Best Bang for the Buck
Districts, Campuses Honored for Reducing Dropouts, Improving College Readiness
Five Texas school districts and nine high schools were recognized this year by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
for offering exceptional high
school completion and college
readiness programs implemented with High School
Allotment funds.
The High School Allotment
is an annual fund, created by
the Texas Legislature in 2006,
that provides every Texas
school district with $275 per
student in grades 9-12 to
improve high school graduation and college readiness
rates.
During the 2008-09 school
year, school districts and
charter schools were awarded
$327 million in allotment
funds statewide.
Honor Criteria
For the third year, TEA has
recognized districts or schools
that used these funds to
implement exceptional
programs or strategies in the
following areas:
• Preparing students for
college
• Increasing graduation
rates
• Improving curriculum
alignment or preparing
students for successful
transition from middle
school to high school or
from high school to
college
• Implementing innovative
high school completion
and success programs or
strategies
‘Leading the Way’
“These schools are clearly
leading the way to prepare
their students for post-second-ary success,” said Commissioner of Education Robert
Scott.
School districts and
charter schools were invited to
nominate their programs for
recognition for exceptional use
of the allotment funds. Of the
27 districts and campuses
submitting applications for
consideration, the following
applicants—representing large,
medium, and small campuses
and districts—were selected as
examples of exceptional uses
of the allotment.
For strategies used in
preparing students for college
success:
• Birdville ISD
• Jefferson High School,
Jefferson ISD
• Mission High School,
Mission CISD
• Veterans Memorial High
School, Mission CISD
• Paris High School,
Paris ISD
• North East ISD
For improving curriculum
alignment and preparing
students for successful
transitions from high school to
college:
• Del Valle High School,
Del Valle ISD
• Azle ISD
• Northwest ISD
• North East ISD
For programs and strate-
gies used to increase gradua-
tion rates:
• Garland High School,
Garland ISD
• Non-Traditional High
School, Garland ISD
• Palestine High School,
Palestine ISD
For implementation of
innovative high school
completion and success
programs and strategies:
• Skidmore-Tynan High
School, Skidmore-Tynan
ISD
• Lewisville ISD
