Dallas Schools Rank High on Washington Post List (Jefferson, China: home, high school)

[Mommy24kids]

Originally Posted by loves2read

the most select group and the smallest I imagine
since the only students guaranteed enrollment are those from Westlake township--one of the highest-income towns in TX and very high in US as well I imagine
the other students come from a lottery now--but in the beginning I don't know that there were enough applicants that they had to use a lottery

statistically children of high income parents are likely to do much better on standardized tests at almost any age than children from lower income parents

small groups of motivated students--even ethnic/low-income students--will do better than larger groups of unmotivated students of same ethnic makeup

this sounds great--and in some cases there is great teaching going on--
but you have to make sure that you know what you are rating

as I said on different thread--
these stats aren't claiming that a Honda Civic can outrace a Ferrari unless the engine has been juiced up way beyond the norm...
it would seem that even students in the magnet schools with high minority/low-income students have been there for a while since these are seniors that are being tested--and thus have been developed over time with the weaker students being weaned out along the way probably

Westlake has always had a lottery. There is a higher percentage of students coming from the lottery than those that live in Westlake.

To clarify, (read the article) Westlake is the wealthiest per capita in the nation - not just in Texas.

Why can't you just say congrats and move on? Oh but it's Westlake and for some reason you don't want to give us our accolades. I knew you would jump in and try hard to be negative but - as I said in a different thread - you won't rain our our parade. WAY TO GO WESTLAKE!!!!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by padcrasher

You know when I see ranking like this it's glaringly obvious you get extra credit for being a Hispanic or African American school.

Unless you read that in the "fine print" explaining the rankings, I think you're really wrong. I think the rankings just show how large the Hispanic population is in the country now.

Grapevine may have had compable test scores, but perhaps not as stellar a performance on AP's or the other metrics.

[DFWMike]

Lets stop propping up DISD, I'm glad their magnets are doing well. But they've exposed themselves with their horrid lack of discipline in the last few weeks. These things have gone on forever but weren't publicized until a tape was involved. They have a few good schools, but by and large it is an undisciplined dangerous place for kids to go to school.(secondary schools, not elementary)

I'm not sure what the answer is, maybe splitting up the district, but the current standard is not working.

For those who need evidence, look at today's Dallas Morning News about a special ed student at a middle school in DISD who was restrained in his chair and beaten. A middle school student stopped it, not a teacher. And we've all seen the Seagoville travesty. There are fights everywhere, but I guarantee you that would not happen in Plano or Frisco to that extent, somebody would intervene. How can DISD not have a policy on how to govern bad behavior, it's insane.

Yet again, I maintain my assertion that most of the parents in Lakewood of all places send their kids to private school. I don't even understand why this great DISD myth is being perpetrated. If the majority of the people in the very neighborhoods represented by the defenders on this forum send their kids away from the local Lakewood public schools, something is wrong.

Yes I know the elementary is ok, but the secondary schools are awful.

Btw, I get this information about how scary DISD is from residents in the area(lakewood, m street, and uptown) who wouldn't send their kids to a secondary school in DISD to save their life. Most of whom are liberals, they're just being realistic. Their assertions are backed up by great school scores. I guess the only hope is that your kid is bright enough to get to one of Dallas' great magnet schools, while the rest of the schools go to hell.

These rankings do not indicate great school performance. Judging AP, and IB programs and such is rediculous when they're is no mean to divide them against. The suburbs listed by the op don't need these special programs to the extent that DISD does, they already have good schools. See the portion of the article where this is not an indication of how well the schools perform, just how well they're doing trying to prepare them.

[busterkeaton]

Come on guys...let the folks with real estate investments have their day. They need this. Congrats!

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by DFWMike

Judging AP, and IB programs and such is rediculous when they're is no mean to divide them against.

I think you just negated the negative points you were trying to make...

[theloneranger]

Lakewooder, you failed to mention in your post that SEM was ranked #1.

I'm absolutely shocked that Law, Business, and Health ranked so high. They definitely aren't where the top achievers in the DISD magnet schools ended up, and I didn't think they had the same draconian "you must take 1 AP test as a freshman, 2 as a sophomore, and no fewer than four as a junior and senior" AP class policies as TAG and SEM do.

The drawback is that all of the magnet schools are located really far away from North Dallas and in a really sketchy neighborhood.

[Lakewooder]

Sorry when I posted that quote from Robert Wilonsky, I accidentally left off the first sentence because it was orphaned by a link and some other info between. Regarding magnets remember that most high schools are undergoing the redesign process and will be going into a 'choice' model where students not in the attendance zone may apply to transfer. For instance TJ is going to be offering an Asian studies program unavailable at other schools. So in a sense they are becoming quasi-magnets. Also Booker T. is located downtown in the Arts District. I don't have any issues with the location of Townview myself, it's really kind of isolated from the neighborhood. And nearly all of those kids are not walking home.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Sorry when I posted that quote from Robert Wilonsky, I accidentally left off the first sentence because it was orphaned by a link and some other info between. Regarding magnets remember that most high schools are undergoing the redesign process and will be going into a 'choice' model where students not in the attendance zone may apply to transfer. For instance TJ is going to be offering an Asian studies program unavailable at other schools. So in a sense they are becoming quasi-magnets. Also Booker T. is located downtown in the Arts District. I don't have any issues with the location of Townview myself, it's really kind of isolated from the neighborhood. And nearly all of those kids are not walking home.

The fact that their was a shady motel/crackhouse/cathouse across the street, combined with the lack of extracurriculars, was the main reason my parents wanted me to go to Jesuit. I think the hour bus ride each way for two years, followed by two years of a 16-year old driving in Dallas rush hour traffic, also wasn't something that appealed to them. Booker T is in a wonderful neighborhood and a pretty good location; Townview decidedly is not.

The redesign stuff will get interesting, especially because it seems like White is going to try to continue to just be a standard comprehensive high school for as long as they can. Hillcrest and TJ are going forward with it, so it will be interesting to see how this affects demographics within the schools--I don't think that they'll be picking up more neighborhood kids (unless White decides to redesign with an IB program like Woodrow has) but it may make a big difference on which kids try to transfer from the rest of DISD. As I'm approaching the age where I want to settle down (sounds scary to say that at 21, but it's not that far off), I'm definitely keeping my eyes on DISD developments because the district is definitely my first choice for my kids at least through elementary school.

[Lakewooder]

Check out:

For Parents-Parental Public School Choice (http://www.dallasisd.org/parents/schoolchoice.htm - broken link)

And here is the brochure:

http://www.dallasisd.org/parents/schoolchoicedocs/PPSCBrochureLR.pdf (broken link)

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Check out:

For Parents-Parental Public School Choice (http://www.dallasisd.org/parents/schoolchoice.htm - broken link)

And here is the brochure:

http://www.dallasisd.org/parents/schoolchoicedocs/PPSCBrochureLR.pdf (broken link)

Apparently White is redesigning. My little brother is most likely going to their new arts pathway.

However, it's my impression that the large majority of the kids are still going to be getting a comprehensive education without being in any of the pathways, whereas some of the other schools are going to be entirely divided into pathways.