Reply to Why High School Rankings are Meaningless .... and Harmful

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am someone that looks at high school rankings.

Not because I think the schools are inherently better than the others, but because of the types of children that these schools attract. I'm a big believer that at that age, there is more of a gang mentality. Teenagers in general follow their peers, and are very affected by what others are doing. Children in the better ranked schools tend to be more inclined towards education, their parents are more inclined towards education, and my kids will be surrounded by people that want to do well.

I would definitely not rule out a lower ranked school, but I definitely would not look at a bottom tiered school. [/quote]

I agree. I would also add that I would stay away from top tiered because the culture of the school is usually unbalanced. The peers also have negative influences in another way. [/quote]

The top-tiered schools in the suburbs are not always in super-wealthy areas, but they rarely have many poor students.  They are generally in the most desirable neighborhoods.  Whether the neighborhoods are desirable because of the schools, or vice versa, can be debated.  When push comes to shove, people who can afford to do so typically will seek to live in an area with top-tiered schools, rather than in areas with middle-tiered schools, because (1) they think the larger cohort of academically motivated students will be more of a positive than a negative, (2) they are not convinced there is a clear benefit to having their kids share a facility with lower-income kids, who often take different classes in any event, and (3) it sends a social message to sport a Langley or B-CC decal on your car, together with the "26.2" and "OBX" stickers.

Now that more upper-income people are choosing to live in urban and close-in suburban areas that recently have not been known for the quality of their public schools, it's inevitable that the traditional rankings that favor suburban schools will come under attack, at least until the demographics change enough that those schools would be highly ranked.  At that point, Atlantic Monthly will publish new pieces on suburban poverty and how some urban schools are now highly ranked.    [/quote]

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