Newsweek high school rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do know that Newsweek is a shell of its former self, right? The branding rights were sold to some no-name media group that also owns Latin Times. It no longer has any connection to the Post or even The Daily Beast. Its ratings are of no great importance.

Dismiss USNWR as well if you would dismiss Newsweek but many people look to USNWR rankings. At least Newsweek was a better news magazine than USNWR ever was.

I don't know of anyone who actually takes USNWR or Newsweek seriously as arbiters of school quality. It's just absurd.

Yet, many high schools and parents are upset if their HS are not ranked highly and many colleges (including GW and others) go to great lengths (even manipulating data, misrepresentation etc.) to have higher rankings. For colleges, moving up (from say 28 to 21) results in significantly more applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These MD schools are in the top 500 and they don't even include MCPS really top 100 students that are equal or better than TJ students because the school MCPS sends them to is Blair which is a large school in a low SES area.

Blair students are not "better" than TJ students.

Yeah, I noticed that too. There are 15 million high schoolers in the US. The top 1% could fill a thousand schools. There are smart kids in every school, and many many schools have a large number of very smart kids. It doesn't make any of them -- the kids or the schools -- "better" than any others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These MD schools are in the top 500 and they don't even include MCPS really top 100 students that are equal or better than TJ students because the school MCPS sends them to is Blair which is a large school in a low SES area.

Blair students are not "better" than TJ students.

Yeah, I noticed that too. There are 15 million high schoolers in the US. The top 1% could fill a thousand schools. There are smart kids in every school, and many many schools have a large number of very smart kids. It doesn't make any of them -- the kids or the schools -- "better" than any others.

+1000. The obsession with these absurd rankings is bizarre in such a highly educated area as DMV.

[Anonymous]

I take a somewhat sordid pleasure in noting that my northern NJ HS is listed and none of the "premium" FCPS schools are on the list at all. Comparing apples to oranges of course, since the eras were totally different, but my HE was actually pretty good in the 80s--the matriculation list for the top 10% of my class would be pretty enviable for any of the northern FCPS schools, let alone other high schools. Don't think my old HS has ever made it onto the USNWR list, either. Funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These MD schools are in the top 500 and they don't even include MCPS really top 100 students that are equal or better than TJ students because the school MCPS sends them to is Blair which is a large school in a low SES area.

Blair students are not "better" than TJ students.

Yeah, I noticed that too. There are 15 million high schoolers in the US. The top 1% could fill a thousand schools. There are smart kids in every school, and many many schools have a large number of very smart kids. It doesn't make any of them -- the kids or the schools -- "better" than any others.

+1000. The obsession with these absurd rankings is bizarre in such a highly educated area as DMV.

Maybe they are "obsessed" with rankings/prestige of schools because they are highly educated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These MD schools are in the top 500 and they don't even include MCPS really top 100 students that are equal or better than TJ students because the school MCPS sends them to is Blair which is a large school in a low SES area.

Blair students are not "better" than TJ students.

Yeah, I noticed that too. There are 15 million high schoolers in the US. The top 1% could fill a thousand schools. There are smart kids in every school, and many many schools have a large number of very smart kids. It doesn't make any of them -- the kids or the schools -- "better" than any others.

+1000. The obsession with these absurd rankings is bizarre in such a highly educated area as DMV.

It makes perfect sense. Highly educated people who went to top schools. Reflects the competitive nature of this area.

[Anonymous]

TJ fans love to claim they are number 1. It is worth pointing out that these Blair magnet kids 12/100 of them were Intel award winners and about 30/100 National Merit Semifinist. However, they never are counted in the number 1 or top 500 schools because unlike every other magnet school (TJ, Stuyvesant etc) they are not in a whole school magnet but instead liberal MCPS has these kids in a low SES school to try to pull up the numbers of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take a somewhat sordid pleasure in noting that my northern NJ HS is listed and none of the "premium" FCPS schools are on the list at all. Comparing apples to oranges of course, since the eras were totally different, but my HE was actually pretty good in the 80s--the matriculation list for the top 10% of my class would be pretty enviable for any of the northern FCPS schools, let alone other high schools. Don't think my old HS has ever made it onto the USNWR list, either. Funny.

Fairfax parents need to have their bubble burst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Often, schools and school districts will refuse to participate in this sham. That's likely what has happened with most VA schools.


Looks like FCPS participated since TJ is listed.

Soon they will not be participating.

.. because they are not ranked very high. It's the "If I'm not gonna win, then I'm not playing" attitude.

