Q: Why does CHILDREN AT RISK rank schools?
A: CHILDREN AT RISK began to rank high schools in 2006 to draw public attention to the dropout crisis facing Houston. Since that time, CHILDREN AT RISK has found the School Rankings to serve as a tremendous advocacy tool for parents to see how their schools rank and in turn demand the best for their children. In addition, the School Rankings Report aims to:
- Serve as an accessible guide for parents, educators, and community members on the performance of local schools.
- Generate conversations about how schools and districts are performing overall in creating college-ready students.
- Encourage the use of data in public school reform.
Q: How was my school ranked? What criteria were looked at?
A: CHILDREN AT RISK looks at a number of indicators to evaluate a campus: fourteen variables at the high school level, ten for middle schools, and fifteen for elementary schools. All data included in the School Rankings is retrieved through the Texas Education Agency.
Q: I can’t find my school on the 2012 School Rankings list. Why wasn’t it ranked?
A: The following criteria are causes for exclusion from the elementary, middle and high school rankings. Campuses that are alternative or disciplinary sites are excluded from the rankings, as are schools for which one or more required data points have been consistently missing over the past four years. Elementary campuses must consist of first through fifth grades and middle schools must consist of seventh and eighth grades. Campuses that do not have the required grade range but have been assigned paired campuses for accountability purposes by the Texas Education Agency (e.g. a K-2 school that feeds directly into a 3-5 school in the same district, as identified by TEA and indicated in AEIS) are eligible for inclusion in the rankings, with criteria for the relevant grades drawn from each campus. In these cases, the campus with the highest grade level (e.g. the campus with grades 3-5 rather than the campus housing grades K-2) is used for the analysis and assigned a rank. Finally, a high school campus must consist of ninth through twelfth grades or have a ninth grade center that directly feeds into a single high schools’ campus (e.g. ninth grade centers in Aldine ISD). In addition, the campus must have graduated its own students for the class of 2010 in order to calculate a graduation rate and be included in the 2012 School Rankings. Campuses that serve elementary, middle, and high school students, or two of these three groups, are evaluated in each ranking for which they qualify.
Q: What is a Tier?
A: CHILDREN AT RISK divides the ranked schools at each level (elementary, middle, and high school) into four Tiers, or quartiles, across the state. In other words, a high school in Tier 1 is among the top 25% of high schools in Texas.
Q: Why is the percentage of economically disadvantaged students included in the School Rankings index?
A: The effects of poverty are pervasive and have been shown to impact how a child is able to learn and perform academically. Research shows that poverty is a predictor of whether or not a student will graduate from high school in four years and will achieve post-secondary academic success. Thus, CHILDREN AT RISK assumes a school that is working with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students must put forth more effort to retain and support these students. For this reason, these schools are rewarded. (It is important to note that high performing affluent schools retain high ranks even after this adjustment.)
Q: How can I support the school ranking work of CHILDREN AT RISK?
A: Our local and statewide rankings are supported by generous donors across the state. If you would like to help us continue to rank and advocate for better public schools you can donate online or by mail (2900 Weslayan, Ste 400 Houston, Texas 77027). You can also support our ongoing advocacy efforts by joining our electronic mailing list.
Q: Who can I contact if my question was not answered?
A: If you have a question that was not answered here, please e-mail Anne Hierholzer, Assistant Director for Research and Special Projects, at ahierholzer@childrenatrisk.org.
