Aldine schools get mixed results on report card

By BOBBY HORN JR.
A recent report by the Houston-based nonprofit group Children at Risk shows mixed results for Aldine ISD.
While Carver High is among the top compared with its peers, Nimitz and Eisenhower ranked among the lowest schools reviewed.
Children at Risk ranked 144 high schools in the 8-county Greater Houston area, including Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller Counties.
Carver ranked #21 on the list. The next highest was MacArthur at #82. The district’s three other schools ranked worse than 100 on the list: Aldine- #103; Nimitz- #110 and Eisenhower- #118.

High schools were ranked based on Texas Education Agency rankings, percentage of students making “commended” on the TAKS, graduation rates, average SAT and ACT college entrance test scores, student attendance rates and percentage of students in advanced placement classes.
Schools with larger populations of low-income students received adjustments in their overall schools to factor out the effects of poverty on the ranking.
While the smallest of Aldine’s high schools with 897 student, Carver enjoys the highest graduation rate at 83.1%. The closest is MacArthur with 65.3%. Carver is also the district’s only Exemplary campus (MacArthur is the only Recognized campus). Among 1,145 high schools in Texas, Carver ranked #87.
The report also ranked 265 middle schools using slightly different criteria.
Aldine’s top ranked schools on these lists are Grantham at #90 and Hambrick at #103.
Elementary school campuses were only ranked if first through fifth grade data was available or if the TEA paired them with another campus. Because of this, no Aldine ISD elementary schools were ranked.
North Forest shows improvement
While its ranking may not be impressive, #120 in the Houston area and #1,066 in the state, North Forest High can claim some bragging rights. The high school was among 10 spotlighted by Children At Risk as Most Improved High Schools.
The school, they said, showed across the board improvements in nearly every category.
In the middle school group, Elmore ranked #175 while Forest Brook came in at #255.
North Forest’s top elementary, among 589 in the Houston area, is Shadydale at #255. Hilliard ranked lowest at #548.
Other schools
The highest ranked high school on the list was Houston ISD’s DeBakey, while fellow HISD school Jones holds the distinction as the lowest ranked.
Among middle schools, Houston ISD’s T.H. Rogers was #1 and The Prep. Academy Charter School was #265.
KIPP Houston ranked #3, the best of any charter high schools. The KIPP Academy for middle school students ranked #17.