Million Dollar States

A Conversation with Dr. Lupita Garcia of the Houston Independent School District (HISD)

The Sallie Mae Fund’s $1 million Texas initiative includes a deep partnership with HISD, the seventh-largest school district in the nation. Dr. Garcia shares her perspectives about how HISD is meeting the challenges of helping more Texas students pursue a higher education.

A melting pot of different cultures, Texas is rich in history, diversity, and economic viability. As of 2006, for the first time, Texas had more Fortune 500 company headquarters — 56 — than any other state in the country.

HISD’s Proposals to Create a College-Bound Culture
College-readiness courses for high school seniors to help avoid the need for remedial classes in college
College awareness classes and campus visits for sixth-graders through The Sallie Mae Fund’s Kids2College early-awareness program
A specially equipped bus to take college-counseling help right into neighborhoods in partnership with The Sallie Mae Fund
Training for middle-school teachers and administrators in using test scores and other data to help get middle-school students ready for college
Intensive intervention to help students in kindergarten through third grade catch up, avoid retention, and progress toward college
Development of a strategic plan for safe and secure schools
Higher pay for top-performing math and science teachers
Consideration of new schools that combine elementary- and middle-school levels
New long-term plan for facilities

At the same time, the past two decades have seen the high-school dropout rate in Texas reach crisis levels, with one student dropping out of school every four minutes. Experts say the cumulative effect for the state is a loss of more than 2.5 million students — twice the 2006 population of the city of Austin. The dropout rate is highest for African-American and Hispanic students, with one out of two Hispanics and two out of five African Americans failing to graduate with a high-school diploma.

The short- and long-term ramifications of these statistics for citizens, as well as on the economic prowess of the state itself, are enormous. Consider that in 2001, four in 10 individuals ages 16 to 24 received government assistance in Texas. High school dropouts there also were more likely to be unemployed and eight times more likely to be incarcerated. The Intercultural Development Research Association, an independent, San Antonio-based non-profit organization, estimates that since its initial 1986 study of attrition and dropout rates in Texas, the 2.5 million students who dropped out of high school have cost the state $730 billion in lost revenue.

Reform efforts to reverse the dropout trends plaguing Texas have been under way for some time now. Last year, the Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest public school system in Texas with 210,000 students, launched its own version of an education revolution — a holistic approach designed to redefine the current educational system as one that fosters a college-bound culture for all students.

HISD’s efforts, titled “Changing the Way We Think”, build upon the "it takes a whole community to raise a child" concept, and are designed to challenge the entire society — parents, teachers, business partners and others — to think about the changes that are taking place in their state, how these changes affect education, and how the community can help prepare students for careers in the global world.

Dr. Lupita Garcia, Assistant Superintendent of School Support Services for HISD, reflects on HISD's plans to effect districtwide change, as well as the progress that has been made on creating this new standard of educational excellence.

Describe HISD’s college-going initiative and some of the reasons behind its development.
When we look at the college-going rates in Texas today, they are most definitely not where they need to be, especially among minorities and the Hispanic population. There are many reasons for this, including the state’s growing immigrant population. If we do not become more aggressive in getting kids into college, Texas could one day have the dubious distinction of being the most undereducated state in the union. This, of course, cannot happen, and is a call to action for all of us.

Last year, the district adopted a public outreach plan, “Changing the Way We Think”, which began the process of closing the achievement gap for students. A number of components are involved, including those that address governance, personnel, charter schools, improvement of safety measures, etc. But together, the plan acts like an octopus — touching every element of our students’ education.

Parents are central to our efforts, and one of our goals is to work with them to help them understand that they must instill the expectation in their children that the road to college is indeed possible. This idea — that college is part of every student’s future — needs to begin in elementary school. Students must know early in life that the choices they make can open or close doors to higher education success later on.

What has been the community’s response to your efforts?
The community has embraced what HISD is doing. We know, of course, every child will not choose a path to college, and our plans look at multiple ways to get students prepared. The idea is always in mind, however, that college needs to be the expectation.

Do you have indicators today that show HISD is making a difference for future graduates?
Our PSAT scores have gone up in both verbal and math. HISD students also took and passed a record number of college level AP courses last year, nearly 4,000 exams. This is an increase of nearly 80 percent from six years ago. Scores by students taking SATs also have risen, up 10 points from 2006. (The national average fell by seven points.) Other signs of progress include 207 former dropouts graduating from high school in 2006 through HISD’s dropout-prevention efforts; the opening of new early-college high schools to help students get college credit while still in high school; 'exemplary' and 'recognized' schools more than doubling to 79, which is twice as much progress as the Texas average.

What do you envision a high-school diploma from HISD meaning to students in the future?
A high school diploma will mean exactly what commencement exercises were created for — and that is that you are now ready to begin a new part of your life and that you will begin it "college ready." The message we want to send to students is that the future is not about where you come from; it is where you are going and education will help get you there.

How are partnerships such as the one with The Sallie Mae Fund and its $1 million Texas initiative helping to further HISD’s reform efforts?
HISD’s partnership with The Sallie Mae Fund truly is a match made in heaven. The Fund’s initiatives solidify and affirm in the community that what HISD is attempting to do to help students become college ready is exactly what we need to be doing. A great example is the SuccessExpress bus, which will be traveling throughout Houston to deliver information and resources directly to students and families on applying to and paying for college.

Just as important, it [the partnership with The Sallie Mae Fund] is opening more doors for students. Once other organizations heard about the partnership and the efforts that were taking place, many began contacting us, asking how they could help with offers of volunteers, materials and other resources — all of which is to narrow the gap between dreams and reality for students.

For more information on HISD’s efforts to create a college-bound culture, go to http://www.houstonisd.org/.