School Districts (Dallas, Grand Prairie, Richardson: apartment, crime, homes)

[burrisbride]

I was just wondering what is considered a "good" or "not so good" school district. I have been a lurker on the board for about a year while going through the process of looking for a neighborhood in which we would buy our first home. We fell in love with Cedar Hill, because of its obvious beauty, the quaint feeling, beautiful homes with large lots and the friendly feel of the people. However for a long time I was apprehensive because everytime someone brings up Cedar Hill on the board it is mentioned that their school district is not so good. I am just curious as to how that is defined. Cedar Hill has a smaller number of schools in its districts but in reference to percentages, 42% of the schools are recognized in 2008 accountablity ratings and while only 7% are exemplary there are none that are not acceptable. Now I am not saying the school district is amazing but other school districts that are considered to be be good, percentages wise do not measure up. So can someone clarify for me what is considered a good school district.

[Grainraiser]

Anything north of 635 is excellent. All others are considered crap. Next question.

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by grainraiser

anything north of 635 is excellent. All others are considered crap. Next question.

roflmao!!!!!! You really brought me to tears.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

Anything north of 635 is excellent. All others are considered crap. Next question.

You forgot HP...

but Cedar Hill schools just aren't the same academically as a lot of the northern suburbs. They have to deal with a different student body composition, and there are quite a few student safety issues as well.

[bookworm2768]

Quite honestly I think the recognised exemplary thing is crap too!
All of that is based on TAKS scores which have way too many factors influencing them than just school excellence. For that matter what is an excellent school? One that nurtures the intellectual growth of each child? One that makes sure that all the kids ace the test? One that focuses on learning at the expense of test taking?
While you don't want a school where a huge chunk of the population is flunking I think there are way more factors to look at than just the recognised exemplary ratings. Have a look at greatschools.com for details on the schools. Be aware that even within good districts there will be crappy schools and vice versa.
Also look at the crime maps. If the school is smack in the middle of a crime hot spot I can't imagine that it will not show up in the student population.
A lot of people suggest steering away from schools with a large apartment population since the kids are more transient but I'm not so convinced by that arguement.
In short, do your research. The exemplary/ recognised thing means very little

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by bookworm2768

Quite honestly I think the recognised exemplary thing is crap too!
All of that is based on TAKS scores which have way too many factors influencing them than just school excellence. The exemplary/ recognised thing means very little

There are WAY TOO MANY factors that go towards determining if a school campus receives an "exemplary" or "recognized" rating. For the OP let me explain it a little more and just HOW these "ratings" are determined.

Every single subgroup (white, african-american, hispanic, asian, pacific islander, economically disadvantaged, etc) is labeled on how they EACH do on EACH TAKS test every single year. A few years ago there was a big stink w/ a very good high school in the Richardson ISD that received an "unacceptable" rating. While a heavy majority of the student population passed the TAKS tests and even got a "commended" on their tests it only took ONE very small subgroup to NOT improve to tank the schools overall rating. A small subgroup of students that may only be comprised of as few as 5-10 students TOTAL if they don't show any improvements from one year to the next can cause this to happen. Nevermind that as much as 90% of the student population smokes the tests and passes without so much as a hiccup............ those 5 students in that one subgroup now make this school a "bad school". Is it really a "bad school"? NO!!! Because across town a school that gets an "exemplary" rating very well could have had LESS students receive a "commended" on the tests but their subgroups showed an improvement.

Besides, cheating DOES happen on the TAKS tests even in some of the more "highly desirable" school districts to some. Yes, I know it DOES happen. I know enough people that teach in those districts that witness it happen all of the time (and no, they are not happy about the people in their schools that are cheating on these tests but can't speak up for fear of losing their jobs). Even the leadership of these schools are behind some of the cheating. So a school that gets these "exemplary" or "recognized" ratings could have gotten them by cheating and YES cheating CAN happen.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

There are WAY TOO MANY factors that go towards determining if a school campus receives an "exemplary" or "recognized" rating. For the OP let me explain it a little more and just HOW these "ratings" are determined.

