Thomas Jefferson High School drops to 5th in latest US News ranking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The concerns are particularly heightened given the notable decline in the standing of Thomas Jefferson High School, a school that has traditionally been rated the #1 school in the country, but is now positioned at #5 and seemingly continuing on a downward trajectory. This is a major concern and point of discussion within our community.

The messages and emails from the school board and superintendent predominantly emphasize equity and LGBTQ+ concerns, with education often only mentioned in closing, causing unrest among community members. There is a prevailing sentiment that the fundamental aim of education should be to equip students with necessary skills, particularly in areas such as STEM, which are essential for securing future employment and achieving success.

While the significance of addressing equity and LGBTQ+ rights is unquestionable, they are considered by many as predominantly social issues. Some community members feel that such topics, and others like gender studies, should not overshadow the primary academic mission of our schools and are best addressed outside the school setting or within the family, according to individual family values and beliefs.

The decline in ratings, especially for a traditionally top-ranked school like Thomas Jefferson, signifies an urgent need to recalibrate our focus and priorities. Restoring a balanced approach that foregrounds core educational objectives, while also respecting the diversity and unique needs of every student, is critical to reversing the current trend and upholding the educational excellence that Fairfax County schools are known for.

FCPS policy and decision-making should not be beholden to the arbitrary publications of a magazine media company that profits off of clicks and advertisements, i.e., US News & World Report. That is the biggest problem here. FCPS should instead be measured against other standardized processes like AP, IB, SAT, NAEP, and PISA scores. "Ratings" need to go jump off a cliff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The concerns are particularly heightened given the notable decline in the standing of Thomas Jefferson High School, a school that has traditionally been rated the #1 school in the country, but is now positioned at #5 and seemingly continuing on a downward trajectory. This is a major concern and point of discussion within our community.

The messages and emails from the school board and superintendent predominantly emphasize equity and LGBTQ+ concerns, with education often only mentioned in closing, causing unrest among community members. There is a prevailing sentiment that the fundamental aim of education should be to equip students with necessary skills, particularly in areas such as STEM, which are essential for securing future employment and achieving success.

While the significance of addressing equity and LGBTQ+ rights is unquestionable, they are considered by many as predominantly social issues. Some community members feel that such topics, and others like gender studies, should not overshadow the primary academic mission of our schools and are best addressed outside the school setting or within the family, according to individual family values and beliefs.

The decline in ratings, especially for a traditionally top-ranked school like Thomas Jefferson, signifies an urgent need to recalibrate our focus and priorities. Restoring a balanced approach that foregrounds core educational objectives, while also respecting the diversity and unique needs of every student, is critical to reversing the current trend and upholding the educational excellence that Fairfax County schools are known for.

FCPS policy and decision-making should not be beholden to the arbitrary publications of a magazine media company that profits off of clicks and advertisements, i.e., US News & World Report. That is the biggest problem here. FCPS should instead be measured against other standardized processes like AP, IB, SAT, NAEP, and PISA scores. "Ratings" need to go jump off a cliff.

I understand and share your concerns. It is indeed concerning if FCPS is seen to be prioritizing policies that appear to reduce the focus on standardized academic excellence, as evidenced by the modifications to the Thomas Jefferson entrance process. This new process, by opting to select the best students from each school, regardless of the overall academic standing of that school, rather than selecting the overall best students from across the county, may be perceived as compromising the pursuit of excellence that the school is known for.

I do agree that relying solely on magazine rankings can be flawed and that standardized processes and scores such as AP, IB, SAT, NAEP, and PISA are better reflections of academic achievement and should form the basis for educational policy decisions. However, the sliding in these more substantive measures of educational outcomes is also worrying and denotes a trend that needs urgent rectification.

The focus of FCPS should ideally be on maintaining high educational standards and fostering an environment that encourages learning and academic excellence, while simultaneously ensuring a fair and inclusive education system that caters to the diverse needs of all students in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop the offtopic spam. The OP has already been thoroughly explained as tiny meaningless random shift in OLD metrics. "Top 5 school in the country means the school board sucks" ain't it chief.

+1

Stopping spamming threads to push your nutter candidates.

A tiny, precedented shift in rankings is no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What really happened? How much of this is FCPS' own doing?

https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/thomas-jefferson-high-school-drops-to-5th-in-latest-us-news-ranking/article_b4ce2886-4692-11ee-a98b-4b0dbcb840c2.html

Once the admissions process was corrupted by all the prep centers making average kids appear gifted it was just a matter of time.

Not just prep centers, middle school teachers and parents were corrupting students by enabling them learn advanced math, science, and English. With merit criteria replaced by a farcical essay, a tacit insertion of ethnicity is the ticket to get in.

Sorry to bust your bubble but TJ was/is ranked in the top 1-3 for the most of the past 20 years. First time TJ went down so significantly in the past 20 years.

Wrong. TJ was ranked many times outside the top 3 in the last 20 years, in fact TJ has ranked in the top 1-3 only 5 times in the last 20 years.

+1

Not that Republicans care much for facts, but the fact is this ranking just means that TJ has been doing as well as it has in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The concerns are particularly heightened given the notable decline in the standing of Thomas Jefferson High School, a school that has traditionally been rated the #1 school in the country, but is now positioned at #5 and seemingly continuing on a downward trajectory. This is a major concern and point of discussion within our community.

The messages and emails from the school board and superintendent predominantly emphasize equity and LGBTQ+ concerns, with education often only mentioned in closing, causing unrest among community members. There is a prevailing sentiment that the fundamental aim of education should be to equip students with necessary skills, particularly in areas such as STEM, which are essential for securing future employment and achieving success.

While the significance of addressing equity and LGBTQ+ rights is unquestionable, they are considered by many as predominantly social issues. Some community members feel that such topics, and others like gender studies, should not overshadow the primary academic mission of our schools and are best addressed outside the school setting or within the family, according to individual family values and beliefs.

The decline in ratings, especially for a traditionally top-ranked school like Thomas Jefferson, signifies an urgent need to recalibrate our focus and priorities. Restoring a balanced approach that foregrounds core educational objectives, while also respecting the diversity and unique needs of every student, is critical to reversing the current trend and upholding the educational excellence that Fairfax County schools are known for.

+1 Hit nail on the head. spot-on and completely on target, without any ambiguity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop the offtopic spam. The OP has already been thoroughly explained as tiny meaningless random shift in OLD metrics. "Top 5 school in the country means the school board sucks" ain't it chief.

Yes, if the board had only acknowledged the test buying sooner, they could kept standards at TJ higher, but now it's dropped because all the test buyers were admitted. They finally addressed this by returning to a merit-based system so guessing that TJ will be back on top in no time.

You dont make sense. For buyers to exist, there has to be a seller with a list of products. Who is this seller? are the products listed anywhere other than in your imaginary conspiracy world?

You sound new here. The test question copying was not illegal but was unethical - rather than punish students for it, they changed the admissions. (This was the same thing they've done with AAP admissions, fwiw. They tried changing the test, first. Then they eventually changed the admissions by formally changing the pool criteria.)

I still dont get it. how there be testing buying if there is no seller?