Best public high schools – northern Texas?

[Chuck Bao]

I’m interested in that Newsweek article about the best public high schools in the nation. Okay, the data is probably incomplete and the criteria totally arbitrary. And they leave out the top performing private schools. Still, it’s interesting.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18757087/site/newsweek/

I’m left wondering why there are so few Oklahoma schools on this list, compared to so many North Texas public high schools.

North Texas had 48 in the top 1,200. All of Oklahoma had 7.

Why is that?

It is also interesting that the North Texas list is mostly made up of northern suburbs of Dallas and Fort Worth, where the building boom has been.

Does that mean spending by schools from local real estate tax revenues make that much measurable difference in percentage of students winning higher honors, higher test scores or university placement?

Anyone go to one of these schools and do you think it was better than others?

Anyway, if you had a choice, where would you send your kids to high school?

Ranked Oklahoma public high schools
63 Classen School of Advanced Studies Oklahoma City Okla.
75 Booker T. Washington Tulsa Okla.
310 Edison Preparatory Tulsa Okla.
448 Edmond North Edmond Okla.
834 Jenks Jenks Okla.
1098 Santa Fe Edmond Okla.
1253 Chickasha Chichasha Okla.

Ranked North Texas public high schools
1 Talented and Gifted Dallas Texas
2 Science/Engineering Magnet Dallas Texas
13 North Hills School Irving Texas
14 Highland Park Dallas Texas
95 Colleyville Heritage Colleyville Texas
131 Warren T White Dallas Texas
141 Grapevine Grapevine Texas
177 Plano West Plano Texas
185 McKinney McKinney Texas
209 Diamond Hill-Jarvis Fort Worth Texas
210 Lawrence D Bell Hurst Texas
233 McKinney North McKinney Texas
249 R.L. Paschal Fort Worth Texas
304 Trinity Euless Texas
339 S. H. Rider Wichita Falls Texas
348 Plano Plano Texas
350 Garland Garland Texas
418 Amon Carter-Riverside Fort Worth Texas
423 Coppell Coppell Texas
433 Plano East Plano Texas
610 Hillcrest Dallas Texas
640 Newman Smith Carrolton Texas
644 J.J. Pearce Richardson Texas
677 Southwest Fort Worth Texas
711 Wichita Falls Wichita Falls Texas
716 The Woodlands The Woodlands Texas
728 Arlington Heights Fort Worth Texas
745 The Colony The Colony Texas
757 Keller Keller Texas
758 Hebron Carrolton Texas
771 Creekview Carrolton Texas
775 Naaman Forest Garland Texas
818 Turner Carrolton Texas
819 North Garland Garland Texas
820 Denison Denison Texas
839 Centennial Frisco Texas
881 Paul Dunbar Fort Worth Texas
899 Allen Allen Texas
904 Sachse Sachse Texas
947 Richardson Richardson Texas
974 Western Hills Fort Worth Texas
989 Lake Highlands Dallas Texas
1016 Northwest Justin Texas
1036 Trimble Technical Fort Worth Texas
1040 Rowlett Rowlett Texas
1046 Sherman Sherman Texas
1071 South Hills Fort Worth Texas
1128 Hirschi Wichita Falls Texas

[yermom]

Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 divided by the number of graduating seniors.

hmm "best" seems a bit narrow there

i was kinda surprised Owasso wasn't on the list

[Vaevictis]

North Texas had 48 in the top 1,200. All of Oklahoma had 7.

Why is that?

Money.


Does that mean spending by schools from local real estate tax revenues make that much measurable difference in percentage of students winning higher honors, higher test scores or university placement?

In addition to the money itself, and the things money buys, districts that have money often have more affluent parents. More affluent parents usually emphasize education more. Parental involvement is key.

(Just guesses, but I bet I'm right.)

And aside from that, if the metrics they're using this year are the same as last year, they're bull**** IMO. Ranking primarily by the number AP classes taken per kid is a pretty crappy way to rank high schools, IMO. (But that's beside the point.)

[Soonrboy]

My boy goes to Classen, he's finishing up sixth grade. He's happy. We're happy. He's going back.

