Anonymous wrote:2014 SAT Scores:

Langley 1830
McLean 1774
Oakton 1767
Woodson 1759
Madison 1749
Marshall 1740

2015 US News Ratings/State of Virginia:

Langley #2
Woodson #3
McLean #4
Oakton #6
Madison#7
Marshall #15

2015 Washington Post Challenge Index/DC Region

Oakton #8
McLean #15
Woodson #20
Madison #21
Langley #24
Marshall #53

2015 Washington Post E&E (College Readiness) Index/DC Region

McLean 78.8%
Madison 78.2%
Oakton 72.0%
Langley 70.1%
Marshall 67.5%
Woodson 67.5%


National Merit Semi-Finalists/Class of 2015:

McLean 12
Langley 10
Oakton 10
Woodson 9
Madison 4
Marshall 3

GreatSchools Ratings:

Langley 9
Madison 9
Marshall 9
McLean 8
Oakton 8
Woodson 8


2015 Virginia Index of Performance Awards:

Langley - Excellence Award
Madison - Excellence Award
McLean - Excellence Award
Oakton - Excellence Award
Woodson - Excellence Award
Marshall - No Award

2013-14 Dropout Rates

Madison 0.10%
Woodson 0.18%
McLean 0.29%
Langley 0.30%
Marshall 1.65%


2014-15 FARMS Rates

Langley 2.10%
McLean 8.27%
Madison 9.50%
Woodson 10.18%
Oakton 11.87%
Marshall 20.03%

2013-14 LEP (Limited English Proficiency) Rates

Langley 1.81%
Woodson 4.15%
Madison 5.09%
McLean 5.61%
Oakton 5.98%
Marshall 9.65%

What is this post responding to? Can you elaborate on the argument you are trying to make? I said that a focus on exam pass rates would be methodologically flawed. Sure, it suggests that those actually participating in the Marshall IB program do better than those participating in the AP/IB programs at other schools. But if that were the metric then the other schools would push weaker students out of the program. Do you disagree? That is, do you think exam pass rates are the best metric?

Anonymous wrote:People can always come up with their own methodologies to make their own schools look better, but Marshall is typically behind TJ, Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison and Oakton on everything but SOL scores.

The only time Marshall was rated really highly by US News was when US News was supplied with bogus data about Marshall's IB participation rates (something like 99%). That led to US News rating it third best in the state of Virginia. The school put a big banner celebrating this rating in front of the school, and Marshall posters swore up and down on DCUM that the data must be correct. There was just one teacher and one or two parents who pointed out that the data was wrong, and they got pilloried here. In following years, US News used more accurate data about the IB participation rates at Marshall, and the school's rating began to slip. US News currently rates Marshall as the 11th best high school in the county, which is respectable, but certainly not on par with the best schools in the county or state.

Not sure what your point is. I said that a focus on exam pass rates would be methodologically flawed.

Anonymous wrote:People can always come up with their own methodologies to make their own schools look better, but Marshall is typically behind TJ, Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison and Oakton on everything but SOL scores.

The only time Marshall was rated really highly by US News was when US News was supplied with bogus data about Marshall's IB participation rates (something like 99%). That led to US News rating it third best in the state of Virginia. The school put a big banner celebrating this rating in front of the school, and Marshall posters swore up and down on DCUM that the data must be correct. There was just one teacher and one or two parents who pointed out that the data was wrong, and they got pilloried here. In following years, US News used more accurate data about the IB participation rates at Marshall, and the school's rating began to slip. US News currently rates Marshall as the 11th best high school in the county, which is respectable, but certainly not on par with the best schools in the county or state.

Schools around here are very good the difference between scores is minimal. US news rankings will change again next year especially with the huge jump in scores at marshall. Anyways good luck to you but my school Langley is ranked way above and I don't consider much differences when comparing Marshall to most of the M schools and oakton.

