North Texas Real Estate Blog

Many families relocating to North Texas real estate first want to know where the best schools are located.  Most of the public schools in our area of Tarrant and Denton counties are highly regarded.  The Texas School Rating System offers public information about each school serving residents of Southlake real estate, Keller TX real estate, Grapevine, Colleyville, Trophy Club, Flower Mound—all the way south past Grand Prairie to Fort Worth.

We’d like to explain a little about the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS).  Each year, a wide range of information is collected and published in their fall reports.  Several important pieces of information are analyzed and tallied for the purpose of the report to assist administrators, teachers, and parents to make the right decisions regarding every student’s education.

Ten numeric values go into the assessments. 

1. Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) results

2. Progress of prior year’s TAKS failures

3. Reading proficiency tests

4. Attendance rates

5. Annual dropout rates

6. Completion rates

7. Completion of advanced coursework

8. Completion of recommended High School program or distinguished achievement program

9. Participation and performance on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Examinations

10. Participation and performance on college admissions tests (SAT and ACT)

A specific school’s information can be compared with other schools in the district and the state.   If parents want to watch how one school does over time, they can look at its Comparable Improvement Report.  In addition, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) assigns each school an accountability rating that considers performance, the data mentioned above, and another set of criteria.  Schools will be classified as Academically Acceptable, Recognized, or Exemplary.

Some schools qualify for a Gold Performance Acknowledgement based on other statistics such as advanced courses, dual enrollment completion, attendance, and college admission test scores.  Other schools are denoted Blue Ribbon Schools, a part of the No Child Left Behind Act.  These schools must apply separately for this honor and be evaluated by experienced educators who visit the campus.

About a month after the AEIS reports are released, each school sends its “report card” home with the students.  They may also be found on Internet.  Parents can search by district, county, region, and state.  However, the ratings may not truly reflect the personality and programs offered in a school or school district because of technicalities.  Parents are best off narrowing the search, visiting the area, meeting the staff, talking to neighbors and, knowing their child’s needs, make a balanced decision about where to relocate.