School districts - Low income and TAKS averages

[loves2read]

I think that scale shows that HEB which is my local district is doing really good--they have high percentage of not just low-income but minority and ESL students and they scored almost 90% and I guarantee the elementary schools were really pretty good and most of high school scores as well---there is good teaching going on there--if there were not large numbers of kids moving in and out of schools because of moving to get free rent, things would be even better....

the district that really better jack up its numbers is Northwest--lots of more expensive building going on out there--parents will expect better scores than what they are showing...just like Keller....that is district in work of hurt--and think they have more low-income than that chart shows...

[FarNorthDallas]

I've been out of town all week and am just now looking back at this. Interesting way of looking at these numbers, GoPadge. Like the Just 4 Kids website, I like to see districts compared to districts that are similar. Teacher friends have told me the number of kids on free/reduced lunch ("low income") is a more meaningful number as far as what the school is like and not the location, grade levels or the ethnic/racial makeup.

I only looked at the districts as a whole because the individual schools numbers are not supposed to be released until August (although Richardson ISD has their school results already posted). Of course individual schools can vary but when you have folks moving into the area I think many of them are just looking at entire districts (I mean, until we can tell them otherwise not to do that).

I'm not a TAKS test fan at all, but I like the data it gives you. I like the idea that every student is taking the same test.

And, you know, that list that Newsweek puts out about the best schools in the country, the only thing they were looking at was the number of kids who took AP/IB tests. That's all. Of course a school of gifted kids are going to be taking more AP/IB tests than your typical school that includes special ed kids and average non AP/IB taking kids and schools that may not offer very many AP/IB classes. This is what the Newsweek site states:

"Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way."