Those that met the goals were designated acceptable, and those that didn't will be reviewed further. Schools may exempt special education students and those with limited English proficiency from taking the TAAS or from having their scores counted in the school ratings. This has led to charges that schools can manipulate their ratings by exempting marginal students. Exemption rules have been tightened for TAAS tests given this spring, and, as a result, some schools may see their ratings decline in the 1998-99 school year. The Scholastic Assessment Test, usually taken by college-bound high school students, is used by universities nationwide as a primary means of evaluating applicants.
Scores given are the average total on the test, which is divided into math and verbal sections.
A perfect score is 1,600. Some came from individual schools or districts. Certain specialty schools, and programs operated for districts by private contractors, are not included in the listings because their students and programs are not comparable with those in school systems generally.