After researching the best middle schools in Fort Worth we now have the concrete proof just how great they are. For our first ranking in our school district series, we’ll show you how we calculated the Texas Education Agency’s metrics from the most recent report (2014) to rank each school that met their standards. While the TEA Index is pretty comprehensive, Frog Tutoring decided to evaluate a couple additional factors in the study we found. The following methodology was used in calculation:
- STAAR Expectations (48%): When taking the STAAR test into consideration, we look at the percentage of students who met or exceeded the expectations of the test in a given year.
- TEA Index (48%): We utilized the Texas Education Agency’s 4 areas of academic excellence, which consist of Student Achievement, Student Progress, Closing Performance Gaps, and Postsecondary Readiness.
- Class Size (2%): Student-to-teacher ratio is important for an individual’s learning, so we took this into consideration.
- Online Reviews (2%): We have weighted each school’s popularity score based on Facebook reviews, Greatschools.org reviews, and K12.Niche.org reviews.
If you’d like to see a more in-depth look at the TEA’s metrics for accountability standards, please click here. To determine a definitive ranking for the top middle schools in Fort Worth, we combined these 7 factors to create one number to compare and contrast the success of each middle school.
Let’s take a look at the best middle schools in Fort Worth that make this city a great place to live!
1.McLean Middle School
McLean Middle School is in the the Westcliff area of Fort Worth. There are approximately 1,015 students enrolled at McLean, making it one of the larger middle schools in town. Although the class size is bigger than average (21:1 student-to-teacher ratio), expert attention is given to the students which results in an impressive STAAR test rating. 71% of McLean students meet or exceed the expectations for the STAAR test, which is 13% points higher than the state average. McLean consistently performs well, and very clearly deserves to be recognized for their impressive accomplishments in education.
2. Stripling Middle School
Not too far from the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, our number 2 school sits at the corner of Clover Lane and Bryce Avenue. Stripling Middle School has a student population of about 690, and has earned distinctions in a variety of areas such as Social Studies and Postsecondary Readiness. Stripling also performs very well on standardized exams like the STAAR test, with 64% (7% higher than the state average) meeting or exceeding the expectations of the exam. Stripling is a great middle school in the lineup of schools that Fort Worth has to offer.
3. Kirkpatrick Middle School
Not too far from the Fort Worth airport and just to the east of North Hill Manor is our third middle school on the list. Kirkpatrick Middle boasts an impressive 15:1 student-to-teacher ratio and has earned distinctions in Social Studies and Postsecondary Readiness to name a few. Kirkpatrick also has a pretty high success rate with the STAAR test, with 64% of the student body meeting or exceeding expectations on the test. Kirkpatrick is a great school that earns high marks for it’s performance.
4. Monnig Middle School
William Monnig Middle School is just north of Ridglea Hills, and not too far south from the Ridglea Mall. Monnig has received distinctions in Math, Science, Reading, and Social Studies (in addition to many more). Because of the high quality of education that the student body receives, the STAAR test results are impressive. 63% of Monnig students meet or exceed the expectations of the STAAR test, a figure that bodes well for students in their secondary education and beyond.
5. Benbrook Middle School
Our fifth school on the list is Benbrook Middle School which is located on the far Southwest side of Fort Worth. Benbrook has a large population clocking in at 911 students. The student-to-teacher is about a 19:1 ratio, and the school ranges from 6-9th grade. 56% of Benbrook students meet or exceed the expectations of the STAAR test which is just on par with the state’s average. Benbrook has also earned many distinctions in education (such as Postsecondary Readiness) that makes it one of the best middle schools in Fort Worth.
Frog Tutoring Fort Worth Tutors are proud to present these 5 wonderful educational institutions. If you’d like to find out more about the best middle schools in Fort Worth and their statistics please visit the Texas Education Agency’s website. If you'd like to know more about a specific school's data, please click here.
Note: We wanted to take a second to explain our methodology, and how we arrived at factoring in each area of success for our rankings. First, we made an extensive spreadsheet (which you can take a look at for yourself here), and collected all of the data that we needed for our results. Then we converted each factor into a percentage and multiplied that number by the percentage of how much it’s worth in our ranking system. Let’s look at an example:
McLean Middle School’s TEA Index ranking is 230/400.
- 230 / 400 = 58%
- Since this is 22% of our total, we used the percentage above to measure how much it’s worth in our ranking system. Which in this case is 22% of the total score.
- 58 x .22 = 12.76%
If you’d like to know more about this process, please contact our coordinator, Judith, at judith@frogtutoring.com.