Higher Education Initiatives

Houston A+ is committed to building bridges between all levels of education, from elementary school to college.

Preparing to Dream
Preparing to Dream aims to improve postsecondary access and success among low-income and first-generation college students in the Houston region, by helping school districts use student data to transform policies and priorities. Houston A+ Challenge and the National College Access Network partner with vertical teams from five area districts -- Houston, Aldine, Spring Branch, Humble and Goose Creek -- on this Houston Endowment-funded initiative.

Convocation on Public Education
The Convocation on Public Education, presented by Houston A+ Challenge in collaboration with the American Leadership Forum, is a bi-annual conference for the local community to engage with major issues in public education.

Partnership for Quality Education
Houston A+ Challenge played a central role in organizing the Partnership for Quality Education (PQE), a program designed to revamp teacher preparation programs in partnership with four local universities, a community college and six school districts. PQE was a five-year project aimed at restructuring teacher preparation programs to create a unified approach to developing skills and content knowledge.

Regional Faculty / Greater Houston P-16 Council
In association with PQE, Houston A+ created the Regional Faculty Network to unite key educators, business partners and community members from across the P-16 continuum. This group helped lay the foundation for the Greater Houston P-16 Council, which now works alongside similar groups statewide on Texas' Closing the Gaps initiative.