Posted: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:51 AM - 7,570 Readers
By: Laura Heinauer
A small, eclectic high school in Wimberley and several larger campuses in the Del Valle, Marble Falls and Pflugerville districts are being named Central Texas' "most improved" high schools in a study to be released Monday.
The Round Rock district is home to the top schools in each level — Westwood High, Canyon Vista Middle and Spicewood Elementary, according to the study by Children at Risk, a Houston-based nonprofit that ranks schools on a variety of factors.
"We strive to provide the best education environment for all students," Round Rock Superintendent Jesús Chávez said. "This award signifies our progress towards excellence."
The Austin area study was first done in the fall based largely on 2007-08 data. This year's study used the most recent figures available and considered student scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, attendance and participation on college entrance exams and advanced courses.
Schools serving a higher percentage of students from low-income families were weighted to acknowledge the challenges associated with educating that group. But much like the rankings Children at Risk released in the fall, schools with lower numbers of low-income students had higher rankings.
Del Valle High School , KIPP Austin Charter School and the Austin school district's Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders and Pillow Elementary School were among largely low-income campuses that bucked the trend.
"You often see schools with that kind of missionary zeal that I expect you find at a KIPP or a Ann Richards school do very well," said Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk.
For the Austin area, the group for the first time did a special analysis of the schools that had shown the most improvement from the 2006-07 school year to 2008-09. Children at Risk ranked about 5,900 schools across Texas. In the Austin area 47 high schools, 83 middle schools and 208 elementary schools in Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson Counties were included.
The group, which also does similar rankings in the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio metro areas, found that the Austin area stands out for having a relatively large percentage of students attending schools that fall in the top 25 percent of the schools included in the study's rankings.
At the high school level, 41 percent of students attend those top-tier schools. By comparison in San Antonio, 62 percent of the area's high school students attend bottom-tier schools, those ranked in the lowest 25 percent.
This year, researchers say they improved the study by looking at the percentage of students who scored at the "commended" level on the TAKS, instead of those who simply passed the test. They also worked with the Texas Education Agency to follow students who graduated within four years and six years.
"We wanted to be sure we were giving credit to the campuses that were graduating kids later and not penalizing them if a student started there and ended up moving some where else," researcher Caroline Holcombe said. "As for looking at the commended performance, we just thought, 'Let's measure the highest level of performance that we can get at.' "
Round Rock's Westwood beat out Westlake High School in the Eanes district this year as the area's No. 1 high school. Westwood was 20th in the state. On the other end of the spectrum, Austin's Reagan High School received the second lowest high school ranking in the state. Others in the bottom 10 of 1,018 high schools ranked statewide were Austin's Lanier and Travis high schools.
Among the most improved high schools in Central Texas were the Katherine Anne Porter School, a charter school in Wimberley, and Del Valle.
The remaining top 10 most improved high schools were: Marble Falls, Pflugerville, Wimberley, Taylor, Stony Point in Round Rock, Lake Travis, Westlake and John Connally in Pflugerville.
At the middle school level, schools in the Round Rock, Eanes, Leander, Lake Travis and Austin made the top 10, with Canyon Vista Middle School earning the top spot in the region. It was ranked fourth statewide. Two Austin campuses — Martin and Garcia — were in the bottom 20 of 1,720 schools statewide.
Among elementary schools, campuses in Round Rock, Eanes, Georgetown, Austin, Lake Travis and Leander ranked in the top 10. Round Rock's Spicewood ranked first in the Austin area and fourth statewide. Eanes' Barton Creek, Georgetown's Ford and Austin's Lee campuses also were in the Central Texas top 10. In the bottom 100 of 3,126 elementary schools statewide was Austin's Becker.
Lower ranked Austin schools each had student enrollments with more than 90 percent qualifying for the federal free- and reduced-price lunch program. Researchers say the results are also influenced by the district's liberal transfer policy, which has resulted in many students leaving schools with poor reputations. Even so, Sanborn said, issues with transfers or school boundaries should never be an excuse for a failing school.
"We need to be making sure students are getting a good education wherever they go," he said.
