Lakewood's Woodrow Wilson ranked 1159th in the state? (Dallas, Plano: homes, to buy)

[Lakewooder]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Yes, I was generalizing and of course not 100% of Hispanic students are slackers but only a small percent of them are part of the academic elite. On the flip side, not 100% of the white Woodrow kids are outstanding but the vast majority are. The proof is in the numbers.

That wasn't really directed at you, don't worry...

[TurtleCreek80]

Got curious, so here it is....I married up the Newsweek top ranked high schools (based on number of AP tests taken) with the AP pass rates (score of 3 or higher on 5 point scale. 3 earns collage credit at public university) as tracked by the TEA. I just tracked the open enrollment high schools and omitted thr magnets/charters of the list due to the application process for admission. The white student demographic's pass rate is in parentheses after the total school's rate-->

The first list is arranged by highest overall pass rate to lowest. Interestingly enough, only 4 area high schools are getting 50+% of all AP students to pass AP exams: Highland Park, Plano Senior, Plano East, and Garland. Also interesting, Southlake Carroll HS has the lowest overall pass rate at 16.4% (!!!!- unacceptable for a school with a reputation like Carroll.) The rank is where the school placed on the 2012 US High Schools list-->

35. Highland Park - Highland Park ISD. 62.8% pass rate (62.2% pass rate white students)
762. Plano Sr. - Plani ISD. 62.7% pass (61.5% white pass)
658. Garland - Garland ISD. 53% pass rate (75% white pass)
863. Plano East - Plano ISD. 50.5% pass (56.8% white pass)


338. JJ Pearce - Richardson ISD. 47.9% pass (57.9% white pass)
595. Coppell - Coppell ISD. 47.2% pass (45% white pass)
330. Richardson - Richardson ISD. 40.8% pass (59.7% white pass)
1124. Frisco - Frisco ISD. 38% pass (43.1% white pass)
1322. Allen - Allen ISD. 37.9% pass (41% white pass)
911. Flower Mound - Lewisville ISD. 37.7% pass (35.7% white pass)
267. Grapevine - Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. 33.3% pass (34.5% white pass)
271. WT White - Dallas ISD. 32.8% pass (59.2% white pass)
525. RL Turner - Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. 29.8% pass (42.8% white pass)
845. Hebron - Lewisville ISD. 31.7% pass (32.6% white pass)
1321. Creekview - Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. 31.3% pass (35% white pass)1295. Flower Mound Marcus - Lewisville ISD. 31% pass (31.2% white pass)
980. Centennial - Frisco ISD.*30% pass (30.3% white pass)
1155. Wakeland - Frisco ISD. 28.7% pass (31.6% white pass)
588. Woodrow - Dallas ISD. 25% pass (57% white pass)
598. Hillcrest - Dallas ISD. 24% pass (67% white pass)
652. Newman Smith - Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD 20.7% pass (40.7% white pass)
789. Southlake Carroll Sr. - Carroll ISD. 16.4% pass (14.8% white pass)


The second list is arranged by the % of white students passing. This list tells a very different story than the overall pass rates. 9 schools have an over 50% pass rate for white students, led by Garland HS at 75%. Hillcrest HS (DISD) tops even Highland Park and Woodrow Wilson and WT White (both DISD) rank in the top 9, while Carroll, two Frisco HS, the esteemed Flower Mound high schools, Grapevine HS, etc can't even get 35% of white AP students to pass the exams.


658. Garland - Garland ISD. 53% pass rate (75% white pass)
598. Hillcrest - Dallas ISD. 24% pass (67% white pass)
35. Highland Park - Highland Park ISD. 62.8% pass rate (62.2% pass rate white students)
762. Plano Sr. - Plani ISD. 62.7% pass (61.5% white pass)
330. Richardson - Richardson ISD. 40.8% pass (59.7% white pass)
271. WT White - Dallas ISD. 32.8% pass (59.2% white pass)
338. JJ Pearce - Richardson ISD. 47.9% pass (57.9% white pass)
588. Woodrow - Dallas ISD. 25% pass (57% white pass)
863. Plano East - Plano ISD. 50.5% pass (56.8% white pass)


595. Coppell - Coppell ISD. 47.2% pass (45% white pass)
1124. Frisco - Frisco ISD. 38% pass (43.1% white pass)
525. RL Turner - Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. 29.8% pass (42.8% white pass)
1322. Allen - Allen ISD. 37.9% pass (41% white pass)
652. Newman Smith - Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD 20.7% pass (40.7% white pass)
911. Flower Mound - Lewisville ISD. 37.7% pass (35.7% white pass)
1321. Creekview - Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. 31.3% pass (35% white pass)
267. Grapevine - Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. 33.3% pass (34.5% white pass)
845. Hebron - Lewisville ISD. 31.7% pass (32.6% white pass)
1155. Wakeland - Frisco ISD. 28.7% pass (31.6% white pass)
1295. *Flower Mound Marcus - Lewisville ISD. 31% pass (31.2% white pass)
980. Centennial - Frisco ISD.*30% pass (30.3% white pass)
789. Southlake Carroll Sr. - Carroll ISD. 16.4% pass (14.8% white pass)

Say what you want about DISD schools, but their top 3 high neighborhood high schools are kicking their white suburban counterparts' butts in SAT scores and AP exam pass rates....a much better indication of collegiate success than the silly TAKS test that drives the TEA's exemplary ratings.

