Kempner High School – the Fort Bend ISD high school all http://www.telfair.com students are zoned to attend – is among the top 1,500 public high schools in the nation, according to a new report by Newsweek magazine.
The 1,500 schools on the Newsweek list represent the top 6 percent of the nation’s 27,000 public high schools. They were ranked based on the number of students who take Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests at the school, divided by the number of graduating seniors.
Kempner High School ranked 1,462 on the list.
“We salute all the students, teachers, parents and other community members who have helped Kempner High School achieve this very laudable ranking,” said Heather Gould, marketing director for Newland Communities, developer of the 2,018-acre Telfair community.
All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000 (meaning that they had as many tests as graduates), according to Newsweek researchers.
A school can reach the 1.000 level only if half of its students take one AP, IB or Cambridge test in their junior year and one in their senior year. Kempner High School had an index of 1.018.
The methodology for the Newsweek study rewards schools that increased the overall number of students who take and pass AP, IB and Cambridge tests, instead of only those that encourage a low percentage of high-performing students to participate. According to Newsweek researchers, students perform better in college after having this testing experience even if they score low on some exams.