Newsweek gives RRISD top rankings

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - All four of Round Rock Independent School District ’s high schools made the list of Newsweek’s top 1,500 high schools in the country.

This listing makes them part of the top 6 percent of schools in the U.S.

Westwood ranked in the top 100 at 89 and Round Rock High School increased its raking from 810 in 2008 to 579 this year. Also, McNeil received a ranking of 699, and Stony Point ranked 1,315.

The rankings are based on the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests that were given at a school last May divided by the number of seniors who graduated.

All public schools on Newsweek’s list achieved a ratio of at least 1.0, meaning the number of tests given equal the number graduates.

Jay Mathews, who developed the ranking system, said he based his ranking system the way he did based on studies by the U.S. Department of Education which show the best indicator of college graduation was not good grades, but whether or not the student had an intense academic experience in high school.

“AP, IB and Cambridge were important because they were challenging [students could get college credit for good scores) and incorruptible (outside experts wrote and graded exams],” Mathews said. “Just taking the course and the test mattered more than the score because even struggling AP students learned a great deal.”

All for Round Rock schools offer AP courses, while Stony Point and Westwood also offer the IB program