Niches scoring seems more in line with personal experience and observations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

Niche is more credible than GS. It isn't just a simple average of standardized test scores.

I'm not sure I agree as I think both systems are flawed. I like how NIche's data sources are more comprehensive but I'm on the fence about the use of surveys. The rating is basically dependent on the subjective answers of respondents. That's where it gets tricky.

The surveys are not the only factor. I posted the full list of data sources above.

I know there are other data sources but I don't think the surveys should be used at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

Niche is more credible than GS. It isn't just a simple average of standardized test scores.

I'm not sure I agree as I think both systems are flawed. I like how NIche's data sources are more comprehensive but I'm on the fence about the use of surveys. The rating is basically dependent on the subjective answers of respondents. That's where it gets tricky.

The surveys are not the only factor. I posted the full list of data sources above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

Niche is more credible than GS. It isn't just a simple average of standardized test scores.

I'm not sure I agree as I think both systems are flawed. I like how NIche's data sources are more comprehensive but I'm on the fence about the use of surveys. The rating is basically dependent on the subjective answers of respondents. That's where it gets tricky.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

Niche is more credible than GS. It isn't just a simple average of standardized test scores.

Anonymous wrote:Your boasts are easily dismissed simply by looking at the Great Schools website.

Whitman's test scores rank it as GS 4
https://www.greatschools.org/maryland/bethesda/970-Walt-Whitman-High-School?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=Permalink#Test_scores

BCC's Test Scores get it a GS 7
https://www.greatschools.org/maryland/bethesda/861-Bethesda-Chevy-Chase-High-School?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=Permalink#Test_scores

Hard to argue with facts. It's sad though that the W's have gone downhill in recent years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

There is no way Poolesville ranks above the next three by any credible metric.

Provide data to support your claim. Poolesville is a highly regarded magnet. I know it’s in the Siberian Hinterlands, but I promise we have good things up here, just like you have downcounty.

+1. What’s with all the ignorant posters today who insist there’s no way certain data that conflicts with their world view can be right but have no concrete criticisms of why it is wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

There is no way Poolesville ranks above the next three by any credible metric.

Provide data to support your claim. Poolesville is a highly regarded magnet. I know it’s in the Siberian Hinterlands, but I promise we have good things up here, just like you have downcounty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

There is no way Poolesville ranks above the next three by any credible metric.

And here’s a link to how they use that data to create rankings. Seems pretty comprehensive to me, TBH.

https://www.niche.com/k12/rankings/methodology/

Niche data sources for the K-12 rankings:

US Department of Education K12 data on graduation rates and state level test scores.

Private School Universe Survey (PSS) from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Source for list of private schools and their information such as enrollment figures.

Common Core Data (CCD) from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Source for list of schools and school districts and their information such as enrollment figures.

Common Core Data (CCD) School District Finance Survey (F-33) from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
School district data on finance information.

Civil Rights Data Collection
K12 data on AP/IB classes, disciplinary actions, athletics, etc.

School Attendance Boundary Survey (SABS) from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Source for school boundaries.

Niche K-12 Student and Parent Surveys
Survey administered to millions of parents, high school students, and recent alumni on Niche.com.

Link: https://about.niche.com/data/#dataSources

Anonymous wrote:Why is there all of a sudden someone posting about Niche all over these forums?

Niche is discussed a lot on this forum.

They use surveys, but they also use a lot of other data. Our ES is ranked high in MCPS and has no reviews, for example.

Why is there all of a sudden someone posting about Niche all over these forums?

Anonymous wrote:Here are the Niche rankings:

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/maryland/
1. Poolesville
2. Churchill
3. Whitman
4. Wootton
5. Richard Montgomery
6. Walter Johnson
7. BCC
8. Blair
9. Quince Orchard
10. Northwest

how does Niche rate schools? doesn't it rely a lot on surveys?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Exactly. You can't just throw your arms up and say "rankings are dumb" and also implicitly rank schools by saying "this one is better than that one." Can't have it both ways.

You're responding to multiple posters. Some posters are saying that this ranking system is better than that ranking system. Other posters are saying that school rankings in general are dumb.

If I were going to say that this school is better than that school, I would mean: a given kid will learn better/learn more/be happier learning in this school than in that school. And learning would include non-academic learning as well as academic learning. What kind of ranking system would reflect that?

An extremely subjective ranking that would be vulnerable to bias. But if you can define a way to quantify happiness, please share your data.

Keep on ranking schools by test scores, then. It doesn't tell you which schools are better, but it's objective!

If you reject the current rankings and can’t come up with your own, then you have no business saying what schools are better than others.

Good news! I don't do that!