Post by TEAM FALCON on May 11, 2005 20:43:55 GMT 3
Are we still as good as this article lists us??
If not, what has happened over the years for us to drop from the top?
Does anyone have any thoughts?
The Best School Districts In Texas For Latino Students 1996-1999
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The future looks brighter for Latino students in many Texas school districts, according to a study released by the Texas Educational Excellence Project (TEEP) at Texas A&M University.
The report identified the school districts that did best in educating Latino students from 1996 through 1999. Among the top ranked districts were the south Texas district Los Fresnos and the east Texas districts of Pittsburg, Anahuac and Mount Vernon. South Texas, Ferris and Brazosport were also among the top rated districts.
Statewide, from 1996-1999, Latino students made impressive gains on the TAAS pass rate, says TEEP director and study coordinator Kenneth J. Meier.
In 1996, Latino students averaged a 54.2% pass rate compared to a 70.1% rate in 1999. Additionally, Latino students continue to narrow the gap with Anglo students in terms of TAAS pass rates, reducing it by more than 30% in these four years, he notes.
Meier says officials for the Los Fresnos district attribute much of their success to the way the teachers, staff and parents work together. A special focus has been on the continued development of aligned curricula for the entire district.
J. L. Polinard of the University of Texas-Pan American, research associate of TEEP, noted, "While Los Fresnos is a relatively small school and its actions might not necessarily be functional in a large district, several large urban schools also get dramatic results."
Among these districts is Brazosport ISD, which improved its pass rate for Latino students from 73.3 in 1996 to 88.1 percent in 1999. Both attributed part of this increase to activities developed by the district to focus on student performance. Other large schools that rank highly are Aldine, Mission Consolidated, Ysleta and Weslaco.
Nick Theobald, research associate with TEEP said "educational excellence should be transportable."
"These high-performing districts can serve as role models for other districts in Texas," he says. "With the identification of the consistently high-performing districts, a selection of educational leadership is available to other Texas districts."
The top-ranked districts have a wide variety of programs for early diagnosis, curriculum coordination and parental involvement, Theobald notes.
"If specific programs and performances are identified, then they can be transferred to other districts in the state and Latino students overall will benefit," he says.
Meier also singled out the Ferris school district for special mention.
"Ferris is an example of a district that performs very well for both black and Latino students. In our recent analysis of black student performance, Ferris ranked third, while for Latino students it ranks sixth, an impressive performance," Meier said.
The Texas Educational Excellence Project was created to analyze educational policy and outcomes in Texas, with a special focus on minority students, Meier says.
A statistical technique known as multiple regression is used to identify school districts that do a better job of educating Latino students, explains Professor of Liberal Arts Charles Puryear.
"We analyze student performance as a function of inputs into the educational process such as operating expenditures, student-teacher ratios, and various educational policies," says Meier. "Based on the results of this model, we compare how well districts actually perform to how well the statistical model Research Associate with TEEP."
According to Theobald, "The difference, if any, indicates how well districts are doing in educating Latino students."
Polinard says, "As an illustration, the model predicted that the Aldine School district would have an average Latino pass rate of 63.52% from 1996-1999, while the district had an actual pass rate of 74.93%, a 11.41 percentage-point improvement over the prediction."
Based on this method, the top-ranked school district for Latino students in Texas was Los Fresnos Consolidated with a rating of +17.41 percent, followed by Pittsburg with a +15.88 score and Anahuac with a +15.32 score.
To see the entire report, including all ranked school districts, visit the TEEP Web site at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact: Nick Theobald 979-458-0104 email: theobald@polisci.tamu.edu or in South Texas J.L. Polinard 956-381-3341.
9/28/00
35 Best Districts for Latino Students 1996-99
SCORE - 99 SCORE - AVERAGE
1 Los Fresnos Consolidated 17.41 15.00 84.15
2 Pittsburg 15.88 15.69 75.50
3 Anahuac 15.32 16.85 77.93
4 Mount Vernon 14.26 13.09 80.50
5 South Texas 14.09 8.26 90.93
6 Ferris 13.79 14.55 76.43
7 Brazosport 13.70 10.58 83.10
8 San Benito Consolidated 13.24 9.02 74.20
9 Tuloso-Midway 12.43 12.34 73.20
10 White Settlement 12.25 6.06 78.20
11 Terrell 11.93 14.54 76.73
12 Del Valle 11.72 11.56 69.85
13 Aldine 11.41 8.25 74.93
14 Texas City 11.32 9.04 75.82
15 Point Isabel 11.24 10.11 73.95
16 McGregor 10.93 9.75 80.18
17 Coleman 10.55 17.93 74.90
18 Mission Consolidated 10.25 7.03 77.00
19 Columbia-Brazoria 10.04 9.11 77.02
20 Monahans-Wickett?Pyo 9.95 11.71 75.43
21 Angleton 9.53 12.74 79.78
22 Ysleta 9.51 9.55 73.77
23 Alvarado 9.20 7.69 71.05
24 Pearland 9.01 7.95 79.65
25 La Feria 8.84 10.89 75.85
26 Crowley 8.78 6.43 81.50
27 Kaufman 8.36 9.83 69.28
28 Plainview 8.35 9.06 70.60
29 Royse City 8.34 12.16 75.30
30 Mexia 8.30 11.05 71.00
31 Bishop Consolidated 8.25 15.94 72.78
32 Edna 8.17 1.58 72.93
33 Hidalgo 8.16 8.34 70.78
34 Breckenridge 8.07 9.42 71.45
35 Weslaco 8.00 5.86 73.68
AggieDaily
Office of University Relations
Texas A&M University
(979) 845-4641
If not, what has happened over the years for us to drop from the top?
