Region Information
HISD Sweeps Top Three Slots in Area High-School Rankings
HISD campuses took four of the top 10 slots in Children at Risk’s 2009 ranking of the public high schools in the greater Houston area, including the highest three. A total of 30 HISD high schools made the organization’s “honor roll,” which was announced at an April 13 news conference.
HISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School, DeBakey High School for Health Professions, and the High School for Performing and Visual Arts won the equivalent of the gold, silver, and bronze medals, with Challenge Early College High School coming in at number eight on the list of the top 10 Greater Houston high schools. Children at Risk President and CEO Dr. Robert Sanborn said that Carnegie Vanguard’s “curriculum and inventive teaching methods have enabled students to excel and produce astounding results in many areas.”
Dedicated to bettering children’s lives, Children at Risk also named the 10 schools that made the most improvement. Six HISD schools were on that list: Madison High School (2), the High School for Performing and Visual Arts (3), Davis High School (4), Lamar High School (5), Reagan High School (8), and the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (10).
Not counting the top-10 list, the ranking was divided into four tiers. The HISD schools in Tier 1 were Bellaire High School (12), Eastwood Academy (18), Westside High School (20), Lamar High School (22), and the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (28). Washington High School was number 63 in Tier 2, and the district schools in Tier 3 were Jordan High School for Professions (73), Austin High School (80), Waltrip High School (93), Chávez High School (100), and Milby High School (101). Tier 4 included Madison High School (105), Reagan High School (108), Furr High School (109), Davis High School (112), Sharpstown High School (113), Westbury High School (114), Yates High School (119), Lee High School (120), Jones High School (122), Wheatley High School (124), Houston High School (125), Sterling High School (127), Scarborough High School (128), Kashmere High School (130), and Worthing High School (131).
Children at Risk’s rankings are based on the evaluation of 131 public high schools in independent schools districts in Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties. The study measured 14 indicators of performance and college-readiness, including the four-year graduation rate, the number of students who took the SAT or ACT tests, their scores on those tests, Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills passing rates, the percentage of students who passed at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam and who took and received credit for at least one advanced course.
Children at Risk’s complete ranking of 131 high schools in the greater Houston area is posted online here (.pdf).
