Great Hearts students outscore peers, 2nd only to Shanghai, China in science
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) – Organized every three years to provide comparable student achievement and school effectiveness data, approximately 500,000 students take part in a specialized, triennial international survey evaluating reading, mathematics and science education systems 
worldwide. The performance of Great Hearts Charter Schools, the sister network to one of Texas’ newest charter schools, Great Hearts Texas in San Antonio, indicates they are able to toe-to-toe against their domestic and international peers,
Great Hearts in San Antonio opened its first school in the near downtown area in August, with 570 available seats filled from a total of 2,000 applications. Rising demand from families has prompted Great Hearts to open its second school in San Antonio in 2015.
Thirty-six percent of Great Hearts high school students tested students achieved this best-in-world distinction in mathematics, along with 22% in reading and 15% in science.
The results provide insight into how Great Hearts academies stack up against their domestic and international peers:
The Great Hearts student average on the reading test (577) outscored every country in the OECD group as well as the partner PISA countries.
On the science test, the Great Hearts average (580) was second only to Shanghai, China.
On the mathematics test, the Great Hearts average (570) was surpassed only by Shanghai and Singapore, with Great Hearts Veritas Prep (587) outscoring even Singapore.
Great Hearts’ scores on the reading, mathematics, and science tests were well above the U.S. National Average, with all scoring in the top 10% of participating U.S. schools.
Great Hearts Academy’s 10th grade students outscored peers in every country on the influential, worldwide triennial Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Survey which is used to comparably assess approximately 28 million 15-year-olds globally.
PISA measures the competencies, skills, and knowledge of 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics and science in more than 60 countries around the world. The study is organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) every three years and aims to provide internationally comparable evidence on student achievement and school effectiveness.
World Class Scores
Great Hearts’ National Academic Officer, Dr. Robert Jackson (right,) reports that 247 students from four Phoenix-based Great Hearts Academies (Mesa Prep, Chandler Prep, Scottsdale Prep, and Veritas Prep) participated in the PISA-based Test for Schools.
“Great Hearts students prove that America really can lead the world in academic competence when students have the kind of curriculum, teachers and intellectual rigor Great Hearts Academies provide,” said Daniel Scoggin, Chief Executive Officer of Great Hearts America.
“The new PISA scores show our students and schools are among the worlds’ very highest performers as we continue to drive excellence in each of our academies.”
Great Hearts Texas is a sister network to Great Hearts Arizona and its 19 academies. Great Hearts Texas students did not have the opportunity to participate in this PISA test since its first San Antonio campus opened in August of 2014.
The schools have a history of exceeding private and public schools with outstanding academic outcomes, comprehensive arts and athletics programs, and the moral formation of its students.
The Power of a Liberal Arts Curriculum
The results of the 2012 PISA test demonstrate that Great Hearts schools perform well beyond American averages, but also beyond international averages, Scoggins said. Additionally, Great Hearts students compete with and exceed the success of the best public and private schools in the United States. (see SAT Scores, right.)
The PISA tests also rate individual proficiencies, placing students in one of six levels of achievement. Students at Levels 5 and 6 can be regarded as “world-class knowledge workers of tomorrow,” according to OECD.
Only 10% of all U.S. students perform at this level.
A full liberal arts curriculum emphasizes the importance of all the disciplines, which Great Hearts said explains the success of its students, having exceeded national and international averages in each of the reading, mathematics and science tested areas.
The total enrollment in the Phoenix area is 9,300 students, with an overall demand of 10,600 students currently on a waiting list to enroll.
Ninety-five percent of Great Hearts graduates attend a 4-year college right after they graduate. Students’ average SAT College Board score is 1863, compared to the 1498 national average.
The BBC calls PISA, the “world cup of school standards” and “the world’s most important exam.”