Houston
Schools
The Houston Independent School District (HISD), which serves almost 210,000 students, is the largest public school system in Texas. 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 enormous challenges facing their students, corps members work to build better life opportunities for youth at their schools. According to a recent principal satisfaction survey, ninety-eight percent of principals in the Houston region consider Teach For America teachers at least as effective as the overall teaching faculty with respect to their impact on student achievement.
Approximately one-fifth of the 2009 corps works in two public charter school networks for youth from low-income homes: KIPP and YES Prep Public schools, both founded by Teach For America Alumni. Working in these charter school networks provides 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.
View a map of our placement areas.
At a Glance
| Ethnic Breakdown-Student Population |
| 29% African-American |
| 7% Caucasian |
| 61% Latino and Hispanic |
| 3% Asian |
| <1% Native American |
| Ethnic Breakdown-Houston |
| 25% African-American |
| 28% Caucasian |
| 42% Latino and 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% |
| Aldine Independent School District: 81% |
| Placements |
|
41% elementary |
|
59% 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
