9486 in the collection
Newsweek high school rankings: invalid money-makers
Ohanian Comment: They're back. Newsweek ranking of public schools , ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews. If you have any questions/comments about this ranking, write challenge@washpost.com.
I like it that one of the subject categories posted for Caroline Grannon's article is "Greed." Amen. I've ranted about Newsweek's rantings often, but "greed" sure does provide a good summary of what they're up to.
It is fascinating to me that Jefferson County IBS in Irondale, Alabama, does not make dvotrd on state tests available on Great Schools:
Grade 11
Reading
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
Social Studies
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Science
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
Language
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
Math
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
Grade 12
Reading
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
Social Studies
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Science
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
Language
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
The state average for Language was 94% in 2008.
Math
Data not available for this school (2008)
Data not available for this school (2007)
Data not available for this school (2006)
Data not available for this school (2005)
The state average for Math was 95% in 2008.
But Jefferson IBS is an all-IB school. So when the number of AP/IB test takers is divided by the number of graduating seniors, a very high score is achieved--and they come out in the top few schools every year.
Vermont doesn't place in the rankings until Danville is posted at #379. Great Schools gives Danville a 5 (out of 10) "based on its performance on state standardized tests." Of course this rating isn't clear since Danville is a PreK-12 building of 379 students, which makes it a very small high school. Twenty-seven percent of the students are eligible for subsidized lunch.
I put no truck in Newsweek or Great Schools data but love to look at Senior Projects, which are a big deal in Vermont. Forty seniors presented Senior Projects. Here are a few from this year's seniors:
- Snack Wagon for the Booster Club
- Nursing Volunteer
- Hand made wood toys for Walden daycares
- Canoe Trip guide book for the community
- Rebuild lawn mower to road race off track
- New downstairs bathroom in the new house
Remember, these students not only have to complete the project, they have to make an oral presentation of its complications and values to the community. I find much more value in this than how many kids sat for the APs exams. Danville does not list those figures on its website. They do list the projects, and you can download the Canoe Trip guide book for the community.
I investigated the Newsweek rating scam once before. I found schools enrolling LOTS of kids for the AP exams but few passing. But this gaming technique places them high on the Newsweek list. Few passed the exam. Mathews insists that just sitting for the course and the exam has value.
Others disagree.
by Caroline Grannan
Newsweek Magazine has once again compromised both credibility and ethics by releasing its annual high school rankings feature. The "rankings" are based on one single measure - one that is invalid as a gauge of quality and simply does not measure how "good" a high school is. They also violate journalistic ethics, as the gauge is one that directly promotes increased profits for an enterprise run by Newsweek's parent company.
The rankings are based entirely on the single criterion of how many AP (or two other similar) tests are taken by the students in the school. That's it. How the students perform on the tests is not part of the equation.
Newsweek's description: "Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by [reporter/editor] Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate (IB) and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors."
This is so clearly not a valid gauge of a school's quality that it's hardly worth wasting words explaining. The criterion is also subject to easy manipulation, needless to say.
Here's why this feature compromises Newsweek's ethics. Newsweek's parent company, the Washington Post, also owns Kaplan, the test prep powerhouse. It's also hardly necessary to explain that encouraging more students to take AP tests directly correlates with increasing Kaplan's business.
Standard journalistic ethics call for avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest. The Newsweek high school rankings emblazon the appearance of conflict of interest across the heavens.
An increasing chorus of dissenters complains each year about this feature - including some of the "winners." In May 2008, the superintendents of 38 high-performing school districts signed a letter to Newsweek protesting the feature and requesting that their districts be excluded (a toothless request, but a meaningful gesture). This year, a top education reporter in Dallas - the location of two of the top-ranked schools - questioned the rankings' credibility.
It's not just time-wasting but also harmful to pass authoritative-looking judgments on schools based on invalid criteria. Meanwhile, with the very survival of the news media under threat, journalistic credibility is one asset the media should struggle to keep. Newsweek is making a big mistake to compromise its ethics so shamelessly. The magazine needs to eliminate and renounce this corrupt and damaging feature.
— Caroline Grannan
Change.org
2009-06-11
http://education.change.org/blog/view/newsweek_high_school_rankings_invalid_money-makers
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