[debtex]

Fascinating. But I wonder if this says more about the willingness of the suburban schools to put more marginal white kids into AP classes than it does about the strength of the class itself. With a larger percentage of kids being white to start with...and you put everyone in there...fewer kids pass.

[debtex]

A stat I'd like to see...what % of white/hispanic/black kids at DISD schools are in AP classes?

[Lakewooder]

Woodrow used to get a lot of criticism for AP classes being white but it was really unjustified - as in Rod Dreher's infamous screed where he never visited the campus nor contacted the school. Back in the early 80s they were mostly white. But even in the 70s we had minority kids in 'honors' (which predated most AP classes save English).

Last year Woodrow administered around 600 AP exams and this spring that went up to around 800. So there is no way it's all white people... I've also seen statistics that 40% of the school enrollment was in AP classes. So there's another number to disprove it's all whites.

In the first Pre-IB class (ninth grade) this year, 53 students are white, 42 are Hispanic, 15 are black, and there are four students of other ethnicities according to this:

http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/DN-woodrow_05met.ART0.East.Edition1.3627be3.html (broken link)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by debtex

A stat I'd like to see...what % of white/hispanic/black kids at DISD schools are in AP classes?

It's all on the TEA website. Knock yourself out!!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Last year Woodrow administered around 600 AP exams and this spring that went up to around 800. So there is no way it's all white people... I've also seen statistics that 40% of the school enrollment was in AP classes. So there's another number to disprove it's all whites.

You're right. It's not all white kids. But with an overall pass rate is 25% and white students at 57%, the other students aren't excelling in their AP courses at the same level as the white students.

Here's Woodrow's chart for 2008-2009 (most recent data)

White Students 17% of AP group Passed 57% of exams
Black Students 11% of AP group Passed 12% of exams
Hispanic Students 70% of AP group Passed 18.9% of exams

Economically Disadvantaged 53% of AP group Passed 16.7% of exams

I recognize the white students are a small portion of the total, but so are black students and the white pass rate is nearly 4 times better than the black pass rate.

The bottom line is that other ethnicities & economic groups are taking the AP classes and exams, but across the board in the non-magnet schools, the only demographic doing well (or acceptable, even) in AP are the white students.

[Lakewooder]

One thing I have noticed is that we are getting more middle and upper middle class hispanics in the last few years. I can say that a few of them are second-generation because I know their parents also attended Woodrow. They seem to be much more involved and emphasize academics more than their parents did back in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The daughter of our first hispanic homecoming queen in 1977 recently graduated and she is a good example - she goes to OU and finished high in several contests, including Miss Texas!

We also have more middle class blacks but it's not a large number. We are getting more through IB and we also have more students who are recently from Africa than in past years.

I overheard a group of students (white, black and brown) talking about how they 'were not really prejudiced against African blacks'. As I said, it's very hard to pin down specifics and statistics at our school as there are many nuances. Even the principal's daughter is partially hispanic, I don't know how she is recorded 'on the books'. She's third generation - her grandfather was a Lakewood physician and her grandmother was a nurse in Mexico.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

One thing I have noticed is that we are getting more middle and upper middle class hispanics in the last few years. I can say that a few of them are second-generation because I know their parents also attended Woodrow. They seem to be much more involved and emphasize academics more than their parents did back in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The daughter of our first hispanic homecoming queen in 1977 recently graduated and she is a good example - she goes to OU and finished high in several contests, including Miss Texas!

We also have more middle class blacks but it's not a large number. We are getting more through IB and we also have more students who are recently from Africa than in past years.

I overheard a group of students (white, black and brown) talking about how they 'were not really prejudiced against African blacks'. As I said, it's very hard to pin down specifics and statistics at our school as there are many nuances. Even the principal's daughter is partially hispanic, I don't know how she is recorded 'on the books'. She's third generation - her grandfather was a Lakewood physician and her grandmother was a nurse in Mexico.

That's all lovely, but it doesn't explain the variance in pass rates between whites and other races.

[Lakewooder]

I do tend to ramble!

What I have seen is quite perplexing - you can have the same kids learn from the same teachers but get results all over the place..I realize this does not fit in with the generally-accepted norms of the 'burbs where you have large groups of 'the same'.

I remember being astounded at one guy in my drafting class who for all intents and purposes, was illiterate. He was a black guy who lived near Fair Park.

Then again, one of my best friends was black and from the same general area and he was a genius who went on through SMU with me and into a highly-rewarding professional career with some of the top corporations in the world. There just weren't as many of those...

The illiterate guy recently passed away and I had the same fondness for him as I did the genius (although the genius and I were closer through circumstance). That's what I mean by it's valuable to be friendly with all people - all have something to contribute and teach to others.