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 districts are making more impressive gains while other districts show room for much need improvement. Statewide averages allow TEEP to pinpoint and rank the 25 schools districts that are doing the best job of educating African American students. This allows other districts to consider the policies and programs used by the top school 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. In order to take these factors into consideration, TEEP uses an analytical technique that allows them to control for such factors as financial resources, teacher quality, and district policies. This method provides insight into how these constraints affect the performance of African American students. Galena Park and Tatum independent school districts are excellent examples of the success that can be achieved when proactive measures are taken to improve the education of students. Galena Park, which ranked first among Texas school districts in this report, is a large district with over 20,000 students in which 29% are African American. Galena Park has adopted initiatives such as Align Curriculum that processes test scores and publishes them in a timely manor in which teachers can tailor there teaching strategies according to the data. Galena Park also uses a program called Project READ in order to explore faster ways to learn and teach reading comprehension skills. Project READ targets students who need more preparation before the SAT and ACT exams. Another program Galena Park has adopted is called the 21st Century Program that allows for campus and district specialist to model, mentor and perform yearly district assessments. The top ranked schools represent a diverse spectrum of Texas school districts. The ranking recognizes both small and large districts. In addition, TEEP specifically ranks those schools that have more than 15,000 students. The top ranked large school is Galena Park followed by Aldine and Abilene ISD. These districts have performed well over the years. Rankings for all districts and statistical data can be found at http://teep.tamu.edu/. 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.