Since our founding almost 50 years ago, IDRA knew that to have the most impact, we had to combine research, policy advocacy, school practice, and family and community engagement. Each informs the other. Here are some examples...
Pioneering Research
IDRA created a new methodology, "attrition," to conduct Texas’s first-ever study of the state's dropout problem.
The resultingTexas School Dropout Survey Projectin 1986 found that schools were losing one-third of their students before graduation, and half of all Latinos who dropped out did so before entering the ninth grade, which had implications for intervention strategies.
Informing Policy
The study was a rallying cry for Texas policymakers. IDRA helped get the first law in place requiring the state to collect and report dropout data to the public. As IDRA continued to release annual updates to its attrition study, state officials updated policies for accurate counting. Our latest study found schools lost Black students at almost twice the rate of their proportion of the student population.
During the pandemic, we worked with state officials to address the digital divide, and we worked with federal policymakers to ensure students and families had a say in how COVID-19 relief funds were spent.
Forming School Strategies
In addition to studying data, IDRA examined effective strategiesfor keeping students in school and engaged, including access to rigorous courses and STEM programs like IDRA's VisionCoders.
This informed our work with teachers, principals and superintendents to integrate key factors that keep students coming back and help them feel a sense of success day after day.
Supporting Students
Our research also informed our award-winning Valued Youth Partnership program with a 98% success rate among students considered at risk of dropping out. The program has impacted tens of thousands of students across the country and has been in South San Antonio ISD since 1985.
This program has a strong track record (almost four decades) of transforming student socio-emotional learning and relationships with school that results in lower discipline rates, higher attendance rates and academic success.
Your donation will help us ensure students stay in school, engaged and learning!
IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to achieve equal educational opportunity through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college.
