South Arlington Wakefield High US News Ranking is so poor they didn't assign them a number

[Anonymous]

All the hype for South Arlington goes out the window with results like this

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/arlington-county-public-schools

[Anonymous]

Really? The math and reading scores aren't so far off of W-L. I'll give your that the "college readiness" scores are lower, but when you consider the demographics of the school, it looks like they are doing a pretty good job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the hype for South Arlington goes out the window with results like this

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/arlington-county-public-schools

What hype? All anyone has ever said is that Wakefield has a very diverse (racially and economically) student body and that, per usual, shows up in test scores that are the basis for most rankings. (That said, there are 700 kids there who are NOT low-income, it's not like some of the elementary schools where there are only 100 or so families that aren't poor.) Regardless of the "ranking" it is still a good school and a talented, motivated kid from any background can get a great education there. They offer the full complement of challenging courses in the high school program of studies available to any Arlington student.

[Anonymous]

Definitely. Stay away. Stay very far away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? The math and reading scores aren't so far off of W-L. I'll give your that the "college readiness" scores are lower, but when you consider the demographics of the school, it looks like they are doing a pretty good job.

Being comparable to W-L is hardly an achievement. You need to compare the school w/ Yorktown or FCPS.

[Anonymous]

The US News methodology either includes or kicks out schools from year to year based upon how various sub-groups do on state tests. One year George Mason in Falls Church was #2 in the state, and the next year it was unranked. this year it is again highly ranked. Last year, no APS school was ranked, and this year both Yorktown and W-L are in the top 20 in the state. And so on. It is somewhat ironic that, last year, when APS schools were unranked, some people in Arlington swore that APS had "opted out" of the rankings, rather than simply acknowledge that the US News methodology might kick out schools based on how certain sub-groups performed on SOLs a few years earlier.

[Anonymous]

W-L AP tested 67%, 38% passed
Wakefield AP tested 45%, 25% passed

The AP pass rate at those schools is the same--about 56%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the hype for South Arlington goes out the window with results like this

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/arlington-county-public-schools

What hype? All anyone has ever said is that Wakefield has a very diverse (racially and economically) student body and that, per usual, shows up in test scores that are the basis for most rankings. (That said, there are 700 kids there who are NOT low-income, it's not like some of the elementary schools where there are only 100 or so families that aren't poor.) Regardless of the "ranking" it is still a good school and a talented, motivated kid from any background can get a great education there. They offer the full complement of challenging courses in the high school program of studies available to any Arlington student.

+1 No one ever said Wakefield was filled with the county's highest performers. What has been said is that the opportunity to succeed is available at every APS.

Seriously, OP - "hype"? Do you have so little going on in your own life that you have to start this type of intentionally misleading/inflammatory thread?

[Anonymous]

take it up to the school board if it concerns you that much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The US News methodology either includes or kicks out schools from year to year based upon how various sub-groups do on state tests. One year George Mason in Falls Church was #2 in the state, and the next year it was unranked. this year it is again highly ranked. Last year, no APS school was ranked, and this year both Yorktown and W-L are in the top 20 in the state. And so on. It is somewhat ironic that, last year, when APS schools were unranked, some people in Arlington swore that APS had "opted out" of the rankings, rather than simply acknowledge that the US News methodology might kick out schools based on how certain sub-groups performed on SOLs a few years earlier.

Wakefield is unranked because their population of minorities under performed compared to the state average.

[Anonymous]

I bet if you compared the white kids to the white kids at Yorktown or W-L and the non-FARMS kids to the same, and the non-ESL kids to their counterparts, the differences would be fairly insignificant. And Arlington county schools in general are still better than most counties in the state or the nation. I chose a house in Yorktown's area, but I certainly understand why others choose differently. (including the fact that you can't find anything decent in N. Arl below a certain price point that's out of reach for many.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet if you compared the white kids to the white kids at Yorktown or W-L and the non-FARMS kids to the same, and the non-ESL kids to their counterparts, the differences would be fairly insignificant. And Arlington county schools in general are still better than most counties in the state or the nation. I chose a house in Yorktown's area, but I certainly understand why others choose differently. (including the fact that you can't find anything decent in N. Arl below a certain price point that's out of reach for many.)

I never understood this argument, you are saying take away all the low performers and all schools are the same?

FACT: Wakefield student under perform regardless of demographic (minority, disadvantaged and higher SES).

[Anonymous]

The white kids at Wakefield and the non-poor kids (of any race) are doing quite well on SOL tests compared to students across the state. Their pass rates put them in an "8" out of "10" -- that's as good as many of the high schools in FCPS (for the same groups). The education is available at Wakefield -- unfortunately, the school population is heavy on poor kids and minority kids --- and it's a matter of simple statistics that the overall test scores averages for the school are being dragged down. But, it seems that some of the kids at this school ARE in fact learning. I couldn't find Wakefield's SAT scores broken out by race, but I'm sure it reflects the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The white kids at Wakefield and the non-poor kids (of any race) are doing quite well on SOL tests compared to students across the state. Their pass rates put them in an "8" out of "10" -- that's as good as many of the high schools in FCPS (for the same groups). The education is available at Wakefield -- unfortunately, the school population is heavy on poor kids and minority kids --- and it's a matter of simple statistics that the overall test scores averages for the school are being dragged down. But, it seems that some of the kids at this school ARE in fact learning. I couldn't find Wakefield's SAT scores broken out by race, but I'm sure it reflects the same thing.

Not hard to find: http://www.arlington.k12.va.us/cms/lib2/VA01000586/Centricity/Domain/12/2013%20SAT%20ACT%20scores/SAT-4%202013.pdf

White students at Wakefield definitely have lower SAT scores than at W-L and Yorktown.

[Anonymous]

I thought Arlington deliberately doesn't participate in the US News survey.