Over summer break, Rice University welcomes hundreds of middle and high school students to participate in various academic camps offered on campus. The Tapia Camps, named for mathematician and Rice professor Dr. Richard Tapia, are for rising eighth-12th graders interested in STEM and honing their calculus skills before the new school year.
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HISD students get a jump on college planning with unique summer program at Rice
This summer, HISD sophomores and freshmen are giving college readiness a summer camp spin with Connectrix at Rice University, a program designed to establish comprehensive support for underrepresented early high school students that will prepare them to choose, apply to, and attend college after graduation.
Continue readingHISD partners with Rice University to conduct districtwide study on educational equity
HISD has partnered with Rice University’s Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC), a program of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research and School of Social Sciences, to conduct a comprehensive study on educational equity across the district.
Recognizing its responsibility to continually improve academic achievement for all students, HISD and HERC will examine equitable access to educational programming, resources, supports, facilities and opportunities for students by race/ethnicity, economic status, English-learner status and other factors.
“Conducting a districtwide study on educational equity — at this scale — is remarkable, and truly unprecedented in many ways,” HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “We know that for some of our students, simply having equal access to opportunities and resources may not be enough of the support they need to achieve their greatest academic potential. This study will inform critical decision-making relating to equity and closing achievement gaps across the city.”
Continue readingRice University study: HISD pre-K students more prepared for kindergarten
A study by Rice University released Wednesday has found that the Houston Independent School District’s pre-K program significantly increases preparedness for kindergarten after as little as one year compared to students who do not attend pre-K.
The study, conducted by a postdoctoral fellow at the university, cites English and Spanish assessment scores from kindergarten students after one and two years of pre-K.
The study found that English-assessment test takers who attended one year of HISD pre-K had 2.8 times greater odds of being ready for kindergarten than a student who attended zero years of HISD pre-K. Students who attended two years of HISD pre-K had 3.8 times greater odds of being school-ready than those who attended zero years of HISD pre-K, and 1.4 greater odds of being school-ready than those who attend one year of HISD pre-K.
Get the detailed report here.
Drones taking students on flights of STEM fancy
Rice camp introduces students to careers related to these devices
Drones are making headlines more and more often in the news these days, and about a dozen HISD students have been learning about these high-tech devices — and the careers they’re used in — during a camp held at Rice University.
The sixth- to ninth-grade students, who attend DeBakey High School, HSPVA, Lanier Middle School, Revere Middle School, the T.H. Rogers School, and Valley West Elementary School, spent three days learning how to design, engineer, and pilot drones in mid-August.
Cardboard Boat Regatta keeping girls’ STEM career dreams afloat
Photo courtesy Jeff Fitlow/Rice University
Chávez HS students build, test their skills through unique partnership with Rice University
Thinking up a concept, executing its design, and thrilling in its success—or learning from its failure—that’s what the Cardboard Boat Regatta at Chávez High School is all about.
Eleven teams comprised of sophomore, junior and senior girls, with mentoring assistance from Rice University graduate students, GE Oil & Gas volunteers, and Chávez HS faculty, raced cardboard boats of their own design on June 25 in the new signature event of the three-year-old Rice University Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB) Girls STEM Initiative.
Apply for paid STEM summer internship at Rice U by May 4
Want to get paid for learning something you’re already interested in? If you’re an HISD sophomore or junior who likes engineering and science, have we got a deal for you!
Apply to Tapia Math-Science Scholars program by May 8
Students looking for a university experience with a special focus on calculus should apply to the Tapia Math-Science Scholars (TMSS) program at Rice University, which runs from July 6 through August 1, 2015. Applications are due by Friday, May 8.
Rice U. Summer Camp Sparks Chávez HS students’ Interest in Science
A dozen female students from Chávez High School are spending their summer studying science and building new relationships, thanks to a new three-year program at Rice University.
The girls had to apply for acceptance to the program, and 80 percent of the 15 participating were selected from Chávez (the remainder are from a local charter school).
Rice University Study Shows Performance-Based Awards Improve Teacher Attendance, Retention, Students’ Test Scores
Programs such as HISD’s ASPIRE program improve teacher attendance, retention and increased students’ test scores, according to a study released by Rice University.
The study evaluated award-eligible teachers from HISD’s 279 schools to determine if receiving a monetary reward during the 2009-2010 school year positively influenced teacher outcomes in 2010-2011, according to a news release.
The complete report is available on the website for Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
The ASPIRE program (Accelerating Student Progress: Increasing Results and Expectations) began during the 2006-07 school year.