the closing the gaps by the texas higher education plan adopted in aims to make all high school graduates collegeready and close the gaps between young people from different backgrounds in higher education participation and success in educational excellence and in funded research one key element of the plan is the use of performance data to monitor progress towards the plan s goals each postsecondary institution is required to provide targets and report progress focusing on the four target areas of closing the gaps the texas higher education accountability system tracks performance in higher education institutions