Reply to Rank the Top 10 NoVa High Schools

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "Rank the Top 10 NoVa High Schools"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]According to the 2017 Washington Post Challenge Index:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/high-school-challenge-2017/?noredirect=on

[/quote]

The challenge index only counts the AP/IB classes taken by SENIORS.  It is an index that can be used for comparisons, but you have to understand its limitations.  AP classes, are frequently taken by juniors and sophomores as well.  Also, the challenge index doesn't make any measure of HOW WELL those kids do on AP exams -- i.e. pass or fail them?  Some schools have a lot of kids taking AP classes, but they don't pass them.  Jay Matthews would say that passing the exam isn't the point b/c the value in AP classes is in exposing kids to that level of academic rigor, and then they are more likely to go to college.

But, if you are comparing the quality of the teaching or the quality of the student body (re: academic prowess), you would want to start with a standard curriculum and then look for results (i.e. passing or not).

As with all measuring sticks -- you have to understand what it is measuring.  The challenge index has some value -- but it is not the last word.[/quote]

The challenge index counts ALL the AP classes taken by ALL the students and divides by the # of seniors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-the-americas-most-challenging-high-schools-list-works/2017/05/03/e6483160-2919-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html?utm_term=.594c60207ed3[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics