Top Houston Public High Schools by SAT Scores

The top Houston-area public high schools are Carnegie Vanguard, DeBakey, and Clements.

The SAT is an almost ubiquitous part of the American educational landscape, serving as a critical metric for gauging college and career readiness. Its influence extends to educators and institutions as well, offering valuable data that can guide curricular and instructional enhancements. While the test is divided into Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) sections, what is particularly noteworthy is the strong correlation between SAT scores and college performance. Students who meet or exceed the SAT benchmarks in these sections (480 in ERW, 530 in Math) have a 75% chance of earning at least a ‘C’ grade in relevant first-semester college courses. This not only underscores the SAT’s role in academic preparedness but also serves as a compelling lens through which to evaluate the efficacy of Houston’s top high schools in preparing students for higher education.

(This article is about a previous year. Click here for the most recent report.)

The tables below show three sets of numbers:

  • Composite is a combination of EBRW and Math for a maximum of 1600 points
  • EBRW stands for Evidence Based Reading and Writing, with a maximum score of 800 points
  • Math is scored out of a maximum of 800 points

Top Houston ISD High Schools by SAT Score

The best high schools in Houston Independent School District (HISD) are Carnegie Vanguard, DeBakey, and Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. “Best” here refers to the performance of each school’s students’ performance on the SAT, which all 11th grade students in HISD can take for free every year in March.

This analysis uses the most recent data available. The HISD data are for the Class of 2022 and can be found on the Research and Accountability page on the HISD website.

Looking deeper into the data reveals some interesting facts:

At first glance, HISD seems to be outperformed by its state and national peers. However, the numbers should be viewed in the context of family income, which has been shown to be inextricably linked to test scores. Nearly 80% of HISD’s students qualify for free or reduced meals, which is a primary measure of family income in public schools. By comparison, this number is 57% for all Texas students and just 46% for all students nationwide.

wdt_ID School Composite ERW Math
1 Austin HS 862 435 427
2 Bellaire HS 1141 576 565
3 Carnegie Vanguard HS 1375 683 692
4 Challenge Early College HS 1098 565 533
5 Chavez HS 927 465 462
6 DeBakey HS 1280 633 647
7 East Early College HS 1070 538 532
8 Eastwood Academy HS 1095 546 549
9 Energy Institute HS 1057 535 522
10 E-STEM Southeast HS 899 451 448
School Composite ERW Math

Top Greater Houston Area High Schools by SAT Score

When we expand the list to include all public high schools in the Greater Houston area, Clements (Fort Bend), Seven Lakes (Katy), and Glenda Dawson (Pearland) take up the #3, #5, and #6 spots, respectively.

It is important to note that the most recent available data for the Greater Houston area are for the Class of 2021. The data set can be downloaded from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website.

A few things one understands from the data:

  • The TEA provides data on participation rate, so that column has been added below.
  • The average composite scores for the Greater Houston area, for Texas, and nationally are as follows:
  • Out of the 213 schools included in the analysis, 100 (47%) scored higher than the state average, and 57 (27%) scored higher than the national average. However, if you exclude schools with fewer than 50% participation rate, the number of schools that score higher than the state average is 48 (23%), and the number of schools that score higher than the national average is 39 (18%).
wdt_ID School Name District Name Composite ERW Math Participation Rate (%)
1 Alvin HS Alvin ISD 1008 506 501 37
2 Manvel HS Alvin ISD 980 494 486 61
3 RISE Academy Alvin ISD 831 414 417 92
4 Shadow Creek HS Alvin ISD 1050 530 521 84
5 Angleton HS Angleton ISD 990 507 483 40
6 Danbury HS Danbury ISD 1044 519 525 26
7 Brazosport HS Brazosport ISD 914 464 450 47
8 Brazoswood HS Brazosport ISD 1042 534 508 45
9 Brazos Success Academy Brazosport ISD 829 422 407 20
10 Sweeny HS Sweeny ISD 968 494 474 82
11 Columbia HS Columbia-Brazoria ISD 983 501 482 36
12 Pearland HS Pearland ISD 1105 560 545 49
13 Glenda Dawson HS Pearland ISD 1210 603 607 68
14 Robert Turner College And Career HS Pearland ISD 1093 552 541 49
15 Anahuac HS Anahuac ISD 993 491 502 46
16 Barbers Hill HS Barbers Hill ISD 1054 523 531 75
17 Lamar Cons HS Lamar CISD 914 460 454 90
18 B F Terry HS Lamar CISD 891 452 439 94
19 Foster HS Lamar CISD 1033 521 512 94
20 George Ranch HS Lamar CISD 1074 543 531 94
21 Fulshear HS Lamar CISD 1029 519 510 98
22 Needville HS Needville ISD 1001 514 488 73
23 Dulles HS Fort Bend ISD 1128 558 570 99
24 Willowridge HS Fort Bend ISD 866 436 430 50
25 Clements HS Fort Bend ISD 1278 625 653 82
School Name District Name Composite ERW Math Participation Rate (%)

 

For more information, and to secure top-notch tutoring for the SAT, contact General Academic today.

Author

  • Samuel Pearson

    Samuel Pearson is General Academic's Associate Manager. He graduated from Rice University in 2017 with a B.A. in Cognitive Science & Visual and Dramatic Arts. Before joining General Academic's team in 2023, Samuel was a high school teacher and technical director at a premier independent school in Houston.

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