"Executive Summary: Report to Board" Spring 1996 (.pdf)

The Center for Applied Research in Education (CARE) signed the first cooperative research agreement with the Roma Independent School District in June of 1995, one-half funded by the district and one-half by CARE. Roma was selected because, while being one of the lowest ranked school districts in the area, its system-wide efforts at reform provided opportunities for research and experimentation at every school level. Also, the support and understanding of the Board and the leadership of its Superintendent who understood the technical aspects of our research agenda and was in support of student participation, helped to facilitate the work.

Roma ISD is a K-12 system located in Roma (Pop. 8,500), on the border with Mexico by the banks of the Rio Grande. The system enrolls 5,700 students of whom 5,650 (99%) are Hispanics, 5,200 (90%) are economically disadvantaged and 3,550 (62%) are limited English proficient. During the past 2 years the local School Board has been in the hands of a newly elected majority of members with a global perspective and an understanding of quality processes. In the Spring of 1994, the old Superintendent who had been in office 19 years was replaced with a new one who had a mandate from the Board for "a movement away from compliance systems and into performance systems" to "develop a world class system of education for the children of Roma." (Board Minutes, March 1994)

A very extensive re-organization occurred. Only one administrator remained from the previous administration. The new Superintendent opened communications, delegated his power to others in the team, empowered the Site Based Decision Making (SBDM) teams that had been created by legislative action two years earlier, and established guidelines for student outcome performance which paralleled the statewide Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS). CARE was brought in by the Superintendent with the approval of the Board to provide applied (action) research services to the District and to help formulate a system of work that would lead to the continuous improvement of the outcomes.