Oakton HS

[Anonymous]

I should have clarified

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia

[Anonymous]

Marshall, Chantilly, Madison are all missing. Excluding TJ, Oakton ranks 3 after Langley and McLean. And you were saying something about Madison...

Capstone isn’t a class - it’s additional classes that are more rigorous. But again, what were your saying about Madison?

I hope you didn’t overpayfor an unrated school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marshall, Chantilly, Madison are all missing. Excluding TJ, Oakton ranks 3 after Langley and McLean. And you were saying something about Madison...

Capstone isn’t a class - it’s additional classes that are more rigorous. But again, what were your saying about Madison?
I hope you didn’t overpayfor an unrated school.

This has been discussed on a previous thread. Again, if you are using this as the basis for making a half-million dollar (or more) decision, you were basing your decision on incomplete/misleading information. I won't bother to explain it to you since you have somewhat of a snide attitude. You can just go about your life thinking you made a great decision... and to some extent, you did... but you didn't get the upper hand. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[Anonymous]

I did my research before we bought. I refused to pay top dollar for any unranked school. We decided between McLean and Oakton. I’m sorry, actually I am, if you overpaid to be in “Madison Country.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marshall, Chantilly, Madison are all missing. Excluding TJ, Oakton ranks 3 after Langley and McLean. And you were saying something about Madison...

Capstone isn’t a class - it’s additional classes that are more rigorous. But again, what were your saying about Madison?

I hope you didn’t overpayfor an unrated school.

Marshall is not rated because it is IB and IB did not report scores. The rankings are of AP schools.

https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/articles/2017-05-03/why-us-news-didnt-include-ib-data-in-2017-best-high-schools-rankings

[Anonymous]

I guess that explains why Stuart and South Lakes aren’t listed either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did my research before we bought. I refused to pay top dollar for any unranked school. We decided between McLean and Oakton. I’m sorry, actually I am, if you overpaid to be in “Madison Country.”

That has to be one of the dumbest statements ever. There are plenty of other rankings besides US News. And if you’re so beholden to rankings, it must have been especially distressing to see the slide in Oakton’s SAT scores. Are you a kid just looking for an excuse not to finish your homework?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did my research before we bought. I refused to pay top dollar for any unranked school. We decided between McLean and Oakton. I’m sorry, actually I am, if you overpaid to be in “Madison Country.”

That has to be one of the dumbest statements ever. There are plenty of other rankings besides US News. And if you’re so beholden to rankings, it must have been especially distressing to see the slide in Oakton’s SAT scores. Are you a kid just looking for an excuse not to finish your homework?

If you look at Madison, they had an influx of non-english speakers. The non-english speakers did not do as well on the SOL's. There were not many of them, but enough to define a cohort. The cohort scored 30 points lower than the school as a whole and 25 points lower than any other defined cohort. (35 point below Asians/whites.). The rules of ranking eliminated madison because of the difference in the cohorts.

If you look at the numbers, overall Madison would have been the second or third place school if they were not excluded because of the new rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did my research before we bought. I refused to pay top dollar for any unranked school. We decided between McLean and Oakton. I’m sorry, actually I am, if you overpaid to be in “Madison Country.”

That has to be one of the dumbest statements ever. There are plenty of other rankings besides US News. And if you’re so beholden to rankings, it must have been especially distressing to see the slide in Oakton’s SAT scores. Are you a kid just looking for an excuse not to finish your homework?

If you look at Madison, they had an influx of non-english speakers. The non-english speakers did not do as well on the SOL's. There were not many of them, but enough to define a cohort. The cohort scored 30 points lower than the school as a whole and 25 points lower than any other defined cohort. (35 point below Asians/whites.). The rules of ranking eliminated madison because of the difference in the cohorts.

If you look at the numbers, overall Madison would have been the second or third place school if they were not excluded because of the new rule.

PP here. More to the point, the rankings are based on "college readiness after eliminating schools. Madison got eliminated. But, in college readiness, Madison second behind TJ. In Practice, there is no practical difference Between Madison, McLean, Langley, Oakton and Woodson in the scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did my research before we bought. I refused to pay top dollar for any unranked school. We decided between McLean and Oakton. I’m sorry, actually I am, if you overpaid to be in “Madison Country.”

That has to be one of the dumbest statements ever. There are plenty of other rankings besides US News. And if you’re so beholden to rankings, it must have been especially distressing to see the slide in Oakton’s SAT scores. Are you a kid just looking for an excuse not to finish your homework?

If you look at Madison, they had an influx of non-english speakers. The non-english speakers did not do as well on the SOL's. There were not many of them, but enough to define a cohort. The cohort scored 30 points lower than the school as a whole and 25 points lower than any other defined cohort. (35 point below Asians/whites.). The rules of ranking eliminated madison because of the difference in the cohorts.

If you look at the numbers, overall Madison would have been the second or third place school if they were not excluded because of the new rule.

I don’t think this was a “new rule” for US News. I think the performance of certain cohorts at Madison just dropped below the cut-off. Other area schools have also seen an increase in low-income minorities and managed to stay rated by US News.

[Anonymous]

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did my research before we bought. I refused to pay top dollar for any unranked school. We decided between McLean and Oakton. I’m sorry, actually I am, if you overpaid to be in “Madison Country.”

That has to be one of the dumbest statements ever. There are plenty of other rankings besides US News. And if you’re so beholden to rankings, it must have been especially distressing to see the slide in Oakton’s SAT scores. Are you a kid just looking for an excuse not to finish your homework?

If you look at Madison, they had an influx of non-english speakers. The non-english speakers did not do as well on the SOL's. There were not many of them, but enough to define a cohort. The cohort scored 30 points lower than the school as a whole and 25 points lower than any other defined cohort. (35 point below Asians/whites.). The rules of ranking eliminated madison because of the difference in the cohorts.

If you look at the numbers, overall Madison would have been the second or third place school if they were not excluded because of the new rule.

So basically, if you exclude all the low scoring kids at your school, your scores are RIGHT there at the top

[Anonymous]

No — overall Madison is fine. It is one group that underperforms. The average, including the group, has Madison as the top ranked school. It is only when you exclude them because of 4% of the school that causes Madison to be unrated.

[Anonymous]

Just curious.... re: Madison and the process.

Is it the GAP b/t the two groups that is the disqualifying issue or just the scoring of the lower group?

i.e. if another school that was more "average" had the same scores for the lower performing population, would that school be eliminated as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious.... re: Madison and the process.

Is it the GAP b/t the two groups that is the disqualifying issue or just the scoring of the lower group?

i.e. if another school that was more "average" had the same scores for the lower performing population, would that school be eliminated as well?

For US News, they look at the gap. And agree. Every HS in the county has lower performing kids. Langley, McLean, Woodson, Chantilly, Marshall, Oakton LBSS, W. Springfield... I know this is not a comprehensive list before you get upset I missed your school). All manage to get it done without the gap.

Woodson and Chantilly stay up there with lower overall SES.

Plus, since Madison is not ranked, what is the basis of your assertion they would be in the top 5 if the were? You can’t know that. You can look at the pieces. But the fact is Madison, Oakton, Marshall and Chantilly are all very close on most metrics, and are usually cluped together.