Rice to receive $10.7 million from Kinder Foundation for education research

Rice University News & Media

The Kinder Foundation has awarded a $10.7 million grant to Rice University’s Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) to expand its innovative work to additional school districts in the Greater Houston region.
Ruth López Turley. Photo credit: Rice University.
HERC is a research-practice partnership between Rice and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) that aims to improve the connection between education research and decision-making. The center’s research has included topics such as the benefits of pre-kindergarten, the effect of teacher evaluations, the impact of school closures, and the predictors of dropping out of school. Established in 2011 and housed in Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, HERC’s ultimate goal is to close socio-economic gaps in achievement and attainment.
“We’re extremely grateful for this opportunity to develop a regional research agenda together with school district leaders,” said Ruth López Turley, HERC director, associate director for research at the Kinder Institute and a professor of sociology in Rice’s School of Social Sciences. “There are many issues that can’t be addressed through a single school district, but using research to collaborate across districts within the same region is promising, and having the resources to do this work is rare. This is truly a meaningful gift to children in the Houston metropolitan area.”
The grant will allow HERC to continue its research with HISD while extending the center’s analytical reach to several additional districts, Turley said.  She said HERC will work in partnership with school district leaders to develop a research agenda focusing on issues of regional importance, such as segregation, effective curriculum and programs, and bilingual education.
“Dr. Turley represents the very best of how universities can collaboratively engage with communities to take on the world’s most complex challenges. HERC has already shed light on a number of important educational topics, and this generous gift will expand ...

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