Anonymous wrote:Note from Whitman principal:

Dear Parents and Students:

As many of you know, Whitman High School was not a part of the most recent US and NEWS World Report annual rankings of high schools. I was dismayed, so I made inquiries as to why we were not ranked. Yesterday I was informed that despite high test scores on other assessments, such as the SAT and AP Tests, Whitman did not reach a threshold projected by US and News Report on two State PARCC tests. I was surprised that pilot State assessments are part of the formula for ranking, but they are. While the pilot tests were given, the State had indicated that the students just had to sit for the test, and some of our students apparently did not take the tests as seriously as they should.

I am confident that our students will perform on future tests in the manner to which you and I are accustomed. I also am confident that despite not being in this particular ranking, we have been and will remain a superior school in academics, athletics, extracurricular activities, and in acts of kindness.

Anonymous wrote:I had to think about it for a bit and I think that the principal may have used the wrong word in using pilot.

I think what the principal meant was that passing the state assessment wasn't a requirement for graduation and students only had to take it. So students may have chosen to blow it off because there was no need to pass it.

Doing a quick google search, couldn't find the new graduation requirements on the MCPS website but found one on Frederick County:

http://www.fcps.org/student-services/graduation-requirements

So grade 10 students in 2016 will graduate in 2018, putting them in the group of students who only need to participate in the PARCC exam. Algebra might be more questionable because it's considered that students taking Algebra I in high school aren't the overachievers. And some of them may be repeating it and took the state assessment already previously in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:Note from Whitman principal:

Dear Parents and Students:

As many of you know, Whitman High School was not a part of the most recent US and NEWS World Report annual rankings of high schools. I was dismayed, so I made inquiries as to why we were not ranked. Yesterday I was informed that despite high test scores on other assessments, such as the SAT and AP Tests, Whitman did not reach a threshold projected by US and News Report on two State PARCC tests. I was surprised that pilot State assessments are part of the formula for ranking, but they are. While the pilot tests were given, the State had indicated that the students just had to sit for the test, and some of our students apparently did not take the tests as seriously as they should.

I am confident that our students will perform on future tests in the manner to which you and I are accustomed. I also am confident that despite not being in this particular ranking, we have been and will remain a superior school in academics, athletics, extracurricular activities, and in acts of kindness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These stats are dumb. Give me the stats of your student. PSAT, SAT, GPA, #of APs and IBs and scores! That's what matters. Not school rating, but your child's performance.

Sadly, those of us with children at Whitman or BCC will be penalized because our schools didn't make the list. Hopefully whatever hiccup was in the system will be fixed when the next set of rankings comes out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These stats are dumb. Give me the stats of your student. PSAT, SAT, GPA, #of APs and IBs and scores! That's what matters. Not school rating, but your child's performance.

Sadly, those of us with children at Whitman or BCC will be penalized because our schools didn't make the list. Hopefully whatever hiccup was in the system will be fixed when the next set of rankings comes out.

The hiccup in the system is the disadvantaged kids at your schools aren't thriving. Fix that and US News will give them accolades.

I guess this raises a question for me. Were Whitman and BCC not on the list because of a mistake in the system? Did they decide not to include themselves in the ranking? Or do they genuinely not stack up? I find the third explanation very hard to imagine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These stats are dumb. Give me the stats of your student. PSAT, SAT, GPA, #of APs and IBs and scores! That's what matters. Not school rating, but your child's performance.

Sadly, those of us with children at Whitman or BCC will be penalized because our schools didn't make the list. Hopefully whatever hiccup was in the system will be fixed when the next set of rankings comes out.

The hiccup in the system is the disadvantaged kids at your schools aren't thriving. Fix that and US News will give them accolades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These stats are dumb. Give me the stats of your student. PSAT, SAT, GPA, #of APs and IBs and scores! That's what matters. Not school rating, but your child's performance.

Sadly, those of us with children at Whitman or BCC will be penalized because our schools didn't make the list. Hopefully whatever hiccup was in the system will be fixed when the next set of rankings comes out.

Anonymous wrote:These stats are dumb. Give me the stats of your student. PSAT, SAT, GPA, #of APs and IBs and scores! That's what matters. Not school rating, but your child's performance.