Anonymous wrote:People can always come up with their own methodologies to make their own schools look better, but Marshall is typically behind TJ, Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison and Oakton on everything but SOL scores.

The only time Marshall was rated really highly by US News was when US News was supplied with bogus data about Marshall's IB participation rates (something like 99%). That led to US News rating it third best in the state of Virginia. The school put a big banner celebrating this rating in front of the school, and Marshall posters swore up and down on DCUM that the data must be correct. There was just one teacher and one or two parents who pointed out that the data was wrong, and they got pilloried here. In following years, US News used more accurate data about the IB participation rates at Marshall, and the school's rating began to slip. US News currently rates Marshall as the 11th best high school in the county, which is respectable, but certainly not on par with the best schools in the county or state.

Schools around here are very good the difference between scores is minimal. US news rankings will change again next year especially with the huge jump in scores at marshall. Anyways good luck to you but my school Langley is ranked way above and I don't consider much differences when comparing Marshall to most of the M schools and oakton.

2014 SAT Scores:

Langley 1830
McLean 1774
Oakton 1767
Woodson 1759
Madison 1749
Marshall 1740

2015 US News Ratings/State of Virginia:

Langley #2
Woodson #3
McLean #4
Oakton #6
Madison#7
Marshall #15

2015 Washington Post Challenge Index/DC Region

Oakton #8
McLean #15
Woodson #20
Madison #21
Langley #24
Marshall #53

2015 Washington Post E&E (College Readiness) Index/DC Region

McLean 78.8%
Madison 78.2%
Oakton 72.0%
Langley 70.1%
Marshall 67.5%
Woodson 67.5%


National Merit Semi-Finalists/Class of 2015:

McLean 12
Langley 10
Oakton 10
Woodson 9
Madison 4
Marshall 3

GreatSchools Ratings:

Langley 9
Madison 9
Marshall 9
McLean 8
Oakton 8
Woodson 8


2015 Virginia Index of Performance Awards:

Langley - Excellence Award
Madison - Excellence Award
McLean - Excellence Award
Oakton - Excellence Award
Woodson - Excellence Award
Marshall - No Award

2013-14 Dropout Rates

Madison 0.10%
Woodson 0.18%
McLean 0.29%
Langley 0.30%
Marshall 1.65%


2014-15 FARMS Rates

Langley 2.10%
McLean 8.27%
Madison 9.50%
Woodson 10.18%
Oakton 11.87%
Marshall 20.03%

2013-14 LEP (Limited English Proficiency) Rates

Langley 1.81%
Woodson 4.15%
Madison 5.09%
McLean 5.61%
Oakton 5.98%
Marshall 9.65%

People can always come up with their own methodologies to make their own schools look better, but Marshall is typically behind TJ, Langley, McLean, Woodson, Madison and Oakton on everything but SOL scores.

The only time Marshall was rated really highly by US News was when US News was supplied with bogus data about Marshall's IB participation rates (something like 99%). That led to US News rating it third best in the state of Virginia. The school put a big banner celebrating this rating in front of the school, and Marshall posters swore up and down on DCUM that the data must be correct. There was just one teacher and one or two parents who pointed out that the data was wrong, and they got pilloried here. In following years, US News used more accurate data about the IB participation rates at Marshall, and the school's rating began to slip. US News currently rates Marshall as the 11th best high school in the county, which is respectable, but certainly not on par with the best schools in the county or state.

Anonymous wrote:Marshall HS is where upper middle mixes with the rest of the world.

That sounds like a positive to me.

Marshall HS is where upper middle mixes with the rest of the world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think of Marshall as a good school now, comparable to other schools like Herndon, Fairfax, and South Lakes. I don't think of it as in the same sought-after category as Yorktown, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson, Oakton, Chantilly, West Springfield, Robinson or Lake Braddock. You can tell from looking at the real estate listings which schools are the most sought after in the area, and Marshall is just not one of them. Just my two cents.

Woodson, Robinson, LB and Chantilly have lower price ranges not because of school quality but because of location.

