Contact: Meg Grant
210.558.1902
mgrant@edvanceresearch.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2007 REL SOUTHWEST RELEASES RESEARCH EXAMINING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN TEXAS BORDER AND NONBORDER DISTRICTS
SAN ANTONIO – The Regional Educational Laboratory – Southwest (REL Southwest), run by Edvance Research (formerly run by SEDL), has released research findings that provide educators and policymakers with a data-driven profile of the education environment along the U.S-Mexico border in Texas, an area known as La Frontera. The research report, La Frontera: Student Achievement in Texas Border and Nonborder Districts, provides insight into the following questions:
- How do Texas border and nonborder districts differ in location and size, student demographics, teacher data and community economics?
- Where do significant differences exist between border and nonborder districts and what does the recent literature say about the relationship between these variables and student achievement?
- How does student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) differ between border and nonborder districts?
Elsa Cardenas-Hagan, a bilingual speech-language pathologist and Director of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville stated, “As a resident, researcher, and community member of La Frontera, I find this report extremely valuable. The report can provide policy makers, educators, administrators, community leaders and all residents along this region insight into the challenges of educating our youth. We must achieve higher academic outcomes and we can only accomplish this task if we understand each of the variables presented in this report. Every resident in Texas should read this report as we must strive to achieve academic excellence for all of our residents especially those who are English language learners as they are our future!”
REL Southwest, at Edvance Research, is one of ten educational laboratories in the Regional Educational Laboratory Network (REL Network). REL Southwest serves the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and works for the benefit of over 6.5 million students, over 400,000 teachers in approximately 14,000 schools in grades pre-kindergarten through college in this five-state region. The REL Network encompasses ten geographical regions that span the nation with its primary mission being to serve the educational needs of designated regions. The REL Network uses applied research, development, dissemination, and training and technical assistance to bring the latest and best research and proven practices into school improvement efforts. http://edlabs.ed.gov/RELSouthwest Educators in the southwest region may obtain technical assistance through the REL Reference Desk by calling 1-877-EDVANCE (1-877-338-2623) or e-mailing RELinfo@edvanceresearch.com. Founded in 2005, Edvance Research, Inc. is a research enterprise with a mission to be a leader in the advancement of rigorous research, specializing in the education arena. The company is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. www.edvanceresearch.com | 
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