Dallas-Fort Worth dominates this website’s list of the best school districts in Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth area school districts represent eight of the top 10 spots in a new ranking of the state’s best school districts — claiming an additional spot since last year’s rankings.

Niche, a website that regularly analyzes and rates schools based on test scores, graduation rates and other data, also included four other North Texas school districts in the statewide top 25 of its 2021-2022 list.

Here are the area school districts Niche listed:

• No. 3: Highland Park ISD
• No. 4: Carroll ISD
• No. 5: Coppell ISD
• No. 6: Lovejoy ISD
• No. 7: Frisco ISD
• No. 8: Argyle ISD
• No. 9: Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
• No. 10: Allen ISD
• No. 11: Prosper ISD
• No. 16: Plano ISD
• No. 18: Wylie ISD
• No. 24: Sunnyvale ISD

According to Niche, its rankings are determined by academic data — including SAT and ACT scores and state assessments — as well as criteria such as teacher salaries, racial and economic diversity, Niche’s own surveys, and a calculation of how much a school district spends per student. Factors including the level of participation in sports and extracurricular clubs are also given weight.

Highland Park ISD, for example, was highly rated for its graduation rate, its student-teacher ratio and its finances, as well as as its athletics:

Niche ranked it the No. 2 best school in the state for athletes.

It also received a second-place ranking for best districts to teach in the state.

Its diversity rating from Niche, however, “based on racial and economic diversity and survey responses on school culture and diversity from students and parents,” is a C-minus.

Visit Niche’s website to see the individual ratings for each school district.