November 28, 2007

News Release

Three Tyler ISD Schools Named Best Public Schools

            Three Tyler ISD schools have been named in the national magazine “TexasMonthly” as the top public schools in Texas. Caldwell Elementary Arts Academy, Andy Woods Elementary and Hubbard Middle School are among the 859 elementary, middle and high schools that were ranked as “high performing” schools in Texas.

            Data is gathered and analyzed by the National Center for Educational Accountability (formerly Just for the Kids). The researchers analyze how students fare in measurable curricular areas: reading, writing, math, science and social studies.  The demographic makeup of the student body is also taken into account. While not every school is measured in every area – the more areas in which a school is deemed higher performing, the better that school is ranked.

            The National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) looked at student test results for the past three years to create this year’s higher-performing schools list. Using NCEA’s own College and Career Readiness (CCR) benchmark as a measuring stick, the top 5 percent of schools are automatically included. The rest are added because they perform better than predicted using statistical analyses. For elementary schools, this means students in all grades perform better on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) than in similar elementary schools in the state. Middle schools and high schools are on the list because their students’ academic growth on the TAKS is higher than predicted based on their previous test scores.

This is the second year for Caldwell Elementary Arts Academy and Andy Woods Elementary School to be named among the Best Public Schools by the “TexasMonthly” magazine.

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