OT-Top 1300 Schools in US

[kribit]

I know this is completely off topic, but thought the family board would appreciate the read anyway.

I'm doing research for a possible relo and came across this list. I know this type of information is all how you interpret it, but I have to be honest some of the list surprised me. I'm from MA (a state known for their education) and none of our schools made it to the top 50. However, Florida (as I've been reading lately as having some struggles), has schools that were in the top
10. That's somewhat reassuring given I may be moving there. I do know in the case of the MA schools that did make the cut...they are (for the most part) excellent schools. I think it's probably a good basis for how they rank.

Take a look and see if your district made it.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Not sure I lay a lot of stock into Newsweeks list. If I am interpreting it correctly, basically the schools with the most gifted/advanced placement kids versus "regular" kids ratio are destined to be on that list. I know they are using a formula a little more involved than that, but that is how it comes across.

I never seem to hear anyone say good things about Florida schools. That is what has kept us from moving down there just yet. Everyone I know down there tells me they send their kids to private schools. I'm sure there has to be good areas though...then again, I don't know what they are comparing the Florida schools to (or what their expectations of a GOOD school are). I think the best research is your own-where you find the area you want to be in and talk to the people.

 

[meandtheguys2]

I know that their college lists have some funky statistics, so I wouldn't be amazed if their other lists did also.

 

[kribit]

I know, I've heard the same thing about some Florida schools, which is why I was really surprised that 2 of them are in the top 5.

I would love to hear from folks that live in those districts and see if they feel the list is accurate.

As far as MA rankings, I know the schools that were listed are great schools, but should the ranking have been different? Not sure about that.

 

[Jen32113]

I do live in Florida but I do not live in the district that those two schools from the top 10 are. I know of the schools in Tampa that are on the list such as Hillsborough, King and Plant. I have heard nothing but good things from Plant and if my son were old enough, I would most likely let him go there. I only looked through the top 100 but I know of a few good schools in the Tampa area. Hillsborough and King , they may be high up on the list but I would probably send my kid to private school before I let him go there. Haven't heard good things about either of them besides that they are on the list. They are also both in not great sections of town. I wouldn't go on what this list says too much. I would try to find people that live in the area and ask them first hand.

 

[Princess Roo]

Maybe a good intent, but I think it's totally bogus. (Here's the link, BTW: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18754326/site/newsweek/ )

I think there is way too much pressure to put students in AP courses who aren't ready. I am now an engineering professor who sees way too many poorly-prepared students who have taken AP courses. While getting my doctorate, I spent a lot of time tutoring inner-city high school students in math. Way too many of them were taking AP Calculus without having a grasp of basic Algebra. (A common phenomenon in schools like that was to give A's for good behavior and turning in homework. The teachers spent so much time dealing with discipline that there wasn't a lot of teaching going on...or the student's classes were taught by substitutes that didn't know the subject material.) I also tutored two students from the top-ranking school in Georgia on this list and they also were on the AP path without a good grasp of the basics. (I do agree that this Georgia school is considered to be one of the best in the metro area, but I don't feel that that is because of the number of AP exams.)

When choosing a school district for your children, there are a lot of statistics available in terms of test scores and demographics. Looking at all of them can give a better picture if you don't have the luxury of talking to parents and educators in the area. And, of course, there is no substitute for parental involvement in a child's education! That can turn even a mediocre school into a great success for your child.

 

[kribit]

Maybe a good intent, but I think it's totally bogus. (Here's the link, BTW: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18754326/site/newsweek/ )

I think there is way too much pressure to put students in AP courses who aren't ready. I am now an engineering professor who sees way too many poorly-prepared students who have taken AP courses. While getting my doctorate, I spent a lot of time tutoring inner-city high school students in math. Way too many of them were taking AP Calculus without having a grasp of basic Algebra. (A common phenomenon in schools like that was to give A's for good behavior and turning in homework. The teachers spent so much time dealing with discipline that there wasn't a lot of teaching going on...or the student's classes were taught by substitutes that didn't know the subject material.) I also tutored two students from the top-ranking school in Georgia on this list and they also were on the AP path without a good grasp of the basics. (I do agree that this Georgia school is considered to be one of the best in the metro area, but I don't feel that that is because of the number of AP exams.)

When choosing a school district for your children, there are a lot of statistics available in terms of test scores and demographics. Looking at all of them can give a better picture if you don't have the luxury of talking to parents and educators in the area. And, of course, there is no substitute for parental involvement in a child's education! That can turn even a mediocre school into a great success for your child.

