Have any of the shills touting these "rankings" bothered to read the accompanying blog?

Anonymous wrote:

The rankings aren't dubious. Get a grip and do some independent research. Indeed, the source is dubious, but not the rankings, dummy.

+1. Agree that the source may be dubious, but on College Confidential people seemed to think this ranking is pretty accurate for NYC and Boston schools.

It's true this ranking doesn't give specifics on methodology, although the approach seems a little more holistic (not just exmissions but also diversity, awards, and innovative arts or other programs) than a weighting scheme like US News. Even if this 50 Best Day Schools methodology is totally subjective--although I don't know if it is--it's also true that even a largely mechanistic ranking like US News incorporates subjectivity in key decisions about how heavily to weight various inputs like emissions vs SAT scores, et cetera.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The group behind this list "the Best Schools.Org" is linked to the Discovery Institute the "brains" behind the "intelligent design" creationist movement - the main purpose is evidently to push their wierd college rankings:

http://dvunkannon.blogspot.com/2012/05/thebestschoolsorg-joins-discovery.html

NCS is not a creationist/intelligent design school.

Hi, I'm the author of the blog linked to above. It seems to me that this "thebestschools.org" site started as a ranking site appealing to evangelicals trying to make college choices. However, the web editor (James Barham) has steered it consistently in the direction of religious editorializing, especially against evolution.

I would never take seriously ANY listing of schools on the site, since there is no evidence that they do any research on their own. These lists are either random or regurgitated from some other site.

Thanks. Predictably these rankings are being touted by shills from the schools ranked. Barham is smart enough to know that his rankings will be touted by those he includes no matter how dubious the rankings are.

The rankings aren't dubious. Get a grip and do some independent research. Indeed, the source is dubious, but not the rankings, dummy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The group behind this list "the Best Schools.Org" is linked to the Discovery Institute the "brains" behind the "intelligent design" creationist movement - the main purpose is evidently to push their wierd college rankings:

http://dvunkannon.blogspot.com/2012/05/thebestschoolsorg-joins-discovery.html

NCS is not a creationist/intelligent design school.

Hi, I'm the author of the blog linked to above. It seems to me that this "thebestschools.org" site started as a ranking site appealing to evangelicals trying to make college choices. However, the web editor (James Barham) has steered it consistently in the direction of religious editorializing, especially against evolution.

I would never take seriously ANY listing of schools on the site, since there is no evidence that they do any research on their own. These lists are either random or regurgitated from some other site.

Thanks. Predictably these rankings are being touted by shills from the schools ranked. Barham is smart enough to know that his rankings will be touted by those he includes no matter how dubious the rankings are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The group behind this list "the Best Schools.Org" is linked to the Discovery Institute the "brains" behind the "intelligent design" creationist movement - the main purpose is evidently to push their wierd college rankings:

http://dvunkannon.blogspot.com/2012/05/thebestschoolsorg-joins-discovery.html

NCS is not a creationist/intelligent design school.

Hi, I'm the author of the blog linked to above. It seems to me that this "thebestschools.org" site started as a ranking site appealing to evangelicals trying to make college choices. However, the web editor (James Barham) has steered it consistently in the direction of religious editorializing, especially against evolution.

I would never take seriously ANY listing of schools on the site, since there is no evidence that they do any research on their own. These lists are either random or regurgitated from some other site.

Anonymous wrote: It's still the hardest school to get into in the city and you must just be mad because your child was among the hundreds who were turned down at Maret.

You forgot to add "Na-na-boo-boo."

Anonymous wrote:The same site has a list of "50 smartest people of faith" and guess what? They all have light skin EXCEPT Dr. Ben Carson and Condi Rice - who knew?


http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2013/01/06/50-smartest-people-faith/

Do you disagree with this list or just the absence of people of color?

Anonymous wrote:The group behind this list "the Best Schools.Org" is linked to the Discovery Institute the "brains" behind the "intelligent design" creationist movement - the main purpose is evidently to push their wierd college rankings:

http://dvunkannon.blogspot.com/2012/05/thebestschoolsorg-joins-discovery.html

NCS is not a creationist/intelligent design school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please name one Maret teacher who has left for another DC independent. You are so incredibly wrong about lowered standards and less capable students at Maret. It's still the hardest school to get into in the city and you must just be mad because your child was among the hundreds who were turned down at Maret.

