Photo courtesy of Houston ISD
In the Houston Independent School District (HISD), 8 out of 10 students are classified as economically disadvantaged. Many of these students and their families face barriers to accessing food, clothing, school supplies, and health care, significantly impacting students’ ability to thrive in school. In the fall of 2023, HISD established seven Sunrise Centers to help connect families and students to services that could help close those gaps. These centers are now the district’s primary source of non-instructional support.
The Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) partnered to evaluate the implementation of the Sunrise Centers. HERC’s research provided recommendations to enhance the program’s reach and potential impact on the neediest students and families in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Researchers also worked alongside HISD to implement key improvements.
HERC’s research confirmed most HISD families can access a Sunrise Center within a 10-minute drive or a short walk from a bus stop. However, some high-need neighborhoods had less access than others. The HERC team provided the district with data to help guide future site selection and transportation planning. HERC also found areas where intake processes and data collection could be streamlined to use center staff’s time more efficiently and enable HISDs to have reliable, real-time information to assess how well the centers serve their communities.
The next phase of this research partnership continues to evaluate different aspects of the Sunrise Centers program. HERC also plans to examine how receiving these supports is tied to attendance, behavior and academic outcomes.
See the full research briefs and the Kinder Institute’s Urban Edge blog to learn more about this research.