I agree wholeheartedly that a great portion of a childs success is the parents involvement. We consider ourselves very involved with our children, but I sometimes get hung up on statistics and whether or not a school was ranked and A. Of course, most of us want the best school for our children, but I also have to realize that a lot more goes into education than a letter that ranks the school A, B, or C.

 

[mericletwins]

I'm not sure of the other states, but I scanned the NJ schools and a majority of them were affluent districts.

 

[Princess Roo]

I agree wholeheartedly that a great portion of a childs success is the parents involvement. We consider ourselves very involved with our children, but I sometimes get hung up on statistics and whether or not a school was ranked and A. Of course, most of us want the best school for our children, but I also have to realize that a lot more goes into education than a letter that ranks the school A, B, or C.

At least around here, you can tell what schools the area considers to be "A" schools by the real estate advertising. If the listing mentions the school district in the main paragraph, there is a reason for that. However, several of those schools here were ranked below schools on this list that I would definitely not send my children to. Also, the list did not mesh well with the schools that our university tends to recruit from in the area as "good schools".

I looked at it a little more and there is a column that shows the percentage of graduating seniors who score passing (defined as 3 or better of 5...though many colleges won't give credit for a 3) on at least one AP exam, whether or not they took AP exams or not. Those numbers in the top 100 schools ranged widely from the 20s to 100%. So, there are some schools that average, say, 3 or 4 exams per student but only 20% of the students actually "pass" even one exam!

FWIW, there is also a column for the % on subsidized lunches, which is one measure of a district affluence.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I'm not sure of the other states, but I scanned the NJ schools and a majority of them were affluent districts.

I noticed that too. Although those rich folks usually send their kids to private school...so it made me scratch my head! Then again, I guess they may pay higher property taxes so maybe that is why? Very odd though.

 

[girli565]

I live in Miami and know of a few of the 13 total schools that were listed in the 1300 list. I actually graduated from one of them in 2002.

#22 Coral Reef is an excellent school. It's a magnet school with various programs that really help kids get into college. http://coralreef.dadeschools.net/portal/wps/ if you want to check it out.

#71 Mast(Martime and Science Technology) Academy is also a magnet school, super long wait list for students here in Miami. It's in Key Biscayne and is right off the bay. http://mast.dade.k12.fl.us/ if you want to check it out.

#82 Miami Palmetto is a good school, academics are tough and the student population is pretty affluent in means. I think that helps it. I live in the area of Miami Palmetto and I would definitele send my kids there when I have them.

#85 Design and Architecture (DASH) is also a magnet school servicing those students who are art fanatics. I had a neighbor go to DASH and he is now a high paid architect!

I graduated from G. Holmes Braddock Senior High (can't remember what # it is but it's on the list somewhere). It was a wonderful school and now it has actually followed in the footsteps of magnet schools where it offers a course of study to it's students. It really is a great school. I'm actually hoping to work at Braddock when my three year period at my cuurent school is over.

I could go on but I think I'd bore you all. I know FL is not among people's first choices when it comes to schools but I think that this list really does highlight many of the good schools who really outshine the bad, under-funded and under-staffed schools who give FL the bad reputation. Now if all schools could be over-funded, over staffed and wonderful we'd live in a perfect world!

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

holy cow.. stanton college prep was #3.. i went there.. never would have guessed it was #3 in the nation though lol

 

[kribit]

Tiffanymommy - Do you live near Disney? I noticed in your sig that your location is Disney, however, lots of people live there in their minds. (such as myself).

Seriously, I'd be curious to learn if you have children what you think of the schools there? I've spoken with a couple of very nice Disers that live in Celebration and they love it, but I'd like a couple of options to compare.

Thanks so much.

 

[mercydisney]

Florida mom here w/2 kids that go to public schools. One daughter goes to middle school the other is in 2nd grade. We are originaly from NJ. My SIL is a school teacher in Nutley, my bff children go to school in Alpine (all my family is still in NJ). They are both amazed at how far ahead my children are compared to there own kids.

I didn't look at the list of schools because I don't believe a name on a list makes a school. What makes a school are parents and teachers.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Florida mom here w/2 kids that go to public schools. One daughter goes to middle school the other is in 2nd grade. We are originaly from NJ. My SIL is a school teacher in Nutley, my bff children go to school in Alpine (all my family is still in NJ). They are both amazed at how far ahead my children are compared to there own kids.

I didn't look at the list of schools because I don't believe a name on a list makes a school. What makes a school are parents and teachers.

ITA! Personally, I looked at some schools on the list and you couldn't pay me enough to send my kids there. Like everything else, I think those lists are very political...and of course the statistics presented are those that the schools choose to share. I have two teachers in the family, my aunt and my SIL. I don't know what it is with our area, but it seems either your kid is considered advanced placement or they are considered special education-not much in between. Considering the special ed kids don't get counted in those test scores that are touted, I guess that would make for some very skewed numbers and make most schools look pretty darned good.