They lost three top teachers to one of the other ndependent schools, several in the same year, Inspector Maigret-Maret. Ask around Maret and maybe someone will tell you where they went. They may not tell you how many other teachers have resumes out. And they've admitted establishing remedial courses for the athletes -- the athletic dept. is open about it. The big pot bust, and the lack of consequences, was widely known? And if the students are so capable, why are the Visitation girls pulling down more National Merit Scholarships? And no, I'm certainly not interested in sending a child there.

I don't think any of you understand the kind of school Maret is. I don't have a child there but I do know that their admissions office does not just look for academic superstars. They also accept kids with slight LD issues, kids who struggle a bit. That is part of their mission. They are the most difficult school to get into in part because they are so small and because they appeal to so many different kinds of families. I have no idea if teachers are unhappy or whatever, but the fact that they don't win the NMS game is because they aren't playing it.

Yes, they look for gridiron superstars; diamond superstars; and basketball superstars. The "game" they are playing may be new for them but is old and tired on the high school scene.

FWIW, I'm a teacher and, although jobs are scarce in this city, at least as of a couple of years ago what seemed like an unusual amount of Maret teachers were looking.

Still wouldn't send DD to NCS regardless of its rating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please name one Maret teacher who has left for another DC independent. You are so incredibly wrong about lowered standards and less capable students at Maret. It's still the hardest school to get into in the city and you must just be mad because your child was among the hundreds who were turned down at Maret.

They lost three top teachers to one of the other ndependent schools, several in the same year, Inspector Maigret-Maret. Ask around Maret and maybe someone will tell you where they went. They may not tell you how many other teachers have resumes out. And they've admitted establishing remedial courses for the athletes -- the athletic dept. is open about it. The big pot bust, and the lack of consequences, was widely known? And if the students are so capable, why are the Visitation girls pulling down more National Merit Scholarships? And no, I'm certainly not interested in sending a child there.

I don't think any of you understand the kind of school Maret is. I don't have a child there but I do know that their admissions office does not just look for academic superstars. They also accept kids with slight LD issues, kids who struggle a bit. That is part of their mission. They are the most difficult school to get into in part because they are so small and because they appeal to so many different kinds of families. I have no idea if teachers are unhappy or whatever, but the fact that they don't win the NMS game is because they aren't playing it.

Ask a Maret faculty member.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please name one Maret teacher who has left for another DC independent. You are so incredibly wrong about lowered standards and less capable students at Maret. It's still the hardest school to get into in the city and you must just be mad because your child was among the hundreds who were turned down at Maret.

They lost three top teachers to one of the other ndependent schools, several in the same year, Inspector Maigret-Maret. Ask around Maret and maybe someone will tell you where they went. They may not tell you how many other teachers have resumes out. And they've admitted establishing remedial courses for the athletes -- the athletic dept. is open about it. The big pot bust, and the lack of consequences, was widely known? And if the students are so capable, why are the Visitation girls pulling down more National Merit Scholarships? And no, I'm certainly not interested in sending a child there.

I looked on the AIMS website and did not see one listing for a Maret open position. Sidwell has 13 open positions.

http://aims.associationcareernetwork.com/JobSeeker/JSEmployerList.aspx?abbr=AIMS&stats=y

Anonymous wrote:Please name one Maret teacher who has left for another DC independent. You are so incredibly wrong about lowered standards and less capable students at Maret. It's still the hardest school to get into in the city and you must just be mad because your child was among the hundreds who were turned down at Maret.

They lost three top teachers to one of the other ndependent schools, several in the same year, Inspector Maigret-Maret. Ask around Maret and maybe someone will tell you where they went. They may not tell you how many other teachers have resumes out. And they've admitted establishing remedial courses for the athletes -- the athletic dept. is open about it. The big pot bust, and the lack of consequences, was widely known? And if the students are so capable, why are the Visitation girls pulling down more National Merit Scholarships? And no, I'm certainly not interested in sending a child there.