A new UH report finds that Houston ISD’s enrollment decline has accelerated since the state takeover more than two years ago, while experienced educators are leaving the district at higher rates. According to researchers at the College of Education’s Institute for Education Policy Research and Evaluation, the intervention has coincided with significant shifts in both the district’s student population and teaching workforce. “The overarching takeaway is that the student and teacher populations in Houston ISD are very different than they were before the takeover,” said Toni Templeton, senior research scientist at the institute.

For the first time, UH researchers have mapped Houston’s “mental health deserts,” revealing inequities in access to care across the city. The study, published Oct. 15 in Frontiers of Public Health, highlights the uneven distribution of mental health professionals and calls for targeted interventions and policy solutions. “So many neighborhoods had no mental health professionals in their ZIP codes,” said Chakema Carmack, senior author and associate professor of health. “It does follow patterns of other lack-of-access variables out there, such as food access, physical care access, clinic access and insurance coverage.”

New research from UH reveals certain types of fun, particularly those with outdoor adventure components, may offer greater social and emotional benefits for youth. Bradley H. Smith, professor of School Psychology, explores this idea in a study published in August in the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education. “I don’t think people take fun seriously enough,” Smith said. “It's a basic human need, and we're better off doing it.”