Mpls Southwest #1 High School....Again (Minneapolis, Minnetonka: buy, housing, suburbs)

[Mason3000]

Here's a question....since many think this ranking is wrong & Mpls SW can't be ranked that high again, can we also assume Edina, Mahtomedi, SLP, Eastview, Minnetonka, et al are also erroneously listed, or is it just the city schools on the list?

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by northsub

The "top" 10 schools in Texas all have participation rates above 90%. Southwest is 73%.

So what you're saying, is that we should apply this measure

Originally Posted by northsub

So, looking at the number of students who take such exams is probably telling you a lot more about the standard at that school than it is telling you about the academic abilities of the students.

leading the the conclusion that Southwest has higher standards than these top ten Texas schools.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

Here's a question....since many think this ranking is wrong & Mpls SW can't be ranked that high again, can we also assume Edina, Mahtomedi, SLP, Eastview, Minnetonka, et al are also erroneously listed, or is it just the city schools on the list?

Edina and Minnetonka are almost always at or near the top of any school ranking list generated for the state of Minnesota. Their presence on this list is not an anomaly.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Edina and Minnetonka are almost always at or near the top of any school ranking list generated for the state of Minnesota. Their presence on this list is not an anomaly.

I will accept your suggestion that the presence of Edina and Minnetonka are not an anomaly. Can you clarify your post somewhat for me? Do you think that the presence of Southwest on this particular list is an anomaly and, if so, why is that the case? You seem to suggest that Edina and Minnetonka are on more lists than Southwest. Is that your point? If so, could you specify what lists include these two schools but not Southwest. Thanks.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

Here's a question....since many think this ranking is wrong & Mpls SW can't be ranked that high again, can we also assume Edina, Mahtomedi, SLP, Eastview, Minnetonka, et al are also erroneously listed, or is it just the city schools on the list?

The issue is the small sample size used from SW compared to the other schools on the list. I am sure those few kids are that good, but that doesn't mean ALL of SW is a good school--or more accurately, has good students in the school. I am sure the teachers are just fine. You are comparing 50 kids at one high school to 400+ at another. I'm sure that if you took the top 50 kids at any other high school on that list, especially Edina, Minnetonka, Mahtomedi, etc., their results would be higher than SW. It's just not comparing apples to apples.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Edina and Minnetonka are almost always at or near the top of any school ranking list generated for the state of Minnesota. Their presence on this list is not an anomaly.

True. Both schools have an excellent reputation, and are often cited as "top" local schools. The same can be said of Southwest, however.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by golfgal

The issue is the small sample size used from SW compared to the other schools on the list. I am sure those few kids are that good, but that doesn't mean ALL of SW is a good school--or more accurately, has good students in the school. I am sure the teachers are just fine. You are comparing 50 kids at one high school to 400+ at another. I'm sure that if you took the top 50 kids at any other high school on that list, especially Edina, Minnetonka, Mahtomedi, etc., their results would be higher than SW. It's just not comparing apples to apples.

But... as has been stated many, many times, they are NOT comparing 50 kids! The school is large! There are far, far more than 50 seniors! Where are you getting your numbers?! Why are you so determined to believe that the study is, for some reason, cherry-picking a few students from Southwest? I think (although haven't checked numbers) that Edina and SW have about the same student body, don't they? In any case, SW is not some tiny high school. There are far more than 50 seniors, or 50 students taking IB/AP tests. I don't think someone can say that one school on this list is "better" across-the-board than any other school on this list (I'm sure each have their individual strengths and weaknesses, and a good personal match for students is important, too), but it's simply inaccurate to suggest that they tallied the information differently for Southwest versus all the other schools on the list. (Southwest has 384 seniors, not 50. Edina had 609, Mahtomedi had 273.)

And why are you so sure that the top 50 kids at the other schools would be "better" than at Southwest? They're coming from the same pool of students: privileged students from highly educated families who value school. They get the same National Merit finalist scholarships, apply (and attend) the same "top" colleges, and go on to the same types of highly prestigious careers. What rationale could one give for why the top Southwest students would be any different? You can't even use geography as a difference -- the kids at Southwest and Edina, for example, could literally live on the same block (and plenty of Edina students live closer to Southwest than they do to Edina H.S.; Southwest is literally just blocks from the Edina/Mpls border.). There's nothing magical that happens when you cross France.

A link to the list methodology:
http://www.usnews.com/education/high...ls-methodology

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

I will accept your suggestion that the presence of Edina and Minnetonka are not an anomaly. Can you clarify your post somewhat for me? Do you think that the presence of Southwest on this particular list is an anomaly and, if so, why is that the case? You seem to suggest that Edina and Minnetonka are on more lists than Southwest. Is that your point? If so, could you specify what lists include these two schools but not Southwest. Thanks.

I grew up and spent my first forty years of life in the southwestern suburbs, and Edina and Minnetonka were both rivals of the district in which I went to school (Hopkins), so I have a tendency to remember those schools when I see them in lists. I know people who have gone to both of those schools in the past, and they've always been quality districts as far as I remember.

However, I've had very little interest in Minneapolis schools (or any urban schools) until very recently ... I now have a nephew at Washburn. Because of this, I'm not sure I would have remembered Southwest being in other lists even if it was, and I have no idea if that school has also been in various lists on a consistent basis or not.

I have no specific opinion about Southwest, since I know very little about it.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

True. Both schools have an excellent reputation, and are often cited as "top" local schools. The same can be said of Southwest, however.

That is quite possible. Since it isn't a SW suburban school, I haven't had much interest in it over the years, and I speak only about those schools I've been somewhat familiar with.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

But... as has been stated many, many times, they are NOT comparing 50 kids! The school is large! There are far, far more than 50 seniors! Where are you getting your numbers?! Why are you so determined to believe that the study is, for some reason, cherry-picking a few students from Southwest? I think (although haven't checked numbers) that Edina and SW have about the same student body, don't they? In any case, SW is not some tiny high school. There are far more than 50 seniors, or 50 students taking IB/AP tests. I don't think someone can say that one school on this list is "better" across-the-board than any other school on this list (I'm sure each have their individual strengths and weaknesses, and a good personal match for students is important, too), but it's simply inaccurate to suggest that they tallied the information differently for Southwest versus all the other schools on the list. (Southwest has 384 seniors, not 50. Edina had 609, Mahtomedi had 273.)

And why are you so sure that the top 50 kids at the other schools would be "better" than at Southwest? They're coming from the same pool of students: privileged students from highly educated families who value school. They get the same National Merit finalist scholarships, apply (and attend) the same "top" colleges, and go on to the same types of highly prestigious careers. What rationale could one give for why the top Southwest students would be any different? You can't even use geography as a difference -- the kids at Southwest and Edina, for example, could literally live on the same block (and plenty of Edina students live closer to Southwest than they do to Edina H.S.; Southwest is literally just blocks from the Edina/Mpls border.). There's nothing magical that happens when you cross France.

A link to the list methodology:
Best High Schools Methodology - US News and World Report

You went to SW, you do the math--the numbers are all there for you--the link posted earlier said there were 250 juniors and seniors in the IB program at SW. The USNWR said they only look at SENIORS, so say 125 kids to start with, look at the percent of kids taking the IB tests according to USNWR and then the passing rate and you get 51 kids......there were 30 kids in our kids room alone taking ONE AP test on Friday, one room out of 10--you do the math....

There is plenty that happens in Edina that doesn't happen at SW, namly, families that care if their kids get an education---with 100% graduation rate and 99% of their kids going on to 4 year colleges, you are comparing apples to turnips....