[yermom]

not to mention if it is based on a percentage, then little magnet schools will always be at the top

[Vaevictis]

not to mention if it is based on a percentage, then little magnet schools will always be at the top

IMO, it's a moderate-to-good way to rank the student body.

The school itself, not so much.

[Beef]

Money.



In addition to the money itself, and the things money buys, districts that have money often have more affluent parents. More affluent parents usually emphasize education more. Parental involvement is key.

(Just guesses, but I bet I'm right.)

And aside from that, if the metrics they're using this year are the same as last year, they're bull**** IMO. Ranking primarily by the number AP classes taken per kid is a pretty crappy way to rank high schools, IMO. (But that's beside the point.)
The top 2 schools are in the Dallas Independent School District. The district might have money, but the parents of kids that go to DISD schools do not. If you have money and live in the DISD, your kids go to a private school. The guy was trying to find a way of ranking schools that took affluence out of the equation, thinking that ACT and SAT scores, % going to college, etc. are money biased and taking AP tests is not. I agree that it's a ****ty way to rank them, but that's why he did it this way.

[King Crimson]

i find it hard to believe Norman High is not on that list.

or even the fake high school, given the income of the "new" Norman out north and east of the real town.

[Vaevictis]

The top 2 schools are in the Dallas Independent School District. The district might have money, but the parents of kids that go to DISD schools do not. If you have money and live in the DISD, your kids go to a private school. The guy was trying to find a way of ranking schools that took affluence out of the equation, thinking that ACT and SAT scores, % going to college, etc. are money biased and taking AP tests is not. I agree that it's a ****ty way to rank them, but that's why he did it this way.

So basically what you're saying is that I should also add, "... or the high schools on the list cherry pick the very best students available in their districts." :D

[Ike]

I'm a little surprised Norman High isn't on the list either.

However, it's kinda cool to see that the school my mom teaches at is at the top of the list of Oklahoma high schools.

[Vaevictis]

i find it hard to believe Norman High is not on that list.

or even the fake high school, given the income of the "new" Norman out north and east of the real town.

Eh, even though they call it the "Best Public High Schools", it's really just "List of Schools with the most AP Tests Taken Per Student That Ended Up Graduating."

I bet the worst high school in the country could decide to make taking every AP/IB exam possible a graduation requirement, and they'd be in the top ten of that list (... until other schools pulled the same stunt, anyway...)

[TexasLidig8r]

. . .
It is also interesting that the North Texas list is mostly made up of northern suburbs of Dallas and Fort Worth, where the building boom has been.



[cough] white flight [cough]

[1stTimeCaller]

There is no way Chickasha High should be on that list.

I'm not saying that it's a terrible school but if it's one of the best in Oklahoma, the rest are really, really, really, really, really ****ty.

[colleyvillesooner]

I graduated in the first class of #95. Woot!

[BU BEAR]

Here is a letter that appeared in today's Dallas Morning News on the issue. The thought that DISD, one of the worst districts in the nation, could have the top two schools in the country is at best counter-intuitive and at worst a mean, sarcastic joke. Most likely it is a flawed ranking method not based on actual achievement by the students of the schools.
-----------------------



Did DISD beat system?

Re: "DISD Tops the Chart – Best schools now – best urban district later?" Tuesday Editorials.

As a former school board member, I have followed the many problems your newspaper has uncovered over 20 years in DISD, so I was amazed at your glowing editorial about Dallas having the two best schools in the nation.

Does anyone really believe that any district could have both the best and the second-best schools in the country?

Perhaps your editorial writer missed the last paragraph of the original story, where it was noted that Newsweek has been criticized for basing its ratings on how many pre-college tests student take, not how well they perform.

While I can only guess at why the students at these schools took so many tests, my suspicious nature tells me some DISD official found out how to beat the system.

Don Peck, Longview

[Beef]

I graduated in the first class of #95. Woot!
I graduated from #14. Suck it!

[colleyvillesooner]

yuppie

[Chuck Bao]

Okay point taken, BUBEAR. It does confirm what Vaevictis has been saying about the potential to skew the curve by requiring Advanced Placement testing.

Now, I'm curious that since "Talented and Gifted" and "Science/Engineering Magnet" is part of DISD and they do attract a high percentage of the best without costing either their parents or the district extra money, if this should be a problem. And, if this this "cherry picking", is cherry picking fair?

