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FeedThe Public High School Special: A Real Education
With millions in federal funds given to Delaware based on its potential to improve public schools, there’s a lot on the line. Is this another case of the government throwing money at a problem? Here’s a look at the schools’ performance now, and a survey of how they intend to reform education. Plus, find out how your school rates in our High School Ranking chart.
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Click here to download the High School Ranking - The following chart ranks schools from best to worst based on the number of AP courses offered, student-teacher ratios, graduation rates, dropout rates and academic performance. Each category is ranked individually, then totaled for an overall school score. Academic performance is based on combined DSTP scores because they were, until this year, the state standard for all students. SAT scores are included in the chart, but they are not factored into the ranking because they are not mandatory. Cost-per-student is also provided as a point of information. It is not included in a school's overall performance.
Education reform is the stuff of recent headlines, editorials and, in some cases, advertisements by groups lobbying for change. Keeping track of the legislation and initiatives is hard enough for administrators, let alone parents.
Most parents know about No Child Left Behind, which supports standards-based education reform in schools that receive federal funding. What they may not realize is that No Child is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
No Child enhanced teacher accountability, which is why most parents equate it with the state’s basic skills test, which measures student performance against state-created standards. Here’s the rub: This school year, the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System has replaced the Delaware Student Testing Program.
With the DSTP, a paper-and-pencil test given in March, educators waited at least a month for results. “You could not make adjustments during the school year, but it was helpful in looking for patterns of achievement,” says Anne Lambert, principal of Concord High School.
DCAS, taken on the computer, is given three times a year, allowing for a more immediate response to the scores. Another difference: the performance levels. The DSTP had five. The new test has four, which are based on higher student proficiency standards. Parents may notice this year that their school skews lower than it did with the DSTP, and that may put the school in a different category, perhaps slipping from Academic Progress, for instance, to Academic Watch.
Page 2: The Public High School Special: A Real Education, continues...
Reader Comments:
Was very disappointed that this article doesn't mention a ranking for Cab Calloway School of the Arts. We are left to wonder why they have the second best ranking across the board, but are listed in the magazine as NR. Nowhere is this explained at all. My daughter, a Cabbie, was pretty upset, when she read the article. Cab consistently delivers a fantastic arts education, a truly engaged experience, and the second best scores academically in the State, while using one of the highest student to teacher ratios. Pretty impressive, and worth celebrating.
Looking at the rankings I am struck by a couple of things. First is the idea that the DSTP is not an accurate measure of academic success. Looking at the rankings of the schools and then look at where they are for individual DSTP break downs fit. Why are some schools not doing well on the DSTP but are fine in the SAT and AP categories? These two are more accurate measures of student success and are used nationwide. The second issue is Polytech and Sussex Tech. Here are public schools who get to pick and choose their students, limit their special education populations, kick out trouble makers, and have the ability to tax an entire county. Unlike practically every other public school on this list. The State of Delaware should look at this list very hard when deciding what changes they should make.
Don't forget that Charter picks and chooses its students too, and then takes funds away from the districts where the kids originate if it's not Red Clay. So it's all three of the top schools on this list that need an asterisk if you want to evaluate the group as a whole.
The comments made by BLACKSHEEP & MATT96 are some of the most cogent I've read on the subject. The ability of a school to control its population is one of the single best determinants of success there can be in education. In my mind, a public school should be defined as one that cannot create criteria for entry that is different than others.
Students AND parents who 'want' to go to a particular school because of its curicculum, teachers and mission will always rate higher than other schools.
I've talked to numerous teachers from many different states and this is one of the main factors in determining best results for student success.
Look at it this way, how come projects like in Harlem have a few schools doing exceptionally well, but nearby schools are doing well below average? It's because both the student AND parent(s)/guardian want to go to that school/program and are willing to sign a 'contract' stating that they will do 'X,Y and Z' as customers. It's not rocket science. The 'other' students around the block are less motivated to learn and their parents (if they are lucky to have more than one parent or guardian) are generally absent from their child's educational endeavors. They want schools to be a 'babysitter.' It doesn't work. Parenting is a full-time job.
Excuses are many. Why do certain parents who live in the same socio-economic areas as their peers do well in school vis-a-vis their neighbors? Because education is an extremely high priority for these parents. They do everything in their power to ensure their kids' acedemic success. Indeed, there are some 'other' factors that result in poor performance; however, ultimately, one does not necessarily have to go to a private school; it's all about motivation and being encouraged and even pushed to excel.