This Dallas high school is making the grade — it’s among the best in US, ranking says
A high school in Dallas is one of the best in the country, according to a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report.
The School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG) ranks 6th in the U.S. and first in Texas, the report said, listing its enrollment at 276 students with minorities making up 62%. The school is also made up of 41% of students who are “economically disadvantaged.”
Two more Dallas schools ranked in the top 20 nationally, with Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School at No. 10 and Science and Engineering Magnet School at No. 17.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, took the top spot.
U.S. News and World Report ranked nearly 18,000 schools using six metrics pertaining to college readiness and state assessments, according to the outlet.
“A great high school educates all students from different social and economic backgrounds, exposing them to challenging coursework on the path to graduation,” the report said, adding that students at the schools ranking highest “demonstrated outstanding outcomes above expectations in math and reading state assessments, passed a diverse array of college-level exams and graduated in high proportions.”
College readiness accounted for 30% of a school’s score; math and reading proficiency accounted for 20% along with math and reading performance; then breadth of college curriculum, underserved student performance and graduation rate each accounted for 10%.
The publication collected information from third-party sources including the Common Core of Data and International Baccalaureate.
Nationally, TAG ranked first on the college readiness index which looks at the portion of a school’s seniors who took and passed Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests, the report said. According to U.S. News, 100% of TAG students pass at least one AP exam.
TAG also ranked first in math and reading proficiency as well as in graduation rate, which the report puts at 100%.
TAG’s lowest rank came in math and reading performance, where it landed in the 147th spot, the report said.