[GottaHavePride]

Number of AP tests taken is TOTALLY about money. Those tests cost around $75 each, unless they've gone up since I was in high school, and that cost is totally on the student's parents (or was at my school). Luckily my parents saw the cost of the tests is a bargain compared to paying for hours of college credit. I took 9 of the damn things and entered college with 45 hours of credit - eliminated virtually all of my gen-ed requirements.

[yermom]

i should have taken more... there were some that weren't offered though

[PhxSooner]

Number of AP tests taken is TOTALLY about money. Those tests cost around $75 each, unless they've gone up since I was in high school, and that cost is totally on the student's parents (or was at my school). Luckily my parents saw the cost of the tests is a bargain compared to paying for hours of college credit. I took 9 of the damn things and entered college with 45 hours of credit - eliminated virtually all of my gen-ed requirements.
I looked up the College Board site, and the tests are up to $83. Cheaper than a semester of tuition, but that's still a good chunk of change for a lot of parents and students.

I took AP Calculus, but not the test. I guess that would have lowered my HS ranking.

And no offense to any greenie weenie grads out there, but how on earth did Edison get on that list? Has it changed in the last few years? And BTW's position as a magnet school that recruits smart kids skews its ranking.

[PhxSooner]

I looked at the Phoenix area schools on the list. I used to live by North Canyon, and it's only on there because of IB. It looks like IB is a big factor, because the AZ schools on the list really make no sense.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Dear Chuck,
What it all mean is that the honkies and chinks who could afford to move to the suburbs did so. In those suburban neighborhoods, free from gangbangers and scads of single-family households, schools somehow functioned properly.

Or, to put it another way: money is nothing, discipline is everything...when it comes to education.

Love,
Tear Down This Wall

P.S. - Suck it, commie libs.

[Soonrboy]

To get into classen, you had to apply. They do not even look at anyone who scored below the 90th percentile on the state testing. So, already, you are working with the leaders of the school...that is, the positive leaders. You are also taking these leaders out of the non-magnet schools.

[colleyvillesooner]

Dear Chuck,
What it all mean is that the honkies and chinks who could afford to move to the suburbs did so. In those suburban neighborhoods, free from gangbangers and scads of single-family households, schools somehow functioned properly.

Or, to put it another way: money is nothing, discipline is everything...when it comes to education.

Love,
Tear Down This Wall

P.S. - Suck it, commie libs.

Your education is top notch then with a vocabulary of "honkies" and "chinks".

[Soonrboy]

Dear Chuck,
What it all mean is that the honkies and chinks who could afford to move to the suburbs did so. In those suburban neighborhoods, free from gangbangers and scads of single-family households, schools somehow functioned properly.

Or, to put it another way: money is nothing, discipline is everything...when it comes to education.

Love,
Tear Down This Wall

P.S. - Suck it, commie libs.

If my choice is to be a commie lib or the *** that statement makes you appear to be....

[mynameisjoe]

At my high school (I graduated from #177) the tests were subsidized by the school, so it ended up costing me about 45 bucks a test. Also, any student that wanted to take an AP test but was of a lower income family had the option of special grants to cover the cost of testing. My AP Music Theory test was actually free of charge since my HS is a member of this musical foundation in the Dallas area that covered the cost of tests for music theory students in its member schools. They're also nice enough to send a check for 100 bucks to anyone who got a 3 or higher (AP Tests are on a 1-5 scale).

[kansascitysooner]

Woot...my highschool is 118!! Sumner Academy!! My graduating class was 118 and i graduated 117th with a 3.65 GPA. It was a tough school but in the long-run it was very good. They were the one of the first schools in KC to start AP and IB classes...I wish I had only taken more of them :(

[garland sooner]

yeah! my high school is number 350. Woot. Go Owls!

Anyhow, I went to GHS because of the International Baccalaureate program there. It paid off. The better your kids do in high school, the better their scholarships will be. It's hard to get scholarships while in college unless you can get the hook up. So tell them to study hard because I hit the jackpot with OU's national merit program. (it also helps if you are a minority like myself. Being a really smart Puerto Rican, I benefited from affirmative action.)