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HISD Has Record Number of Top-Ranked Schools

Superintendent of Schools Abelardo Saavedra (right) congratulates principals throughout the district for academic improvements made in 2006–2007. Pictured (L–R) are: Carnegie Vanguard High School Principal Ramon Moss, Kashmere High School Principal Charlotte Parker, and East Early College High School Principal Joel Castro.

HISD has 83 “Exemplary” or “Recognized” schools this year, a record number of high-rated schools for the district since the start of the new Texas education accountability system, a state report released Wednesday shows.

• Click here to view HISD schools' preliminary 2007 TEA accountability ratings (.pdf)
• Click here to see the complete 2007 TEA Accountability Matrix (.pdf)

School ratings released by the Texas Education Agency show that 94 percent of HISD schools rated met the state standard for performance, earning a rating of at least “Academically Acceptable.”

The number of “Academically Unacceptable” schools in HISD was cut nearly in half this year, from 33 in 2006 to 17.

Two schools that were targeted for intensive support last year because they had been rated as unacceptable the last few years, Kashmere High and John McReynolds Middle, made strong academic progress this year and moved up to an acceptable rating. A third school that had been on the “Academically Unacceptable” list for four years in a row, Sam Houston High, made good progress but not enough to get off the list.

“HISD made strong academic progress this year virtually across the board, and we are very proud of that progress,” Superintendent of Schools Abelardo Saavedra said. “We are committed to creating a college-bound culture at every school, and this kind of academic progress helps to show that children and their families can achieve the dream of college.”

For a school to earn “Exemplary” status this year, at least 90 percent of the students must have passed the TAKS test. A “Recognized” rating means between 75 and 89 percent of students passed.

“Our teachers, our students, and their families worked tremendously hard to continue to improve this year, and we congratulate and celebrate their achievement,” Dr. Saavedra said. “HISD had made strong academic growth the last two years by focusing on teaching and learning, supporting teachers and principals in their work. I’ve said over and over that we’re going to work on teaching and learning and not worry so much about school ratings. The ratings will take care of themselves if we do our work, and I think that’s exactly what is happening.”

Dr. Saavedra also praised the HISD Board of Education for “setting clear expectations for academic improvement and giving schools the resources to get there.”

HISD’s brand-new East Early College High School scored the state’s top rating of “Exemplary” in its very first year as a school. And Oak Forest Elementary earned the biggest jump in ratings, moving from “Acceptable” up to “Exemplary.” Horn Elementary and Energized for Excellence Middle School moved up to “Exemplary” from “Recognized” this year, while the other “Exemplary” schools maintained their top academic performance from last year.

Twenty-eight HISD schools made the jump from “Academically Acceptable” last year to the state’s second-highest rating of “Recognized” this year: Alcott, Allen, Banneker/McNair, Blackshear, Braeburn, Burbank, Burnet, Codwell, Energized for Excellence, Frost, C. Martínez, R. Martínez, Milne, Moreno, Osborne, Peck, Ross, Seguín, Sherman, Travis, TSU/HISD Lab, Wainwright, and Wesley Elementary Schools; Burbank, Hamilton, Kaleidoscope, and Pin Oak Middle Schools; and Eastwood High School.

And one school, Key Middle, made the big jump all the way from “Academically Unacceptable” to “Recognized.”

This year, 26 HISD schools got off the state’s list of “Academically Unacceptable” schools and moved up to “Acceptable”: Benbrook, Bruce, Houston Gardens, Love, MacArthur, and Shearn Elementary Schools; Attucks, Black, Cullen, Henry, Marshall, McReynolds, Sharpstown, Thomas, WALIPP, and Woodson Middle Schools; Jones, Kashmere, Reagan, Sterling, Washington, Westbury, Wheatley, and Yates High Schools; and Newcomer Charter High and REACH Charter High.

The HISD schools rated this year as Academically Unacceptable are: Dogan Elementary, Elrod Elementary, McNamara Elementary, Petersen Elementary, Pleasant Hill Elementary, Rucker Elementary, E.O. Smith Elementary, Dowling Middle, Las Americas Middle, Ryan Middle, Furr High, Sam Houston High, Lee High, Scarborough High, Sharpstown High , CLC Middle and Houston Night High.

Dr. Saavedra made the school-ratings announcements at a rally at HISD headquarters, where he was joined by principals and staff members from “Exemplary” and “Recognized” schools.

The new ratings come after a strong year of progress for Texas’ largest school district:

• Record-high TAKS scores: HISD students set record highs on the TAKS test this past year, making strong progress at nearly every grade level. Across HISD on the English-language TAKS test, 75 percent of schools improved in math and social studies passing rates, 70 percent improved in reading, and 60 percent improved in science. In reading, passing rates this year were up at HISD by eight points for eleventh- graders, seven points for eighth-graders and six points for seventh-graders and English-speaking fifth-graders. In math, passing rates increased by eight points for eleventh-graders, seven points for eighth-graders, and six points for seventh-graders.
• HISD students beat national average: Results from the Stanford test, which compares Houston students with their counterparts around the country, show HISD students beat the national average test scores even though far more Houston children live in poverty.
• SAT scores rise at HISD while national and state averages fall: Scores of HISD students on the important SAT college readiness test also improved strongly while national and Texas averages fell, a new report from the College Board showed during the last school year. HISD’s average SAT reading score increased five points, while the Texas average score fell two points and the national average score fell five points. In math, HISD’s average SAT score was up five points, while the national average fell two points and the Texas average rose four points.
• Record number of passing scores on AP exams: HISD students took and passed a record number of college-level Advanced Placement courses in high school in 2006, a strong indication that more students than ever before in Texas’ largest school district are getting ready for college. HISD students passed nearly 3,900 AP exams in 2006, up nearly 9 percent from 2005, and up an amazing 78 percent from the number of exams passed in 2001.