Welcome to the Texas Consortium on School Research (TCSR)

The Texas Consortium on School Research (TCSR), founded in October 2009, is a consortium of Texas districts that want to use their data to become more effective in preparing students for College and Career Readiness and Success. It is a collaboration among districts, charter schools and research partners to conduct research focused on the districts’ common problems of practice. It utilizes a Texas data repository through the Education Research Center at the University of Texas at Dallas.

TCSR is unique in that it offers opportunities for engagement with a diverse group of practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders through a dynamic and interactive community of practice.

More than thirty districts and charter schools participate in TCSR, including eight of the ten largest districts in the state, serving more than 1.7 million students or just over 37% of all students in Texas.

TCSR focuses on the following four practitioner goals and key benefits:

Goals	Key Practitioner Benefits
Understand and Use Quality Research to Inform Practice	Increase research literacy in order to distinguish between strong/weak evidence Increase insights into how research can be used to inform program/policy decisions & solve problems Increase exposure to findings from research with strong evidence
Use Longitudinal Data Sets to Inform Decision Making	Understand the different types of data (state, district, etc.) that are available Understand why it is important to use the appropriate type of data to address a particular problem Gain access to data not readily available to districts Follow and understand the progress of cohorts over time
Build a Community of Practice to Improve Practice and Research	Develop and implement a research agenda relevant to practitioners Engage in professional dialogue with researchers and other practitioners to share data analysis, results, and related best practices Leverage others work to inform district issues and conserve resources Share results from ongoing research to determine if the same methodology under different conditions/subgroups renders the same or different results.
Develop District Capacity to Conduct Research to Improve Practice and Student Outcomes	Replicate research activities conducted in the consortium with specific relevance to the district Develop and implement an iterative process to analyze data that informs practice and drives improved outcomes

In July 2010, a district Steering Committee was established to inform a TCSR research agenda driven by districts needs. This Steering Committee is made up of participants from 13 districts along with members of the REL Southwest research staff who weigh in on critical issues impacting Texas districts, schools, and students. The TCSR Steering Committee offers opportunities for district voices to be heard regarding the most critical problems of practice facing districts in the area of College and Career Readiness and Success; items relevant to further development of TCSR; and the TCSR research agenda. The Steering Committee’s experiences and expertise helps shape TCSR to maximize benefits for their districts and other districts across Texas.

TCSR Partner organizations include 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).

If you are a Texas district interested in participating in or would like more information about TCSR, please contact Laural Logan-Fain, PhD, Associate Director, Texas Consortium on School Research at lloganfain@edvanceresearch.com or (210) 558-4122.