Isn't fcps ranked fairly high on the May list that was not adjusted for SES or at risk populations?

It makes sense that fcps would not fair as well on this August list as they are very affluent and their biggest minority popularion (asians) are far from at risk.

I thought Hispanics were the biggest minority population in fcps? Also, there is another index that doesn't look at SES of the student body. FCPS doesn't fair that well on that list, either.

[Anonymous]

Instead of focusing on TJ vs Blair Magnet, let's focus on why MCPS has 5 top 500 schools and FCPS doesn't...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ fans love to claim they are number 1. It is worth pointing out that these Blair magnet kids 12/100 of them were Intel award winners and about 30/100 National Merit Semifinist. However, they never are counted in the number 1 or top 500 schools because unlike every other magnet school (TJ, Stuyvesant etc) they are not in a whole school magnet but instead liberal MCPS has these kids in a low SES school to try to pull up the numbers of the school.

+1 I don't think you can compare TJ to Blair for this very reason. One is a complete magnet test-in school. The other is not. If you only pulled out the magnet kids from Blair and compared to TJ, that would be a more fair comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Instead of focusing on TJ vs Blair Magnet, let's focus on why MCPS has 5 top 500 schools and FCPS doesn't...

Or why those MCPS schools show up on both lists, while the FCPS standouts only show up on one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ fans love to claim they are number 1. It is worth pointing out that these Blair magnet kids 12/100 of them were Intel award winners and about 30/100 National Merit Semifinist. However, they never are counted in the number 1 or top 500 schools because unlike every other magnet school (TJ, Stuyvesant etc) they are not in a whole school magnet but instead liberal MCPS has these kids in a low SES school to try to pull up the numbers of the school.

The High Schools With The Highest SAT/ACT Scores In The Nation

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Annandale, Va.

TJHSST was established in 1985 as a result of a partnership between businesses and schools created to improve STEM education. With an average SAT score of 2220, TJHSST students go on to such prestigious schools like University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Yale, just to name a few.

2. The Harker School in San Jose, Calif.

This private prep school is home to students from kindergarten to senior year of high school. Students at Harker typically have a GPA range between 3.6 and 3.9 and an average SAT score of 2210.
...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/schools-highest-sat-scores_n_4654077.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ fans love to claim they are number 1. It is worth pointing out that these Blair magnet kids 12/100 of them were Intel award winners and about 30/100 National Merit Semifinist. However, they never are counted in the number 1 or top 500 schools because unlike every other magnet school (TJ, Stuyvesant etc) they are not in a whole school magnet but instead liberal MCPS has these kids in a low SES school to try to pull up the numbers of the school.

The High Schools With The Highest SAT/ACT Scores In The Nation

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Annandale, Va.

TJHSST was established in 1985 as a result of a partnership between businesses and schools created to improve STEM education. With an average SAT score of 2220, TJHSST students go on to such prestigious schools like University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Yale, just to name a few.

2. The Harker School in San Jose, Calif.

This private prep school is home to students from kindergarten to senior year of high school. Students at Harker typically have a GPA range between 3.6 and 3.9 and an average SAT score of 2210.
...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/schools-highest-sat-scores_n_4654077.html

But the Harker school is a private school, not a test-in magnet school. TJ is a self selecting group by test scores/GPA. Harker is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ fans love to claim they are number 1. It is worth pointing out that these Blair magnet kids 12/100 of them were Intel award winners and about 30/100 National Merit Semifinist. However, they never are counted in the number 1 or top 500 schools because unlike every other magnet school (TJ, Stuyvesant etc) they are not in a whole school magnet but instead liberal MCPS has these kids in a low SES school to try to pull up the numbers of the school.

The High Schools With The Highest SAT/ACT Scores In The Nation

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Annandale, Va.

TJHSST was established in 1985 as a result of a partnership between businesses and schools created to improve STEM education. With an average SAT score of 2220, TJHSST students go on to such prestigious schools like University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Yale, just to name a few.

2. The Harker School in San Jose, Calif.

This private prep school is home to students from kindergarten to senior year of high school. Students at Harker typically have a GPA range between 3.6 and 3.9 and an average SAT score of 2210.
...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/schools-highest-sat-scores_n_4654077.html

I bet the 100 kids in the Blair Magnet program have a higher or equal average SAT score. This sort of screaming how TJ is number one is gross, especially when no other school in FCPS even made the top 500. Maryland schools are better than Virginia.