherein student performance is evaluated on a class-by-class basis. When problems are detected, intervention specialists are used to regroup students by providing them with additional time, resources, and support, regardless of the problem area. The top ranked schools represent a diverse spectrum of Texas school districts, including recognition of both large and small districts. In addition, TEEP specifically ranks those schools districts that have more than 15,000 students. The top ranked large district is Galena Park ISD followed by Pearland ISD and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. These districts have performed well over the years. Rankings for all districts and statistical data can be found at http://teep.tamu.edu/

The Texas Educational Excellence Project seeks to apply scholarly research to educational policy issues in order to make recommendations for greater quality and equity in Texas school systems. TEEP is a program of Texas A&M's Department of Political Science, with research associates at the University of Texas - Pan American, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Kansas, University of Oklahoma, and the University of Iowa.