College Station—A report released by the Texas Educational Excellence Project (TEEP) finds that Latino 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 improvement. Statewide averages allow TEEP to pinpoint and rank the school districts that are doing the best job of educating Latino students. Other districts may be able to improve the quality of education and student performance by implementing the policies and programs used by the top school districts. The 2002-2005 TEEP study slightly differs from previous studies; in this study, the TAKS and not the TAAS pass rate was used as one of the variables. This caused scores to drop for all students, largely due to the higher standards of the TAKS. The researchers at TEEP are aware that there are differences across the various districts that must be considered. TEEP researchers use a technique that allows them to take into consideration factors such as financial resources, teacher certification, district policies and how these constraints affect the performance of Latino students. Los Fresnos CISD is an example of one such exemplary district, ranking 1st as the best school district for Latino students in Texas. Much of the success of the Los Fresnos school district may be attributed to various resources and environmental factors such as the district’s special department of child nutrition and their very competitive bilingual program. This year, Los Fresnos CISD also implemented a program known as Gradespeed: Parent Connection, which offers parents an online view of teachers’ grade books. One of the features of the program allows parents to log on and view their child’s grades. Los Fresnos CISD’s ultimate goal is to strengthen the partnership they currently enjoy with parents in order to enhance student achievement. Other districts that are performing well are Lubbock-Cooper ISD and La Joya ISD. The top ranked schools represent a diverse spectrum of Texas school districts. TEEP recognizes small districts, and separately ranks those schools that have more than 15,000 students. 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.