2015 National Merit Semi-Finalists

[jlim0930]

Originally Posted by AceRider

By the way, I hope all of you crazies who are fighting over school rankings act like this in front of your kids.

YOU are a bigger part of their lives/capabilities/achievements/potential than their stupid schools. Based on how some of you seem, I say good luck to them, because they are deficient despite whatever great school you think they attend....

thumbs up!

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by AceRider

2013 numbers as a percent of high school enrollment:


Campus / Number of NMSF / % Tot School Enrollment
School for the Talented and Gifted 8 3.2%
Flower Mound High School 39 1.2%
Coppell High School 20 0.7%
Plano Senior High School / Clark High School / Vines High School 35 0.6%
Rockwall High School 13 0.6%
Carroll Senior High School / Carroll High School 13 0.5%
Plano West Senior High School / Jasper High School / Shepton High School 26 0.5%
Marcus High School 14 0.4%
Rockwall-Heath High School 9 0.4%
Hebron High School / Hebron Ninth Grade Center 13 0.4%
Highland Park High School 8 0.4%
Plano East Senior High School / McMillan High School / Williams High School 17 0.3%
Colleyville Heritage High School 7 0.3%
Lovejoy High School 3 0.3%
The Colony High School 5 0.3%
Trinity High School 6 0.2%
Liberty High School 4 0.2%
Keller High School 5 0.2%
McKinney High School 4 0.2%
Pearce High School 4 0.2%
Lake Highlands High School / Lake Highlands Freshman Center 4 0.2%
Central High School 4 0.2%
Creekview High School 3 0.2%
Bell High School 3 0.1%
Allen High School / Lowery Freshman Center 8 0.1%
McKinney Boyd High School 4 0.1%
Martin High School 4 0.1%
Garland High School 3 0.1%
Haltom High School 3 0.1%

Did you factor into your numbers high schools that are 2 grades (like PISD) and 4 grades (like HPISD)?

[AceRider]

I don't know; I just took the data I found and calculated/sorted it in many, many different ways.

So, you are saying that PISD high is only 11-12th grades? I did wonder why Plano West includes Jasper and Shepton. Are those the balance of 9-12 for that district? Similar with Plano Senior, Plano East, Hebron, Allen, Lake Highlands. All above have multiple schools noted and i couldn't figure out why. That may be the answer and if so, yes, they are accounted for.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by AceRider

I don't know; I just took the data I found and calculated/sorted it in many, many different ways.

So, you are saying that PISD high is only 11-12th grades? I did wonder why Plano West includes Jasper and Shepton. Are those the balance of 9-12 for that district? Similar with Plano Senior, Plano East, Hebron, Allen, Lake Highlands. All above have multiple schools noted and i couldn't figure out why. That may be the answer and if so, yes, they are accounted for.

Yup thats why. Good stuff, just wondering.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by AceRider

I don't know; I just took the data I found and calculated/sorted it in many, many different ways.

So, you are saying that PISD high is only 11-12th grades? I did wonder why Plano West includes Jasper and Shepton. Are those the balance of 9-12 for that district? Similar with Plano Senior, Plano East, Hebron, Allen, Lake Highlands. All above have multiple schools noted and i couldn't figure out why. That may be the answer and if so, yes, they are accounted for.

PISD has three SENIOR high schools, that are only 11-12 grades. PISD has 6 HIGH schools that are only grades 9-10. So, the percentage should only include the 11 & 12 grade enrollment numbers, not the 9-12 grade numbers. Those high schools are NOT in the same building with the same staff.

Allen High School is only grades 10-12 and they have a freshman center. The freshmen are also on a separate campus and should not be included in the percentage numbers. They are NOT enrolled at Allen High School

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by DitsyD

PISD has three SENIOR high schools, that are only 11-12 grades. PISD has 6 HIGH schools that are only grades 9-10. So, the percentage should only include the 11 & 12 grade enrollment numbers, not the 9-12 grade numbers. Those high schools are NOT in the same building with the same staff.

Allen High School is only grades 10-12 and they have a freshman center. The freshmen are also on a separate campus and should not be included in the percentage numbers. They are NOT enrolled at Allen High School

They still should. Why should one school be weighed out against just two grades vs. one with four?

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

They still should. Why should one school be weighed out against just two grades vs. one with four?

Because the other two grades are not enrolled at the school. The districts have made choices as to staffing and class offerings and building enrollments.

Actually, the percentages should be as a percentage of the junior class; the class actually taking the PSAT from a school. Seniors aren't taking the PSAT. Freshmen aren't taking the PSAT, so why include them in the numbers?

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by DitsyD

Because the other two grades are not enrolled at the school. The districts have made choices as to staffing and class offerings and building enrollments.

Actually, the percentages should be as a percentage of the junior class; the class actually taking the PSAT from a school. Seniors aren't taking the PSAT. Freshmen aren't taking the PSAT, so why include them in the numbers?

That would be a fair % number. You were saying to do it by population of the school. So it would make schools like HPISD and the others with 9-12 a one school look inferior to ones that only had grade 11 & 12.

[Big G]

AceRider's numbers look to be fairly accurate.

Yes, he's using 4 years' worth of enrollment (freshman through senior) to assess the performance of *one* year's worth of student performance (the rising seniors). But for schools with fairly stable enrollment, that should work out to be about the same, divided by 4, of course. The important thing is that he made sure to include the freshmen centers, etc. that many of the schools have in place - that way, all schools are on an equal measuring stick.


The main knock would be that his method understates the performance of rapidly-growing schools, such as those in Frisco ISD, where the freshman classes can be 20-30% larger than the senior classes, particularly for the new campuses.

Also, specifically to PISD, due to the temporary "bump" caused by the boundary shift, his method overcredits PESH and unfairly knocks PWSH.