Have Katy ISD High Schools ratings been downgraded? (Cinco Ranch, Richmond: real estate, lawyers)

[PR Engineer]

Please correct if I'm wrong, but I've been checking out HAR.com for the past few months looking at properties around Katy and I think several Katy ISD High Schools were rated Exemplary including Cinco Ranch HS.

I just checked today and Cinco Ranch HS is rated Recognized and Katy HS is Acceptable. The only exemplary schools in Katy ISD are Elementary and two Junior high schools.

I just checked the Texas Education Agency website and for 2010 both Cinco Ranch HS and Seven Lakes HS were Exemplary and Katy HS was Recognized.

What happened?

[Houston321]

If you continue to look at schools solely on how the kids took a test, you are headed down a bad road. Nothing has changed. I'm sure the teachers are getting beat up to teach even more for a test...such a shame.

[crbcrbrgv]

Originally Posted by PR Engineer

Please correct if I'm wrong, but I've been checking out HAR.com for the past few months looking at properties around Katy and I think several Katy ISD High Schools were rated Exemplary including Cinco Ranch HS.

I just checked today and Cinco Ranch HS is rated Recognized and Katy HS is Acceptable. The only exemplary schools in Katy ISD are Elementary and two Junior high schools.

I just checked the Texas Education Agency website and for 2010 both Cinco Ranch HS and Seven Lakes HS were Exemplary and Katy HS was Recognized.

What happened?

Nothing.

Katy continues to be the same overrated district it has always been.

[EasilyAmused]

Did they open a newer high school than Cinco somewhere? Not that development companies would be in bed with the school districts to pimp new neighborhoods or anything....:roll eyes:

Edit: Ah.. I see Seven Lakes now is Exemplary....until they open another new HS .Burb Chess match...

[crone]

IMO, it is impossible to gauge a school based on State test scores. According to a communication sent out by the State school trustee from my area, a kid can miss 60% and still be considered passing.

The schools have an avenue to challenge the State rating. Many scores are based on who took the test. Everything I read about the test last year indicated the scoring was rigged so that it looked as if a school did better than previous years, but that was maybe not the case.

Most people I run into do not understand the data or the process. And yet, our entire real estate industry is based on school test scores. Teachers pay is based on test scores. Superintendent hiring and firing and massive salaries are based on State test scores.

Most of us have no clue how to interpret the scores.

[cla]

Originally Posted by PR Engineer

Please correct if I'm wrong, but I've been checking out HAR.com for the past few months looking at properties around Katy and I think several Katy ISD High Schools were rated Exemplary including Cinco Ranch HS.

I just checked today and Cinco Ranch HS is rated Recognized and Katy HS is Acceptable. The only exemplary schools in Katy ISD are Elementary and two Junior high schools.

I just checked the Texas Education Agency website and for 2010 both Cinco Ranch HS and Seven Lakes HS were Exemplary and Katy HS was Recognized.

What happened?

The TEA made the standards a bit stricter for 2011. They are supposed to continue to get tougher in the coming years. Even without the changes, a school can drop a ranking any given year because of one single point. So expect to see fluctuations, particularly at the high school and junior high levels.

[crone]

At the risk of sounding like some sort of conspiracy nutjob, take anything that comes out of the TEA with a grain of salt.

They tell us a new test is in place and it is harder. Trouble is, there is no standard for grading. Each district makes their own. How can it be a statewide test if every district makes their own grading standard? It is possible for a district to declare the lowest grade is 69. As Bill Hammond points out in todays Chronicle, if a student can sign their name and the answer no question, and then get a 69 on the test, what is the point of a state wide test?

This is all BS. Areas of town rise and fall based on these meaningless test. Home prices are predicated on these meaningless test. Kids are terrorized by these meaningless tests. Schools think they are doing a good job and they are not. What happens when these kids get to college, thinking they are smart?

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by crone

A
What happens when these kids get to college, thinking they are smart?

Or that they are Gifted and Talented...because they have an IQ of 118.

[BookerEast]

There probably pimping the Richmond area now.

[DanielWayne]

I agree with ALL the above replies. Truth is, the top kids from Cinco Ranch are still likely to get a full ride at MIT or Stanford. My 4A(bordering on 3A) high school was academically unacceptable one year, and my tiny senior class had several MD's, engineers, and lawyers (maybe lawyers is not a good example). One guy was an MD/PhD and played in a symphony. You need to research more than ratings.