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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at DAVID W CARTER H S?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,097
High
DISTRICT 1,023 · STATE 796
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DALLAS ISD·NCES 481623001229
David W Carter High School
1819 W WHEATLAND RD, DALLAS, TX 75232 · (214) 932-5700 · Dallas County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,097 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 23% of Texas public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Texas public high schools
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
70 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
91%
1,000 students
DISTRICT 89% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 339 | 31% |
| Grade 10 | 268 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 238 | 22% |
| Grade 12 | 252 | 23% |
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 45% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Based on published attendance-zone data from DALLAS ISD. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
51.0%
TX avg 54.5% . +29.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
46.0%
TX avg 45.3% . +27.0pp since 2020
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 46 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are up about 29 points since 2020, while math scores are up about 27 points.
Performance levels, 2025-26
| Subject | Masters Grade Level | Meets Grade Level | Approaches Grade Level | Did Not Meet Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 4.0% | 47.0% | 21.0% | 28.0% |
| Mathematics | 25.0% | 21.0% | 35.0% | 19.0% |
Share of tested students at each STAAR level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
STAAR results by year
| School year | Reading | Mathematics |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 51.0% | 46.0% |
| 2024-25 | 36.0% | 28.0% |
| 2023-24 | 38.0% | 13.0% |
| 2022-23 | 28.0% | 15.0% |
| 2021-22 | 24.0% | 21.0% |
| 2020-21 | 22.0% | 19.0% |
% Meets Grade Level or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
35.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.8%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 36% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Texas's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like David W Carter High School
David W Carter High School's state test result (35.6% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| David W Carter High School this school | 1,097 | 91.2% | 35.6% |
| Sterling High School HOUSTON | 1,146 | 93.7% | 37.5% |
| Dunbar High School FORT WORTH | 821 | 92.6% | 24.7% |
| La Marque High School LA MARQUE | 737 | 88.5% | 30.6% |
| South Oak Cliff High School DALLAS | 1,560 | 97.9% | 47.6% |
| KIPP Sunnyside High School HOUSTON | 622 | 91.5% | 34.8% |
Matched among Texas high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where David W Carter High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Texas | In Dallas County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.6% | #1,245 of 1,385 | #81 of 96 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #629 of 1,425 ▲ 395 | #37 of 100 ▲ 26 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #931 of 1,425 ▲ 294 | #50 of 100 ▲ 26 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +27.0pp | #212 of 1,184 | #9 of 98 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,097 | #553 of 2,107 | #50 of 133 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #854 of 1,344 | #53 of 101 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.6% | #640 of 1,346 | #38 of 101 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 91.2% | #155 of 1,522 | #28 of 107 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.3% | #455 of 557 | #44 of 55 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,097
-1 (0%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 1,441
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 14.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,097 | 69.7 | 15.7:1 | 91% (1,000) |
| 2023-24 | 1,054 | 73.2 | 14.4:1 | 82% (868) |
| 2022-23 | 1,082 | 69.5 | 15.6:1 | 79% (860) |
| 2020-21 | 1,098 | 77 | 14.3:1 | 77% (850) |
| 2017-18 | 1,135 | 80.2 | 14.2:1 | 73% (831) |
| 2015-16 | 982 | 70 | 14.0:1 | 80% (784) |
| 2010-11 | 1,214 | 88 | 13.8:1 | 74% (900) |
| 2000-01 | 1,704 | 99 | 17.2:1 | 35% (603) |
| 1990-91 | 1,441 | 87 | 16.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for David W Carter High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (1,135 to 1,097); teachers down 13% (80.2 to 69.7).
About David W Carter High School
DALLAS, Texas, is home to David W Carter High School, a mid-sized high school. It reported 1,097 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. That compares with an average of about 796 students for high schools in Texas.
DALLAS ISD enrolls 140,630 students in 240 schools, including David W Carter High School.
At David W Carter High School, 57% of students are Black. Smaller groups are 40% Hispanic. For comparison, the population of Dallas County is roughly 22% Black. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, David W Carter High School scores 52%.
David W Carter High School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.7:1, with 69.7 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among high schools in Texas is similar, at 15.1:1. The school has 91% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Dallas County report 77%.
David W Carter High School holds a C- allk12 Grade, placing it above 23% of Texas public high schools.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, David W Carter High School is within a point of the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 35.6% actual, 34.8% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in Texas.
The county, Dallas County, is where the school is located. Median household income comes to about $76,547, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 36% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 11%. The county has 771 public schools and about 459,645 students.
A public school about 0.6 miles away, Birdie Alexander Elementary School, is the closest to David W Carter High School. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of David W Carter High School. On proficiency, David W Carter High School is behind the 36.0% nearby average, ranking 4th of 8.
David W Carter High School has an NCES locale of City: Large.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment held near 1,097, starting from 1,098. The student-to-teacher ratio went up from 14.3:1 to 15.7:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about open houses, carpools, and field trips at David W Carter High School. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Dallas County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,621,179
Census ACS
Median income
$76,547
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
771
459,645 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DALLAS ISD
- Skyline High SchoolHigh · 3,837 students
- Bryan Adams H S Leadership AcademyHigh · 2,208 students
- W T White High SchoolHigh · 2,204 students
- Sunset High SchoolHigh · 2,164 students
- Moises E Molina High SchoolHigh · 2,006 students
- Woodrow Wilson High SchoolHigh · 1,832 students
Other schools in DALLAS
- Skyline High SchoolHigh · 3,837 students
- Lake Highlands High SchoolHigh · 2,972 students
- Oak Cliff Faith Family AcademyCombined · 2,670 students
- Bryan Adams H S Leadership AcademyHigh · 2,208 students
- W T White High SchoolHigh · 2,204 students
- Sunset High SchoolHigh · 2,164 students
Nearby schools
- Birdie Alexander Elementary School0.6 mi · 259
- Uplift Hampton Prep PS0.8 mi · 712
- Uplift Hampton Prep Middle School0.8 mi · 510
- Uplift Hampton Prep High School0.8 mi · 414
- Umphrey Lee Elementary School0.8 mi · 447
- Winfree Academy Charter School Dallas0.9 mi · 245
Frequently asked questions
About David W Carter High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at David W Carter High School?
David W Carter High School enrolls approximately 1,097 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does David W Carter High School serve?
David W Carter High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at David W Carter High School?
Approximately 15.7:1 students per teacher at David W Carter High School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at David W Carter High School?
At David W Carter High School, the student body is approximately 2% White, 40% Hispanic, 57% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is David W Carter High School in?
David W Carter High School is part of DALLAS ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.