HQA Achievements – Houston Quran Academy

1- The Holy Quran Memorization Program

At HQA, we try our best to bring a comprehensive memorization program that is not limited to just mere and blind memorization; our program is much deeper than that.

It plays an integral part in the preparation of our students to be the future scholars and leaders of Islam in this country. Here is a description of what makes HQA Quran Memorization Program unique and different from other memorization programs.

HQA puts a strong emphasis and focus on understanding in all the domains of its curriculum. Hence, a solid understanding of the Holy Quran is a must for this task. Each student is tested daily on the meaning of what he or she is going to memorize before he or she is tested on memorization. This step also strengthens and enhances the process of memorization. This guarantees that the understanding is achieved before the memorization starts.

A strong emphasis is placed on the correct pronunciation of each letter and each word of the Quran, i.e., on phonics (مخارج الحروف). A good number of Muslims who read and memorize the Holy Quran have words and verses pronounced incorrectly because they were not corrected the first time they learned it; and in some cases, they inherited the problem from their teachers. At HQA, we assure parents that their children will not have this problem.

Once the student finishes understanding the meaning of the Surah and memorizing it, he or she is required to look deeply into the Surah and analyze it to find out the main lessons that the Surah is teaching. For example, the lesson in Surat Ashams is as clear as the sun as the name of the Surah indicates.

Analyzing the Surah shows that it has the Qasam, the Answer to the Qasam, and an example. The Qasam is by the sun and the other things Allah swears by in the Surah. The answer to this Qasam is the verse that says قد أفلح من زكاها وقد خاب من دساها, which means successful indeed is the one who elevates himself or herself and unsuccessful indeed is the one who does not.

The rest of the Surah is an example about Thamoud and how they failed to do so. Once the student does this analysis to find the lesson or lessons of the Surah, he or she is asked about how he or she would implement these lessons in his or her personal life, which is the practice of the lessons of the Surah. This in turn will affect positively the personality of the child.

2- Academic Performance

HQA is a K-12 accredited school that combines the academics with the Quran memorization and understanding in a unique way.

Results so far are outstanding. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which is the southern branch of AdvancEd – the most prestigious accreditation organization in the United States and in the World. All schools accredited by AdvancEd are well recognized by the Department of Education of the United States. All courses and credits are accepted and recognized in any school in the United States and the world. With that in mind, let us look into the academic part first and then into the Quran memorization and the Islamic culture after that.

The academic performance is measured through three means.

In general, the academic performance is measured through three means, the school’s own academic monitoring system, the state tests, and the national (federal) tests. Since the school tests may be biased, the focus should be more on the state and federal tests in order to be objective. The state test in Texas is called STAAR. It is a content-driven test that is designed to measure the student’s ability to master the curriculum offered through the Texas public-school system.

IOWA test of Basic Skills (ITBS)

The federal or national test HQA is using for its elementary, middle and high school is the IOWA test of Basic Skills (ITBS), which measures the skills students develop over a period of time. It is not content or curriculum-driven; it focuses more on measuring the development of academic skills, especially the critical-thinking skills.

One of the powerful tools the IOWA test offers is that it places each student who takes the test in a certain percentile rank, which compares the student’s score to that of other students in the nation.

Thus, if the overall student’s score is the 90th percentile, it means that he or she is in the lower end of the top 10 percentiles in the nation. The test results also give each school the average score for each grade level in different areas such as math, English, reading and other areas. The average for the entire grade levels in the elementary and middle school can give the school a good indicator of where the school stands. If a school’s average score is in the 50th percentile, then the school is average. The higher the average score, the better the school is. Normally, good schools achieve scores that are in the 70th percentile and above.

Most schools fall between the 50th percentile and the 65th percentile.

Good schools with strong academic programs manage to achieve scores that are higher than the 80th percentile. HQA average score for the whole school for the last five years has been maintained between the 87th and 89th percentile (student norms). This ranks the school average NPR (school norms) between the 97.3 and the 98.4 percentile, which means that HQA is ranked in the top two percentile in the nation among schools who took the IOWA test in the last five years. These results are shown in the next few pages with more analysis.