high performing minority public schools (SAT, university, grade, scores)
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All of these schools have admissions processes and are 'magnets' by my definition. I'm looking for schools that accept all kids within their attendance zones.
Well that would be a tough nut to crack here in New York, as ALL high school and many middle school admissions are by application. Elementary schools are zoned. But parents in zones with poor schools can still apply to schools in zones with stronger schools, have their kids tested for gifted and talented programs (either in or outside their zone), or send the kids to charters--some of which, like the KIPP or Success Academy schools, are predominantly black/Hispanic and have long records of academic success. But admission to these charters is, of course, by lottery. (And the schools do burnish their record by finding ways to make the weak students leave.)
Because so many big cities have some version of this system--weak zoned schools with an overlay of charters and magnets (as you define them)--I think that yes, the areas you are looking for will indeed tend to be in suburbs, or smaller towns and cities. I too would be interested in what they are.
Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio has a plurality of African - American students (45%), white enrollment is 42%. Shaker even with changing racial demographics has maintained a rigorous and successful academic reputation.
28% of the student body is listed as "economically disadvantaged". SHHS is a good example of economic status playing a larger factor in academic success than race does.
Well that would be a tough nut to crack here in New York, as ALL high school and many middle school admissions are by application. Elementary schools are zoned. But parents in zones with poor schools can still apply to schools in zones with stronger schools, have their kids tested for gifted and talented programs (either in or outside their zone), or send the kids to charters--some of which, like the KIPP or Success Academy schools, are predominantly black/Hispanic and have long records of academic success. But admission to these charters is, of course, by lottery. (And the schools do burnish their record by finding ways to make the weak students leave.)
Because so many big cities have some version of this system--weak zoned schools with an overlay of charters and magnets (as you define them)--I think that yes, the areas you are looking for will indeed tend to be in suburbs, or smaller towns and cities. I too would be interested in what they are.
I believe you're right. It is also the case in Houston, at least the high school level. Most of the high schools here have magnet programs with different specialties. I guess I was asking about suburban schools since those tend to have more socioeconomic homogeneity.
Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio has a plurality of African - American students (45%), white enrollment is 42%. Shaker even with changing racial demographics has maintained a rigorous and successful academic reputation.
28% of the student body is listed as "economically disadvantaged". SHHS is a good example of economic status playing a larger factor in academic success than race does.
Neither greatschools nor schoodigger rated Shaker Heights High very highly. It got only 5/10 in greatschools.
Many of the public schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia, fit your criteria. Archer High, Duluth High, Collins Hill, Dacula High. In the City of Atlanta Public Schools, Grady High and North Atlanta High are high achieving, majority black/latino schools.
Some of these schools do seem to meet the criteria I listed. I'll look into some of their feeders as well. Elementary school zones are smaller and tend to show more homogeneity. I'm not surprised these schools are in Atlanta.
Many of the public schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia, fit your criteria. Archer High, Duluth High, Collins Hill, Dacula High. In the City of Atlanta Public Schools, Grady High and North Atlanta High are high achieving, majority black/latino schools.
I just picked a school at random to look at, Grady High, and found that although the school as a whole is doing fairly well according to this deep assessment, the achieving students are hispanic (somewhat achieving) and white (achieving at a very high level). The disparity in achievement levels for black students, who comprise 53% of the school vs. white students is shocking - 4/10 for black students, and 10/10 for white students.
GreatSchools goes on to say that where you see great disparity between groups of students, it's likely that the lower achieving groups get less support, and I wonder if they can bridge that. I wonder if the more successful students have access to private tutoring, or more parental involvement in the school which would lead to better academic success? Offering - or even requiring - after hours tutoring on campus for those students in any demographic who are struggling academically might be helpful if it's not already offered.
Renaissance High and Cass Tech in Detroit perform well. Villa Middle school in Santa Ana California used to perform fairly well, but it had its problems. Bill Roberts K-8 in Denver is a good school. Not sure what the test scores are though.
I've avoided this thread until now buy what is talked about in the article is necessary for this conversation and what I saw over 30+ years teaching in a majority Black school and school system.
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