The Texas Schools Project (TSP) at the University of Texas at Dallas was founded in 1992 by Prof. John F. Kain, of Harvard University and the University of Texas at Dallas. The goal of the project is to obtain a greater understanding of the determinants of student performance by providing a comprehensive data source for education research. The ultimate goal of the endeavor is to provide high-quality academic research that can be used to improve the academic achievement and labor market outcomes of students in Texas and the nation. Over the past eleven years, the TSP has enjoyed enormous success in evaluating and assessing the teaching and learning process in the state of Texas.

The core of the TSP is the Texas Schools Microdata Panel (TSMP), a growing system of databases that links data from numerous public agencies, and now incorporates information on over 10 million students. All personally identifying information is removed, leaving only data that is relevant to research on the educational process and its consequences. The TSMP includes:

• Enrollment, attendance, test scores, and other data from the Texas Education Agency for all public school students from the 1989-1990 school year onward.
• Community college and public university attendance and completion from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
• Quarterly earnings data from the Texas Workforce Commission.
• Many other data elements from a number of different agencies, including: school district and campus information; SAT, ACT, GED, and teacher test data; disciplinary action data; and higher education tuition and financial aid data.

All annual records are linked to form a longitudinal panel, which enables research on how school experiences affect high school graduation, college attendance, and labor market outcomes. For this reason, the TSP is an unparalleled resource for educational research, and provides a mechanism for independent, high-quality research that contributes to program evaluation and educational accountability.

The TSP has received over $4 million in research grants from national foundations and other investments. About 50 working papers, publications, and dissertations have been produced, and a number of other states are trying to emulate the TSP model, including California, Florida, and North Carolina. The project has worked with a number of local school districts to evaluate specific programs and issues, such as Austin, Ft. Worth, Garland, Irving, Plano, and Richardson.

Current projects include an assessment of the effects of the Hopwood Decision and the Top 10% Law on minority access to higher education; the effects of charter schools on student achievement; and the impact of the GED credential on earnings.

The project is housed in a secure facility within the Cecil and Ida Green Center for the Study of Science and Society on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas. For more information, contact Paul Jargowsky, the Interim Director of the Project, at 972-883-2554 or paul.jargowsky@utdallas.edu