Every single subgroup (white, african-american, hispanic, asian, pacific islander, economically disadvantaged, etc) is labeled on how they EACH do on EACH TAKS test every single year. A few years ago there was a big stink w/ a very good high school in the Richardson ISD that received an "unacceptable" rating. While a heavy majority of the student population passed the TAKS tests and even got a "commended" on their tests it only took ONE very small subgroup to NOT improve to tank the schools overall rating. A small subgroup of students that may only be comprised of as few as 5-10 students TOTAL if they don't show any improvements from one year to the next can cause this to happen. Nevermind that as much as 90% of the student population smokes the tests and passes without so much as a hiccup............ those 5 students in that one subgroup now make this school a "bad school". Is it really a "bad school"? NO!!! Because across town a school that gets an "exemplary" rating very well could have had LESS students receive a "commended" on the tests but their subgroups showed an improvement.

Besides, cheating DOES happen on the TAKS tests even in some of the more "highly desirable" school districts to some. Yes, I know it DOES happen. I know enough people that teach in those districts that witness it happen all of the time (and no, they are not happy about the people in their schools that are cheating on these tests but can't speak up for fear of losing their jobs). Even the leadership of these schools are behind some of the cheating. So a school that gets these "exemplary" or "recognized" ratings could have gotten them by cheating and YES cheating CAN happen.

While the cheating may be true (and in fact, after I left my elementary school, JJ Pershing, many of my old teachers were reassigned after speaking out about the new principal engineering cheating on the TAKS), it's not the main reason most of the suburban schools end up exemplary and recognized.

The main reason is the lack of diversity and lack of underpriviledged kids makes those subgroup areas too small to apply to the criteria. The group has to have a minimum percentage of the total enrollment to qualify IIRC.

HPISD, for instance, does not have enough Asian, Hispanic, black, or economically disadvantaged kids in any of those schools to have to pass in those areas, so as long as the white kids and the school as a whole meets the passing criteria, they're exemplary. DISD schools, on the other hand, have to pass Hispanic, black, white, and economically disadvantaged kids at the same rate on all sections at each grade level in order to get the same ratings--a much more difficult task.

[Grainraiser]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

You forgot HP...

but Cedar Hill schools just aren't the same academically as a lot of the northern suburbs. They have to deal with a different student body composition, and there are quite a few student safety issues as well.

Your right, I can't remember the last time a Cedar Hill student died of a drug overdose

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

Your right, I can't remember the last time a Cedar Hill student died of a drug overdose

Or they got busted along w/ their parents having a party in a warehouse providing all of the alcohol.

[cincylifer]

Originally Posted by burrisbride

I was just wondering what is considered a "good" or "not so good" school district. I have been a lurker on the board for about a year while going through the process of looking for a neighborhood in which we would buy our first home. We fell in love with Cedar Hill, because of its obvious beauty, the quaint feeling, beautiful homes with large lots and the friendly feel of the people. However for a long time I was apprehensive because everytime someone brings up Cedar Hill on the board it is mentioned that their school district is not so good. I am just curious as to how that is defined. Cedar Hill has a smaller number of schools in its districts but in reference to percentages, 42% of the schools are recognized in 2008 accountablity ratings and while only 7% are exemplary there are none that are not acceptable. Now I am not saying the school district is amazing but other school districts that are considered to be be good, percentages wise do not measure up. So can someone clarify for me what is considered a good school district.

I am in the process of relocating to Dallas, and I too looked at districts south of the city, since they are closer to Grand Prairie. You cannot look at the ratings, you should look at the percentage passing the taks in each grade. Also, look at the ACT and SAT results, since those are national. None of the districts south of the city were impressive in those areas. The previous poster was right, the ratings have too many variables, so its best to dig into the details.