Does anyone have any thoughts?
The Best School Districts In Texas For Latino Students 1996-1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The future looks brighter for Latino students in many Texas school districts, according to a study released by the Texas Educational Excellence Project (TEEP) at Texas A&M University.
The report identified the school districts that did best in educating Latino students from 1996 through 1999. Among the top ranked districts were the south Texas district Los Fresnos and the east Texas districts of Pittsburg, Anahuac and Mount Vernon. South Texas, Ferris and Brazosport were also among the top rated districts.
Statewide, from 1996-1999, Latino students made impressive gains on the TAAS pass rate, says TEEP director and study coordinator Kenneth J. Meier.
In 1996, Latino students averaged a 54.2% pass rate compared to a 70.1% rate in 1999. Additionally, Latino students continue to narrow the gap with Anglo students in terms of TAAS pass rates, reducing it by more than 30% in these four years, he notes.
Meier says officials for the Los Fresnos district attribute much of their success to the way the teachers, staff and parents work together. A special focus has been on the continued development of aligned curricula for the entire district.
J. L. Polinard of the University of Texas-Pan American, research associate of TEEP, noted, "While Los Fresnos is a relatively small school and its actions might not necessarily be functional in a large district, several large urban schools also get dramatic results."
Among these districts is Brazosport ISD, which improved its pass rate for Latino students from 73.3 in 1996 to 88.1 percent in 1999. Both attributed part of this increase to activities developed by the district to focus on student performance. Other large schools that rank highly are Aldine, Mission Consolidated, Ysleta and Weslaco.
Nick Theobald, research associate with TEEP said "educational excellence should be transportable."
"These high-performing districts can serve as role models for other districts in Texas," he says. "With the identification of the consistently high-performing districts, a selection of educational leadership is available to other Texas districts."
The top-ranked districts have a wide variety of programs for early diagnosis, curriculum coordination and parental involvement, Theobald notes.
"If specific programs and performances are identified, then they can be transferred to other districts in the state and Latino students overall will benefit," he says.
Meier also singled out the Ferris school district for special mention.
"Ferris is an example of a district that performs very well for both black and Latino students. In our recent analysis of black student performance, Ferris ranked third, while for Latino students it ranks sixth, an impressive performance," Meier said.
The Texas Educational Excellence Project was created to analyze educational policy and outcomes in Texas, with a special focus on minority students, Meier says.
A statistical technique known as multiple regression is used to identify school districts that do a better job of educating Latino students, explains Professor of Liberal Arts Charles Puryear.
"We analyze student performance as a function of inputs into the educational process such as operating expenditures, student-teacher ratios, and various educational policies," says Meier. "Based on the results of this model, we compare how well districts actually perform to how well the statistical model Research Associate with TEEP."
According to Theobald, "The difference, if any, indicates how well districts are doing in educating Latino students."
Polinard says, "As an illustration, the model predicted that the Aldine School district would have an average Latino pass rate of 63.52% from 1996-1999, while the district had an actual pass rate of 74.93%, a 11.41 percentage-point improvement over the prediction."
Based on this method, the top-ranked school district for Latino students in Texas was Los Fresnos Consolidated with a rating of +17.41 percent, followed by Pittsburg with a +15.88 score and Anahuac with a +15.32 score.
To see the entire report, including all ranked school districts, visit the TEEP Web site at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact: Nick Theobald 979-458-0104 email: theobald@polisci.tamu.edu or in South Texas J.L. Polinard 956-381-3341.
9/28/00
35 Best Districts for Latino Students 1996-99
SCORE - 99 SCORE - AVERAGE
1 Los Fresnos Consolidated 17.41 15.00 84.15
2 Pittsburg 15.88 15.69 75.50
3 Anahuac 15.32 16.85 77.93
4 Mount Vernon 14.26 13.09 80.50
5 South Texas 14.09 8.26 90.93
6 Ferris 13.79 14.55 76.43
7 Brazosport 13.70 10.58 83.10
8 San Benito Consolidated 13.24 9.02 74.20
9 Tuloso-Midway 12.43 12.34 73.20
10 White Settlement 12.25 6.06 78.20
11 Terrell 11.93 14.54 76.73
12 Del Valle 11.72 11.56 69.85
13 Aldine 11.41 8.25 74.93
14 Texas City 11.32 9.04 75.82
15 Point Isabel 11.24 10.11 73.95
16 McGregor 10.93 9.75 80.18
17 Coleman 10.55 17.93 74.90
18 Mission Consolidated 10.25 7.03 77.00
19 Columbia-Brazoria 10.04 9.11 77.02
20 Monahans-Wickett?Pyo 9.95 11.71 75.43
21 Angleton 9.53 12.74 79.78
22 Ysleta 9.51 9.55 73.77
23 Alvarado 9.20 7.69 71.05
24 Pearland 9.01 7.95 79.65
25 La Feria 8.84 10.89 75.85
26 Crowley 8.78 6.43 81.50
27 Kaufman 8.36 9.83 69.28
28 Plainview 8.35 9.06 70.60
29 Royse City 8.34 12.16 75.30
30 Mexia 8.30 11.05 71.00
31 Bishop Consolidated 8.25 15.94 72.78
32 Edna 8.17 1.58 72.93
33 Hidalgo 8.16 8.34 70.78
34 Breckenridge 8.07 9.42 71.45
35 Weslaco 8.00 5.86 73.68
AggieDaily
Office of University Relations
Texas A&M University
(979) 845-4641