Recent Newsweek Top 500 High Schools in the US Ranking (Wheaton: low income, 2015)

[Threes-A-Charm]

http://www.newsweek.com/high-schools...h-schools-2015

Interesting York H.S. (Elmhurst) and Hinsdale Central not on list.

Not a very credible list without those two.

Thoughts?

[RJA29]

Nothing against Wheaton North, but is it truly a better high school than Downers Grove North, Glenbard, Lyons Township, or the many, many other high-performing IL suburbs? Any of these lists always seem suspect to me. I'm sure any one of these schools would provide a great education, just like the next 500 that didn't make the list.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by RJA29

Nothing against Wheaton North, but is it truly a better high school than Downers Grove North, Glenbard, Lyons Township, or the many, many other high-performing IL suburbs? Any of these lists always seem suspect to me. I'm sure any one of these schools would provide a great education, just like the next 500 that didn't make the list.

Not sure I understand your comment. Both Wheaton high schools are outstanding. Always have been. Same league as Lyons, Downers North and Glenbard West.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Not sure I understand your comment. Both Wheaton high schools are outstanding. Always have been. Same league as Lyons, Downers North and Glenbard West.

I agree completely that the school is an excellent one. My point is that although the other schools are "in the same league" they are left out of the list of 500. Such a list necessarily usesan algorithm that will leave off some other deserving schools.

Nothing against the high-school, something against the list.

[Lud Kissel]

holl1ngsworth is all about Wheaton, everything Wheaton. On this forum so you need to understand that. Newsweek HS scores are VERY objective. Flame away!!!

[twodoor2]

Glenbrook South is on there (#90), but Glenbrook North is not, and GBN has higher test scores. I see Fremd, Prospect and other Illinois schools on there that also rank lower than GBN in test scores. I'm not sure about their ideology, as there are some very affluent neighborhood schools on there. I have to read the whole article.

I also don't know why talented/gifted schools get on lists like these. It's about how you bring up regular kids, not ones that only include specifically talented and gifted, as they'll do great at just about any school.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by RJA29

I agree completely that the school is an excellent one. My point is that although the other schools are "in the same league" they are left out of the list of 500. Such a list necessarily uses an algorithm that will leave off some other deserving schools.

Nothing against the high-school, something against the list.

Rankings like this are based on information collected from schools by the editors of the publication. Editors send school administrators a survey, administrators fill it out and send it back, editors run the info through their algorithm and publish the results. If a school doesn't send the survey back, they don't make the list. That was likely the case with Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West, Glenbrook North, etc.

The Washington Post recently published a high school ranking that weighed standardized test results alongside low-income enrollment. I was surprised neither Wheaton high school made the list. When I found the algorithm used in the ranking and punched in both Wheaton's numbers, it showed they indeed should have been ranked. So I emailed the author, who agreed with my findings but said he had to rely on self-reporting from the schools. That was the method, and he couldn't step outside and collect the data himself. And since neither Wheaton school had sent the survey back, neither made the list.

US News rankings work the same way.

[Lookout Kid]

All of this just illustrates how ridiculous the ordinal rankings of high schools across 50 different states really is. You're better off individually selecting data points that concern you, and making judgements that fit your family based on those. For instance, if your kids are black and you have a low household income, you might be less concerned about the performance of white non-low-income students in a particular school. If your kids are excellent at math, you might pick a school with a strong math program. There really is no "best school for every kid" out there, though some certainly come closer than others.

In my case I was interested in schools with good scores for white, non-low income students, excellent and numerous AP offerings with depth in science and math, a strong music program, and good preparation for college. So for me, the more traditional "nice town" public schools largely fit the bill. I also made some assumptions that my kids would be roughly as smart as I was and would need to be challenged in similar ways. We shall see if this pans out.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Rankings like this are based on information collected from schools by the editors of the publication. Editors send school administrators a survey, administrators fill it out and send it back, editors run the info through their algorithm and publish the results. If a school doesn't send the survey back, they don't make the list. That's was likely the case with Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West, Glenbrook North, etc.

The Washington Post recently published a high school ranking that weighed standardized test results alongside low-income enrollment. I was surprised neither Wheaton high school made the list. When I found the algorithm used in the ranking and punched in both Wheaton's numbers, it showed they indeed should have been ranked. So I emailed the author, who agreed with my findings but said he had to rely on self-reporting from the schools. That was the method, and he couldn't step outside and collect the data himself. And since neither Wheaton school had sent the survey back, neither made the list.

US News rankings work the same way.

Fascinating -- self-reporting is the worst methodology for data collection, too. Thanks for this insight.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by RJA29

Fascinating -- self-reporting is the worst methodology for data collection, too. Thanks for this insight.

"Ranking Analysis: We surveyed the high schools on both lists identified in the short list analysis for college-readiness data. For those high schools that participated in our survey, we created a weighted College Readiness Index based on the following six indicators: ..."

Source: Methodology of Newsweek's High School Rankings 2015