Karman Rosen of NerdWallet put out a report Monday on the Best School Districts for Your Buck in Dallas-Fort Worth, showing Carroll ISD as the top-performing school in various categories.
On STAAR advanced scores, Carroll posted a 40%. Only three schools on the list of 105 scored 30 or above (30-Allen, 36-Lovejoy, 31-Frisco). They also topped the average SAT score with 1719 (out of 2400), the next highest score was Plano with a 1689.
Metroplex schools in general rank high in graduation rate. Carroll, among many others, has a 98.8% score in the category. Lovejoy, Pilot Point, Crandall, Lake Dalls and Aubrey all scored a few ticks higher. Slidell and Argyle scored a perfect 100%.
Carroll ties for first on the list of college readiness with Sunnyvale, scoring an 89%. Lovejoy came in a close third with 88%.
With all of that being said, Carroll ranks No. 51 on the list, which categorizes schools for "Best School Districts Worth Your Buck in Dallas-Fort Worth," and is mentioned by name in the introduction:
"But similar to other places in the U.S., top-quality public schools often come with high housing costs. Districts such as Carroll Independent are known for educational excellence, but also come with housing values of $490,600, which is triple the state median," the article says.
The figure from the previous paragraph represents Carroll ISD's 2013 median home value. The article goes on to say:
"Last year, school districts in Dallas-Fort Worth averaged a graduation rate of 93%, with 60% of students testing as “college ready” — compared with the state average of 51%, according to the Texas Education Agency. Of the 25 national blue ribbons awarded for educational excellence in Texas, seven were to schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Last year, 21.3% of residents in the metro area held bachelor’s degrees, ranking second only to Austin," the article says.
Further, the story explains how the score for each district was calculated.
- "Housing cost for each school district was 30% of the total score. Housing cost was calculated by averaging the district index score for median home value and selected monthly homeowner costs (which includes property tax) for the school district. The more affordable the area, the higher the cost score. Data came from American Community Survey, a division of the U.S. Census Bureau.
- "Standardized testing scores were 30% of the total score. District scores from 2012-13 were calculated by equally weighting SAT averages with the percent of students who scored “advanced” on the STAAR tests. All subjects were averaged for students in grades 3 to 11. Data was provided by the Texas Education Agency.
- "College readiness for the class of 2013 was 30% of the total score. College readiness was a combination of a school district's high school graduation rate, which is the percentage of students who graduate in the standard four years, and the percentage of students who were considered “college-ready” in both math and English language arts, according to the Texas Education Agency.
- "Student-to-teacher ratio was the final 10% of the score. Data was provided by Texas Education agency."
The No. 1 district on the list was Allen Independent School District, with a "Bang for your buck score" of 71.75. Its other scores include: Home value: $198,100, STAAR: 30%, SAT average: 1618, Graduation Rate: 98.5%, College readiness: 75% - all lower than Carroll ISD.
So, what are your thoughts? “Bang for your buck” is an interesting way to put things. These are your kids. Not an all you can eat buffet. Tell us what you think in the comments below.