All scoring and rankings do put Marshall above or equal to LB and Robinson.

As an aside, if Marshall forced every student to sit for an IB test and every student who wouldn't have otherwise taken the test still failed, Marshall would jump to #8 in the U.S. News rankings--ahead of Yorktown and just behind Madison. That's because the percentage of students who sit for an IB/AP exam--sit, not pass--comprises 25% of the college readiness index, which is the metric US News uses to rate schools. It would also skyrocket Marshall in the Washington Post Challenge Index, which looks at one thing only: the average number of IB/AP exams taken per student, without regard to the percentage that pass. A school could have not a student student pass a single exam, and be #1 in the nation according to the WP. It's the "we're proud of you for trying" philosophy applied to high schools.

Of course, the reason for doing this is to prevent gaming the system by excluding weaker kids from IB/AP. Marshall's exam pass rate is 86% (meaning that a passing score is earned on 86% of exams administered to Marshall students). If this were the primary metric, then schools with weaker pass rates like McClean (80%), Madison (79%), Woodson (69%), Oakton (72%), Mason (84%), and Yorktown (62%) would start to discourage weaker students from sitting for exams. It's a tough balance, but U.S. News is correct to incorporate number of participating students as a factor in order to discourage schools with lower pass rates from challenging their students.

WP Index isn't really a good metric in and of itself, though. You need to consider how many kids are passing, not just how many are talking.

Anonymous wrote:I think of Marshall as a good school now, comparable to other schools like Herndon, Fairfax, and South Lakes. I don't think of it as in the same sought-after category as Yorktown, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson, Oakton, Chantilly, West Springfield, Robinson or Lake Braddock. You can tell from looking at the real estate listings which schools are the most sought after in the area, and Marshall is just not one of them. Just my two cents.

Woodson, Robinson, LB and Chantilly have lower price ranges not because of school quality but because of location.

All scoring and rankings do put Marshall above or equal to LB and Robinson.

I think of Marshall as a good school now, comparable to other schools like Herndon, Fairfax, and South Lakes. I don't think of it as in the same sought-after category as Yorktown, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson, Oakton, Chantilly, West Springfield, Robinson or Lake Braddock. You can tell from looking at the real estate listings which schools are the most sought after in the area, and Marshall is just not one of them. Just my two cents.

Anonymous wrote:Can't say I've ever heard of Schooldigger. Have heard of US News, which rates Marshall as 11th in the county, OK but definitely middle of the pack.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools-109481

Middle of a pretty fantastic pack. Again, it's like calling someone dumb because he graduates Harvard in the middle of the class.

Anonymous wrote:Marshall is no better than seventh, behind TJ, Langley, Madison, McLean, Woodson and Oakton.

Sometimes it isn't even rated that high. U.S. News rates Marshall as the 11th best school in the county. The Washington Post Challenge Index pegs it as the 15th best in the county, and it would be 16th if TJ were included.

The point is that there are so many fantastic schools in the county that it is easy to lose sight of how great even the "weaker" schools are.

Anonymous wrote:Can't say I've ever heard of Schooldigger. Have heard of US News, which rates Marshall as 11th in the county, OK but definitely middle of the pack.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools-109481

If you look at greatschools.net it follows the schooldigger rating.

Last year marshall was rated much higher in usnews.

I am still baffled by why so many posters are obsessed with tearing down another school they have no experience with? Is this an investment strategy? "If I do all I can to year down other schools my house value will remain higher than if people are willing to attend there."

Honestly although several PPs have flipped this around to say "no no! You don't understand - Marshall parents are obnoxiously self promoting so we have to set them straight!" - I have seen the marshall defenders here mostly saying "it does a really good job considering the SES hand it has to work with". They do not seem preoccupied wth trashing other schools. This really makes the posters from the rich schools intent on telling the Marshall folks "look, just admit you suck and we can all get along" look gratuitously snotty.

- the VA house hunter