Information, Student Achievement, and Preferences for State Control in Education:
Evidence from a Survey Experiment

Blake H. Heller and Sara Sands Francis

October 2024

Abstract:

In 2023, the Texas Education Agency stripped the elected Houston Independent School District
(HISD) school board of its governing responsibilities and appointed a new superintendent,
marking the beginning of a state takeover of HISD. We conduct a pre-registered survey
experiment with 497 Texas residents, assessing whether information about improvements in
student performance in the most-affected schools influences perceptions of the takeover. We find
that Texans who were exposed to our informational treatment score 0.5 standard deviations
higher on an index of support for the takeover, are 36 percentage points (72%) more likely to
believe takeover policies were good for students, and 10 percentage points (15%) more likely to
support the 2024 $4.4 billion HISD bond proposal. As state and district leaders struggle to earn
voters’ trust, increasing awareness about student proficiency growth in affected schools has the
potential to change perceptions of the district’s efforts to improve its lowest-performing schools.

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