TCSR Partners
TCSR is a collaboration of more than thirty districts and charter schools along with three Partner organizations including REL Southwest at Edvance Research, Inc., the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR), and The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center (UTD-ERC).
REL Southwest at Edvance Research, Inc. is the Managing Partner of TCSR and is recognized as a leader in the advancement of rigorous education research. Edvance Research works with districts and district consortia throughout Texas and has established consortia in other states, including the Arkansas Consortium on School Research (ACSR) and the Louisiana Consortium on School Research (LCSR).
Edvance Research was established in 2005 and is dedicated to improving student achievement by providing evidence-based research to clients that informs decision making and successful outcomes.
Edvance Research is a woman and minority, employee owned business, and is HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) certified in the state of Texas.
Edvance Research expertise is focused in the following areas of specialization:
- Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT)
- Product & Program Evaluation
- Policy Research
- Performance Indicators/Performance Management
- Market Research
- Program Design & Implementation
Click here to learn more about Edvance Research: www.edvanceresearch.com
The Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) is a national leader in research on high school reform and has conducted groundbreaking research on determinants of high school graduation and college access and success.
CCSR, which is part of the Urban Education Institute (UEI) at the University of Chicago, conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. CCSR seeks to expand communication among researchers, policy makers, and practitioners as it supports the search for solutions to the problems of school reform. CCSR encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice, but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, CCSR helps to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working.
A number of features distinguish CCSR from other, more typical research organizations:
- A comprehensive data archive, with a focus on one place—Chicago,
- Consensus on key research topics and a research agenda that builds knowledge of core problems across time and across studies
- Extensive relationships with the district leadership, funders and key educational stakeholders,
- Strong organizational capacity to produce rigorous research and findings that are broadly accessible to the public, and,
- An intentional strategy of outreach and public informing that builds the capacity of the district, the schools and practitioners.
CCSR was created in 1990 after the passage of the Chicago School Reform Act that decentralized governance of the city's public schools. Researchers at the University of Chicago joined with researchers from the school district and other organizations to form CCSR with the imperative to study this landmark restructuring and its long-term effects. Since then CCSR has undertaken research on many of Chicago's school reform efforts and has helped inform the national conversation around urban schooling and public education.
Click here to learn more about CCSR: ccsr.uchicago.edu or the Urban Education Institute of which CCSR is one of four primary units: uei.uchicago.edu.
The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center (UTD-ERC), managed by Texas Schools Project, brings together over 500 million individual-level administrative data records from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), and other state agencies, creating an unparalleled source of PK-16 data that allows researchers to follow Texas students from pre-K through college and beyond.
Texas Schools Project, which was established in 1992, supports independent, high-quality academic research and evaluation to improve academic achievement, teacher effectiveness, increase transitions to and success in postsecondary education, and improve labor market outcomes of students in Texas and the nation. In 2006 Texas Schools Project received its designation as a State of Texas Education Research Center.
Over the past decade, Texas Schools Project has become one of the premier education research institutions in the country, working with leading researchers at universities in Texas and throughout the country to analyze relevant, policy-related questions that benefit students in Texas and nationwide.
Click here to learn more about the UTD-ERC: www.texasschoolsproject.org
