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Thanks a lot Breetai3. Keeping the Pequaman spirit alive an kicking! :-)
Rankings are just rankings, they don't say "This school district is the better for YOU than this other one just because the rating is higher", but I think that it gives a good overall sense of the quality of public education in different areas of LI, and, as this has been done few years in a row already, it also gives a sense of what zones might be going up or down (reasons apart). And by that I mean that zones change. Some zones get better, some get worse, some just change into something different.
For example, where I live, houses from the 50's, bought by regular middle class in those days, bus drivers, firefighters, etc., so, neither luxurious nor crappy, well, old folks are really old now, they die, they move to Florida, whatever, one of these old gentlemen, was telling me the other day how many new families with kids are moving to the area, and they are college professors, doctors, engineers... Clearly, in terms of "desirability" that means the area is going UP even if you don't see that right now in the ratings. And in 10 years, when the kids of all these people are in high school, you will see the ratings of this area go up.
So, I think the trend is the key here for folks looking to establish in an area for a long term because of the school district.
So what are we supposed to do then, just give up??
New Cassel's problems need to stay New Cassel's problems and stop bringing down the Village of Westbury. Of course I knew any changes will get New Cassel folks up in arms, why don't they get together and improve the schools (and their community?).
Some folks are, but are met with resistance from the TONH, which drags their heels on any & all code enforcement/housing issues in New Cassel. If our village wasn't incorporated we'd have probably shared the same fate. The schools is a huge negative when it comes to making the village attractive to families. We have the power to vote to secede from Westbury schools, I think...
So, according to you, everyone should help Westbury but New Cassel is on their own?
It seems impossible to come up with a ranking system that is fair to all schools. I never realized how complicated this stuff was! By your methodology, what do you think accounts for the sometimes big changes in numbers in a district from year to year- is it mostly just changes in student body? Or can there be other factors at play? It'll be really interesting to see the 2015 list when common core standards are implemented.
Well, the vast majority of districts did not have a big deviation from last year's scores. There were a few glaring ones I noticed and made note of on the list.
I think the main deviations would be from the test scores, which are weighted heavily. I can't see there being big changes in the 4 year / 2 year college plans, and advanced regents diplomas from year to year. It could be something as simple as a different teacher coming in that year and getting better (or worse) results for the kids on that year's particular regents test. Say one year the kids do poorly on the Trig Regents, then the next they do well.
Some interesting ranks to me are a couple of the "rich districts" that aren't scoring high, like Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. Why is that happening? I admit not knowing much of anything about those areas....are there really good private schools there that people are sending their kids to instead of public?
Some interesting ranks to me are a couple of the "rich districts" that aren't scoring high, like Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. Why is that happening? I admit not knowing much of anything about those areas....are there really good private schools there that people are sending their kids to instead of public?
Locust Valley scored far above Oyster Bay in your ranking. I think Oyster Bay nonetheless was actually a 50% and not your 57% for Advanced Diploma's in any case.
I have a relative who has been telling me about Oyster Bay SD for years and, long story short, they just got rid of an awful superintendent who distinguished herself though awful hires, bizarre tenure decisions, peculiar scandals, and just plain nuttiness and drama. The board was apparently asleep and/or comatose while she ran the place into the ground. Now they have to get back to where they were about 15 years ago and it may not be possible.
Oyster Bay does have it share of socioeconomically challenged students and many of the Cove-types do attend Friends while others may attend St. Anthony's, St. Dominic's, etc. I have heard about half of the students go to non-public schools but don't know if that is accurate. One suspects a good number of residents have now completely given up on the district and it can no longer come close to competing with its neighbors.
Locust Valley does very well in some ratings and fairly well in others.
Some interesting ranks to me are a couple of the "rich districts" that aren't scoring high, like Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. Why is that happening? I admit not knowing much of anything about those areas....are there really good private schools there that people are sending their kids to instead of public?
Are they really rich? I see their household income is around 70k which is below even Hicksville at 84k. Also they are 75% white and next highest demographic are 15% Hispanic. Likely they only have pockets of rich areas.
Locust Valley scored far above Oyster Bay in your ranking. I think Oyster Bay nonetheless was actually a 50% and not your 57% for Advanced Diploma's in any case.
I have a relative who has been telling me about Oyster Bay SD for years and, long story short, they just got rid of an awful superintendent who distinguished herself though awful hires, bizarre tenure decisions, peculiar scandals, and just plain nuttiness and drama. The board was apparently asleep and/or comatose while she ran the place into the ground. Now they have to get back to where they were about 15 years ago and it may not be possible.
Oyster Bay does have it share of socioeconomically challenged students and many of the Cove-types do attend Friends while others may attend St. Anthony's, St. Dominic's, etc. I have heard about half of the students go to non-public schools but don't know if that is accurate. One suspects a good number of residents have now completely given up on the district and it can no longer come close to competing with its neighbors.
Locust Valley does very well in some ratings and fairly well in others.
Yeah, I didn't mean LV was poorly ranked, it's still ranked very high, it just seems like as one of the richest districts on the Island you'd expect them to be a little bit higher, and there are less affluent areas putting up better numbers. On closer inspection, they had some pretty poor numbers on the Trig Regents compared to the top districts. Could be a one year fluke.
Yeah, I didn't mean LV was poorly ranked, it's still ranked very high, it just seems like as one of the richest districts on the Island you'd expect them to be a little bit higher, and there are less affluent areas putting up better numbers. On closer inspection, they had some pretty poor numbers on the Trig Regents compared to the top districts. Could be a one year fluke.
Got it (I remembered a 50.4 Advanced Diploma number as VERY low when I read it in Newsday a few weeks ago when they listed all districts...57% generla population is not too good either). The district does spend a good deal of money per student but that does not seem to help.
It's the illegal population that's bringing the scores way down. My kids did fine in pat med. it's all about parents involvement. Long islanders put too much faith into the rankings.
But OMG if my child doesnt go to the top LI school they wont make anything of themselves
But OMG if my child doesnt go to the top LI school they wont make anything of themselves
Heh, was waiting for the obligatory "schools don't matter, parents do" comment from the jdawg. Of course parent involvement is the single greatest variable for student success. That is a no brainer. But there are other variables I consider important, and keep in mind that the "parent involvement variable" includes MOVING into districts with highly regarded programs.
A couple other considerations:
1.) Poor performing school districts with poor performing students do not invest in the college readiness curriculum that the higher ranked districts do. The better districts will have a lot more course offerings in AP and IB classes, and college accredited courses from local universities. These can give students a leg up on college, and actually reduce the cost of college by starting them off with credits already accrued. From personal experience, I attended 8 years of Catholic grammar school in NYC, so in high school, I was not able to be placed into most of the AP classes. I had to take pre-calc and an english course in college when most public school kids had those requirements met already from high school. Less class time and less money spent in college would have been nice!
2.) School taxes are high EVERYWHERE. There is no magic district that keeps school taxes low. So "getting what you pay for" is a big consideration for parents. Why pay the same school tax rate in a poor performing district when you can pay the same in a high performing one? Personally, that was a major consideration in why I moved.
3.) High performing districts have highly involved parents, which keeps the teachers and administrations' feet to the fire to continue on the path of high quality education. Poor performing districts have less involved parents which lets the teaches and admin get away with reduced quality.
These are my opinions of course, particularly the 3rd point.
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