Best Public Schools in San Antonio (Houston, Schertz: school districts, live, costs)

[joe123456]

I decided to take a look at the numbers....

For brevity purposes I decided to look at only the 11th grade, which I believe is the highest grade tested. The number show "All Tests" social studies, english, math, etc.

TAKS Met 2006 Standard
All Tests 11th Grade

Lackland ISD (military only) 99%
Randolph ISD (military only) 88%
NEISD 83%
Alamo Heights 83%
Schertz Cibolo Universal City 77%
Northside ISD 76%
San Antonio 52%

Looking at these numbers, the military only school districts are the best public schools in San Antonio.

[Turtle_Mom]

But they are so much smaller. And obviously not everyone can access those school districts. There are other factors that affect the public school districts, things like Special Ed. students being required to take the TAKS even if they aren't at the level being tested.

Those are still good numbers for the other districts. Northside is really doing a good job at giving NEISD and AH a run for their money as "best district." They really have improved so much even in the 5 years I've lived here.

[sapphire]

Northside is doing a better job at "teaching the test" at least. When I look online at my 5th grader's grades, Science, Language Arts, Math, and Reading all have TAKS review and TAKS practice listed several times as assignments. I understand that it's important to pass the test, but sometimes I think they put entirely too much emphasis on it, rather than just teaching these kids the basics.

[ciJay]

The TAKS does not always show the quality of the education. It has been proven than an increase in TAKS scores doesn't correlate with an increase in SAT/ACT scores (i.e. teaching to the test can increase TAKS scores, but does nothing for teaching the basics & reasoning skills). A better comparison would be SAT/ACT scores between school districts.

[ciJay]

With a quick lookup on google these are the mean SAT scores for those school districts in 2005:
Lackland ISD (military only) 1035
Randolph ISD (military only) 1046
NEISD 1028
Alamo Heights 1113
Schertz Cibolo Universal City ?
Northside ISD 980
San Antonio 814

[joe123456]

Originally Posted by ciJay

With a quick lookup on google these are the mean SAT scores for those school districts in 2005:
Lackland ISD (military only) 1035
Randolph ISD (military only) 1046
NEISD 1028
Alamo Heights 1113
Schertz Cibolo Universal City ?
Northside ISD 980
San Antonio 814

Schertz 1022 TEA Report

[saywhat?]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Northside is doing a better job at "teaching the test" at least. When I look online at my 5th grader's grades, Science, Language Arts, Math, and Reading all have TAKS review and TAKS practice listed several times as assignments. I understand that it's important to pass the test, but sometimes I think they put entirely too much emphasis on it, rather than just teaching these kids the basics.

TEKS/TAKS IS teaching the basics. Go to the Texas Education Agency website and search the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) - knowledge/skills that students are expected to learn and teachers are expected to teach. Then check out the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) tests that have been released to the public and you will find "the basics" students are being tested over. You will also see that students are expected to utilize higher level critical thinking skills - essential for problem solving.
Education has come a long way from the days where students would spend an inordinate amount of time making models of battlefields and such. Good teachers welcome the accountability aspect of TEKS/TAKS.
Hope this helps.

[sapphire]

Originally Posted by saywhat?

TEKS/TAKS IS teaching the basics. Go to the Texas Education Agency website and search the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) - knowledge/skills that students are expected to learn and teachers are expected to teach. Then check out the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) tests that have been released to the public and you will find "the basics" students are being tested over. You will also see that students are expected to utilize higher level critical thinking skills - essential for problem solving.
Education has come a long way from the days where students would spend an inordinate amount of time making models of battlefields and such. Good teachers welcome the accountability aspect of TEKS/TAKS.
Hope this helps.

Many of my sons' "good teachers" have done nothing but complain about "teaching to the test." And since the TEA actually helped develop the test, do you really think they are going to have anything negative to say about it?

Here's one recent example, written by a Texas teacher:
TAKS fact: Test just measures size of parents' bank account | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle (broken link)

[saywhat?]

Based on the statement that we should "go back to the basics", I was merely suggesting that parents actually look at the TEKS and see if they have a problem with that curriculum.
I suspect that many educators who complain about "teaching to the test" are adverse to being held accountable for their students actually learning something and are no longer able to spend precious classtime showing Disney videos or handing out mindless worksheets.
You have addressed the politics surrounding testing and undoubtedly, those issues will continue to annoy and baffle our citizenry, lawmakers and judicial system. I personally have many problems with the politics - and costs - surrounding testing.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Here's one recent example, written by a Texas teacher:
TAKS fact: Test just measures size of parents' bank account | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle (broken link)

Hmmmm....think about this for a minute. Parents in suburban areas tend to be better educated that those in the urban areas, so they probably put a greater emphasis on education. But the accusation of cheating must only be happening in Houston, as I have never heard of it going on here.

Yes, teachers do "teach the test (TAKS)" here, and I am sure they do everywhere else. But as saywhat? so aptly stated, the TAKS is the "knowledge/skills that students are expected to learn and teachers are expected to teach." Sounds like the author of this article is a social studies or science teacher that wants more emphasis on her subject matter in lieu of the fundamentals being taught. There is time for those subjects later on in the education process; at this grade level TAKS is the expectations and the standard. Focusing too much on anything else would be detrimental to the child's advancement through the academic process later on.

As for NISD, as a parent of an autistic child, I have nothing but praise and admiration for the schools and staff in the district. And both my wife and I are highly involved in our sons' education. We don't expect the process to end when the school bell rings in the afternoon, and don't dump the responsibility of teaching our children solely on the shoulders of their teachers. If you are truly concerned with your child’s education, you need to get involved. But for the most part TAKS has proven to be an effective method for teaching and evaluating students in Texas; and until a better method is found, it is here to stay.

Cheers! M2