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Probably the changing of the overall metrics to incorporate the lack of diversity. Scholastically it's still at an 8.
I'm not at all concerned about a one-year blip (up or down), given the town's PTA involvement and spending on students.
Just wait til HM builds the 1000 unit complex they want to build that the town can't stop because of absurd AH laws. With all the other recent development, diversity won't be an issue not so far down the line.
I took a look at the most recent report card provided by the state and it looks like poor scores on standardized tests in comparison to like districts is an issue. SAT scores are notable. Not sure what would cause that. Influx of poorly educated students? Subpar teachers? Culture of demphasizing test scores over sports or the arts? Like it or not, test scores matter in college admissions.
Not specific to Cranford, but I hate the way GreatSchools ranks! They use weird diversity calculations, and part of the rankings are based on 'improvement'. One of our nearby schools gets a score of 3 on improvement. Well, duh, if close to 90% of your kids are proficient you're not going to be showing a lot of improvement. Our middle school gets a 6 overall, but a 9 in academics. We get 'penalized' for diversity because we're 78% 'white', which includes the South Asians. I guess culture and language doesn't count toward diversity?
Not specific to Cranford, but I hate the way GreatSchools ranks! They use weird diversity calculations, and part of the rankings are based on 'improvement'. One of our nearby schools gets a score of 3 on improvement. Well, duh, if close to 90% of your kids are proficient you're not going to be showing a lot of improvement. Our middle school gets a 6 overall, but a 9 in academics. We get 'penalized' for diversity because we're 78% 'white', which includes the South Asians. I guess culture and language doesn't count toward diversity?
Sorry, rant over.
IMO school ranking should be based strictly on academic standards, like test scores, availability of higher level classes, diversity of classes and experiences, quality of teachers, etc. None of this racial or ethnic diversity, "improvement" type of crap. It can be misleading. Most people, when they say "good school," mean academically good. Getting distracted by a slightly lower score because a town is 90% white or something is just stupid and misses the point.
I know people say that diversity is good in learning environments, but it's interesting how that stat will play out in actual scenarios and skew things. People likely mostly care about quality of the education, not how many minorities a town has.
I know people say that diversity is good in learning environments, but it's interesting how that stat will play out in actual scenarios and skew things. People likely mostly care about quality of the education, not how many minorities a town has.
If I was looking into the best schools of all the areas I was looking at, I'd pick the town with the best schools that I could afford. I don't know what it is about people wanting to be around those who look like them. NJ is more segregated by socioeconomic status than anything. If one can comfortably afford the place they're moving to, it doesn't matter who they are.
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