For decades, IDRA has researched the critical transition between high school and college access and success, particularly for minority and low-income students. IDRA’s research provides critical insights and solutions, such as our studies of a community college that yielded strategies that improved its recruitment and retention of Hispanic, low-income students, and students who were the first in their families to attend college.
With the support of the Greater Texas Foundation, IDRA has conducted multiple studies and events on the implications of 2013 curriculum changes in Texas on the college and career readiness of graduates. See our Ready Texas research site for details.
Since, 2007 when the Texas Legislature was first considering limiting the number of students offered automatic admission under the Top Ten Percent Plan, IDRA compiled and analyzed data on students entering the University of Texas at Austin and all the Texas high schools that contributed graduating seniors to those incoming freshmen classes between the years of 1995 and 2006.
IDRA’s Alianza project and research helped several universities improve their teacher preparation programs, increasing the number of teachers prepared to teach English in bilingual and multicultural environments.
IDRA’s InterAction initiative focused on improving college access and success of Latino students and building lasting linkages among K-12 schools, higher education, and the community and business sectors. IDRA’s research set the context for action with the resulting 31 policy solutions informing state policy. In 2014, IDRA released College Bound and Determined, a report showing how a school district is changing how we think about college readiness.
IDRA’s Ready Texas: A Study of the Implementation of HB5 in Texas.