 

[Brian Noble]

Ranking high schools seems to me to be mostly pointless. The distribution of student acheivement is both large and heavy-tailed, even at the best schools. In such distributions, averages are meaningless.

What's more, as a professor, I'd much rather have a student who took advantage of every opportunity they had at a mediocre school than a "better-than-average" student from a top high school. I get both and the former student always outperforms the latter. Why? The former student actually works. The latter believes a college education is his or her birthright, and is happy to just get by.

I will say though that there are a two advantages highly-ranked schools have. The first is a culture of expectation that most of their students will go to four-year colleges with competitive admissions programs. The second is the notion that being smart doesn't make you a social outcast.

The disadvantage that such schools often face stems from the fact that, overhwelmingly, they are homogenous: kids coming from such high schools have no appreciation for the fact that, by definition, most people are not priviledged. Then again, that's a disadvantage of being at a top-ranked research university, as well. Our students come from a narrow socio-economic band, and so they have no idea how most of the country lives.

In the end, for reasons I don't fully appreciate, US culture has increasingly been drawn to the need to rank things, more so in education than most domains. Now that I'm on the "other side" as an educator, though, I'm just not convinced that that is in the students' best interests. Choosing an educational path works best when it is a much more holistic process---a process that has the full attention and involvement of the student at hand. The more the grownups rate and rank, the less involved the kids become, and that's to the detriment of us all.

 

[rparmfamily]

I'm sorry, where do you guys hear about the crappy (my own words) Florida schools? I think some are bad, some are good, just like everywhere. Yes, the ricer areas have the best schools but they also have the most parent involvement usually, which goes hand in hand with better schools.

I own a home (we've moved but kept the house) in one of the best districts in Florida. (Clay County) I moved there when I was a teen and graduated from there and I have sent my own children to elem schools in that district. I've been nothing but happy with the education they received there.

Can't say that about Hawaii, ugg!!!

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

Tiffanymommy - Do you live near Disney? I noticed in your sig that your location is Disney, however, lots of people live there in their minds. (such as myself).

Seriously, I'd be curious to learn if you have children what you think of the schools there? I've spoken with a couple of very nice Disers that live in Celebration and they love it, but I'd like a couple of options to compare.

Thanks so much.

We are moving to Orlando on Saturday.. yay! and my oldest is 4.. We are moving from Jacksonville, FL though, and the schools in Duval County SUCK big time!!! Only a few nice ones (apparently Stanton and Paxon made the list lol) but the elementary and middle schools really are horrible and scary for the most part (there are some that are decent) I was going to do the private school or homeschool route if we stayed in Jax.

In Orlando, from everything Ive read, the schools are AMAZING!!! Im looking forward to schools in Orange County. We are actually going to be in Ocoee (19 miles to Disney.. YIPPEEE!) and our closest Elem. school is Clarcona Elem. or something like that? and its an A rated school and the website looks like. I think the website for Orange County school is ocps.com, ocps.edu, ocps.net or something like that lolol.. Im almost 100% positive its ocps but I cant remember the .what lol. It gives info on the grades for the school and the websites for the schools.

Can you tell Im extremely excited about my move?? DH has been there since Saturday and Im jealous lmao

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

I'm sorry, where do you guys hear about the crappy (my own words) Florida schools? I think some are bad, some are good, just like everywhere. Yes, the ricer areas have the best schools but they also have the most parent involvement usually, which goes hand in hand with better schools.

I own a home (we've moved but kept the house) in one of the best districts in Florida. (Clay County) I moved there when I was a teen and graduated from there and I have sent my own children to elem schools in that district. I've been nothing but happy with the education they received there.

Can't say that about Hawaii, ugg!!!

Clay County has good schools but cross the border to Duval and you are in hedoublehockeysticks with the schools lol. for the most part at least.. We lived in Argyle for a long time and I had planned on sending my kids to Clay County by using a friends address if I were to stay there (we ended up moving to the airport and are now moving to Orlando though so thats fixed lol)

 

[RedAlfalfa]

Another Floridian here. I agree that the schools here are pretty mixed. You can have a great school 3 blocks away from a horrible school (and I'm not exaggerating). It all comes down to parental involvent, teachers and leadership (principal) of the schools.
The one thing I will say that stinks about schools here now is they teach to the FCAT. I'm pretty sure no matter what state you go to though there is some standardized test that gets crammed down the kids throats. In alot of ways I wouldn't mind my kids school not being an A rated school if it meant they got to have recess (What kids want a chance to play outside???) or take field trips again!!!