In March, Philanthropy Advocates launched the Texas Education Policy and Data (TExPD) Fellowship, a 10-month program that brings policy staff and researchers from eight Texas policy organizations together to build research capacity ahead of the 2027 legislative session. Last month, the cohort of fellows presented initial findings from nine research projects, all built on the state’s longitudinal student data, with actionable insights that can help inform policy during the 90th Texas Legislature.
The aim of the fellowship is simple: help Texas policy organizations use the state’s own data to answer the questions they bring to the Capitol, better grounding policy decisions in research and data reflective of Texas. Our state has one of the richest longitudinal education datasets in the country. The fellowship reflects our commitment to putting it to work for policymakers to adopt evidence-driven policies and drive greater impact for Texas students.
Policy staff and researchers are building the muscle to work together
Each fellowship team pairs a policy lead from a participating organization with a data lead or a faculty partner, depending on the organization’s in-house research capacity. Over 10 months of workshops and team time, the two build the habit of working together: policy staff learn how an analysis comes together and what the data can and cannot say, and researchers learn how a policy question takes shape and when an answer has to be ready to matter. A key feature of the fellowship embeds faculty from Texas institutions in the policy research and development process so that they can see first-hand how to conduct just in time research to inform policy conversations. The skills and the working relationship stay with the fellow organization after the program ends.
Every team works with data from the Texas Education Research Centers (ERCs), the state’s longitudinal, student-level data linking records from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). This data can follow a student from early childhood into postsecondary and the workforce, and few policy organizations have had the capacity to use it on their own.
The fellowship builds that capacity inside the organizations, both for their fellowship project as well as work moving forward.
The TExPD Fellowship was designed in partnership with Dr. Jacob Kirksey, a nationally-recognized, Texas based researcher and Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, therefore embedding robust policy and advocacy expertise from Philanthropy Advocates and the research and analysis expertise from one of the state’s leading education researchers.
The cohort’s questions follow a student’s path from kindergarten into the workforce
The nine projects were selected by the participants to ensure that their research builds on their existing work and policy areas, resulting in analysis that spans three of Philanthropy Advocates’ policy pillars. In early childhood, one team is studying kindergarten retention and what it means for students later on. In effective educators, teams are looking at the Teacher Incentive Allotment, principal leadership, and how the effectiveness of teachers develops in charter and ISD settings. In postsecondary and workforce, teams are studying math pathways, dual credit, early college high schools, students who stop out of college, and work-based learning.
Looking ahead
Good policy for Texas students depends on good evidence, and the evidence about Texas students exists in the state’s own data. What has been in short supply is the capacity inside policy organizations to use it. The fellowship is one way Philanthropy Advocates is building that capacity, and we expect the skills and relationships it creates to outlast this cohort.
