Project GRAD Houston

July 12, 2007
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS GET COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

Dozens of high school students are spending part of their summer in a college classroom, and it’s all for the experience. Read more...

June 27, 2007
PROJECT GRAD HELPS TEENS GET COMFY WITH COLLEGE
Project GRAD academies help HISD students get a look at education after high school

Group’s summer academies aim to get more of HISD’s minority and low-income students thinking about education beyond high school. Read more...

February 10, 2007
HISD SUPERINTENDENT EMPHASIZES MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Thirteen-year-old Andrea Irizarry bubbles over with excitement as she talks about attending Lamar High School next year. Read more...

September 2006
MDRC’S EVALUATION OF PROJECT GRAD

Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) is an ambitious education reform initiative
designed to improve academic achievement, high school graduation rates, and rates of college
attendance for low-income students. Launched first in Houston, Texas, it is an unusual reform model in that it intervenes throughout an entire “feeder pattern” of elementary and middle
schools that send students into each Project GRAD high school. The initiative recognizes that high schools inherit problems that have arisen earlier in the education pipeline, making it essential to improve both elementary and secondary schools in order to increase the rates
of high school graduation, college-going, and college graduation. Read more...

July 26, 2006
PROJECT GRAD SEEN YIELDING MIXED RECORD

Project GRAD, a national high school improvement initiative begun in Houston almost 13 years ago, has yielded a mixed record in its effort to raise graduation rates and academic performance, according to an independent evaluation of the $70 million program. Read more...

June 28, 2006
‘WORTHWHILE TO BE HERE’
Budget cuts hit summer programs that help teens from poor areas experience college

For teens attending a Project GRAD summer institute, the break from school has been anything but dull.

They’ve mastered the art of shaking hands with CEOs and other business executives. They’ve learned what factors to weigh when deciding whether to buy or sell a stock. They’ve used raisins and M&Ms to practice linear equations.

“It’s been a great experience. It’s really worthwhile to be here,” said Javier Moya, 17, a senior at Wheatley High School, who said he’s enjoyed interacting with professionals as part of the four-week business institute at Rice University. Read more...

June 26, 2006
RETIRED CEO OF TENNECO RECOGNIZED FOR HIGHER PURPOSE

With baby boomers starting to turn 60, life is suddenly all about second acts. Think Bill Gates and his announcement earlier this month that he will drop day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft in 2008 to focus on his charitable foundation. Jim Ketelsen did it before it was hip. Read more...

June 26, 2006
FINALISTS NAMED IN ‘PURPOSE PRIZE’ FOR OLDER AMERICANS
TACKLING SOCIAL ILLS

A new prize program to honor people aged 60 and older who are working to solve social problems in an innovative way has named 15 finalists. Read more...

February 7, 2006
DISTRICT INVESTS $4 MILLION TO BEEF UP INTEREST IN A SUBJECT
LAGGING FOR YEARS: A CRISIS IN SCIENCE

Seven-year-old Flor Rubalcaba had a simple explanation for why her magnet is able to pick up
small, iron filings. “It’s magic,” the Port Houston Elementary second-grader exclaimed. Read more...