Houston
Schools
Teach For America • Houston places corps members in several public school districts throughout the city: Houston Independent School District (our largest partner), KIPP and YES public charter networks, Alief Independent School District, and Neighborhood Centers Inc.
The Houston Independent School District (HISD), which serves almost 210,000 students, is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh largest in the United States. While HISD has made significant progress, the achievement gap still exists in Houston's low-income communities. HISD has the highest dropout rate in the state of Texas, with students from low-income homes comprising over 70 percent of high school dropouts. Among 10th graders in 2008, 77 percent of Caucasian students in HISD met grade-level requirements on state-administered exams, while only 35 percent of African-American students and 41 percent of Hispanic students met minimum grade-level standards on the same exams.
Despite the enormity of the challenges facing their students, corps members work to build better life opportunities for youth at their schools. Corps members are establishing Advanced Placement courses on their campuses and developing rigorous English programs for students with limited skills in English. Principals and other district officials have seen firsthand the positive influence that corps members have on student outcomes throughout the year. Dr. Abelardo Saavedra, superintendent of HISD, is an avid supporter of Teach For America. Saavedra’s emphasis on educational reform, with his merit-based performance pay for teachers and his focus on supporting schools that fail to support high-need students, continues to positively impact HISD.
Approximately one-fifth of the 2008 corps works in two public charter school networks for youth from low-income homes. Houston alumni Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin (Houston Corps ’92) founded the KIPP charter school network, which has received nationwide renown. Fellow Houston alum Chris Barbic (Houston Corps ’92) founded the YES college preparatory network, which recently achieved 100 percent college entrance for its students. Both networks offer admission to students based on an open-enrollment system, and 85 percent of their students will be first-generation college graduates. Working in these charter school networks provides some of our corps members with incredible insight into what is possible for students from low-income homes given high expectations and a willingness to work hard for the best outcome.
At a Glance
| Ethnic Breakdown-Student Population |
| 20% African-American |
| 27% Caucasian |
| 47% Latino/Hispanic |
| 6% Other |
| Ethnic Breakdown-Houston |
| 25% African-American |
| 49% Caucasian |
| 37% Latino/Hispanic |
| 5% Asian-American |
| < 1% Native American |
| 19.6% Other |
| Percentage of Students Qualifying for Free/Reduced-Price Lunch |
| Houston Independent School District:
82% |
| KIPP Houston:
93% |
| YES Prep Public Schools:
80% |
| Alief Independent School District : 70% |
| Placements |
|
43% elementary |
|
57% secondary |
|
95% teach at a school with another corps member or alumnus |
Pre K-12 grade level placements available
- general subject elementary
- specific subject secondary
- special education
- bilingual
|
Our corps members
Placement regions
Corps and Alumni
