By Dane Anderson, Staff Writer
The families and staff at Barton Creek Elementary School have had a lot to celebrate in recent months. In March, Austin Monthly magazine ranked the campus as one of the top schools in Central Texas. Current ranking on SchoolDigger.com for the elementary school, which has an attendance of 397 listed on the site, is 17 out of 3,767 Texas public elementary schools.
“Many organizations and publications devise ratings systems and Eanes ISD consistently fares well based on various measures,” said Nola Wellman, district superintendent. “Evaluations that focus solely on improvement sometimes miss EISD schools because, when you start with extremely high numbers, it is hard to show significant improvement from year to year.”
SchoolDigger ranks schools based on test scores, but BCES principal John Andrews said test scores are only part of the story; it is the way the school earns those test scores that is the key to its success, Andrews said.
“Our teachers work together closely, not only as a full staff, but especially on their grade-level teams,” he said. “There is a feeling of family at the school too. Parent and community involvement is very high. Student and teacher dedication is incredible, as well. We’re pretty non-traditional in several aspects, and we take a more eclectic approach to the teaching strategies we use.”
Andrews said when you bundle everything together at BCES – great teachers and staff, supportive parents, dedicated students, research-based proven teaching strategies, a high level of teamwork and staff buy-in – the result is a group of highly successful students.
Students graduating from BCES go on to the same quality of education in secondary district schools, according to SchoolDigger. The site ranks West Ridge Middle School 10 out of 1,611 public middle schools in the state, and Westlake High School is ranked 21 out of 1,287 public high schools in Texas.
In fact, the entire Eanes school district did well in the SchoolDigger rankings. All nine district schools earned five out of five star ratings on the site, and the district ranked fifth of 1,036 districts analyzed in the state. All district elementary schools earned high rankings. Out of the 3,767 schools rated, Bridge Point ranked 61, Cedar Creek and Eanes Elementary tied for 184 and Valley View ranked 103. Out of the 1,611 Texas middle schools rated by SchoolDigger, Hill Country ranked 15.
SchoolDigger administrators say some experts object to the organization’s use of test scores as the only measure to rank school in the United States. They admit there are more criteria to consider, but say that listing schools by test scores is useful as a tool for parents in conjunction with all subjective and objective criteria.
“Research shows that the quality of teachers and staff is the most important measure of educational success, which is why our district places great emphasis on professional development and teacher support,” Wellman said.