After researching the best high schools in Dallas 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:
- SAT Factor (24%): The SAT was taken into consideration for this ranking out of a possible score of 2400, since the most recent statistics are from 2014 when the SAT was in it’s old format.
- STAAR Expectations (22%): 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 (22%): 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.
- AP Test Factor (18%): We wanted to include the percentage of students that made a score of at least a 3 or better on one or more AP test. We thought this was important to include in regards to college readiness.
- Graduation Rate (10%): Graduation rate was taken into consideration for the purposes of measuring student achievement 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 high schools in Dallas, we combined these 7 factors to create one number to compare and contrast the success of each high school.
1. Woodrow Wilson High School
Woodrow Wilson High School comes in at number one, with an 19:1 student-to-teacher ratio, and a school size of about 1696. In the most recent report card from the Texas Education Agency, Woodrow Wilson was recognized in the following areas of distinction: Top 25% Student Progress, Top 25% Closing Perform Gaps, and Postsecondary Readiness. Because of all of these distinctions, it’s no wonder that 51% of Woodrow Wilson students have met or exceeded the standards of the STAAR test.
2. Hillcrest High School
Hillcrest High School comes in at number two, with an 20:1 student-to-teacher ratio, and a school size of about 1238. In the most recent report card from the Texas Education Agency, Hillcrest was recognized in the following areas of distinction: Reading/ELA, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Top 25% Student Progress, Top 25% Closing Perform Gaps, Postsecondary Readiness. Because of all of these distinctions, it’s no wonder that 40% of Hillcrest students have met or exceeded the standards of the STAAR test.
3. W H Adamson High School
W H Adamson High School comes in at number three, with an 19:1 student-to-teacher ratio, and a school size of about 1441. In the most recent report card from the Texas Education Agency, W H Adamson was recognized in the following areas of distinction: Reading/ELA and Postsecondary Readiness. Because of these distinctions, it’s no wonder that 41% of W H Adamson students have met or exceeded the standards of the STAAR test.
4. W T White High School
W T White High School comes in at number four, with an 18:1 student-to-teacher ratio, and a school size of about 2889. In the most recent report card from the Texas Education Agency, W T White was recognized in the following areas of distinction: Reading/ELA, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Postsecondary Readiness. Because of these distinctions, it’s no wonder that 35% of W T White students have met or exceeded the standards of the STAAR test.
5. Bryan Adams High School
Bryan Adams High School comes in at number five, with an 17:1 student-to-teacher ratio, and a school size of about 1936. In the most recent report card from the Texas Education Agency, Bryan Adams was recognized in the following areas of distinction: Reading/ELA and Science. Because of these distinctions, it’s no wonder that 43% of Bryan Adams students have met or exceeded the standards of the STAAR test.
Frog Tutoring Dallas Tutors are proud to present the best high schools in Dallas based on statistics released by the Texas Education Agency. Please share in the comments any personal experience that you have had in the Dallas Independent School District!
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:
Woodrow Wilson High School’s TEA Index ranking is 235/400.
- 235 / 400 = 58.75%
- 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.
- 58.75 x .22 = 12.93%
If you’d like to know more about this process, please contact our coordinator, Judith, at judith@frogtutoring.com.