NOVA brag - ALL Fairfax Cty. High Schools make Newsweek's List of Top HS in US (rankings, deal)

[Denton56]

Muffy,
Isn't it a shame that there aren't schools like TJ where children can have their needs met without having to worry about upsetting others? Isn't it silly that other kids' hurt feelings are more important than meeting the ACADEMIC needs of your child? The reality is that hurt feelings is the excuse given in public school when the reality is that kids don't care what work the other kids are doing. It's teachers who care, it's their agenda to make everyone look equal. It is NOT the kids' agenda. Kids couldn't care less if someone is doing calculus while they work on Geometry, or if someone is reading War and Peace while they read Harry Potter. It's the educrats agenda that prevents children from having their academic needs met close to home. It's NOT the children who are the problem. The educrats just like to blame them for their ever-so-sensitive feelings. Hogwash.

I am loving your posts. It's so nice to have someone who ''gets it".

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Wanna bet they will have no clue what that means? Yet, there are so many 2e kids in the school system.

Absolutely. And I agree with you 100%.

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Wanna bet they will have no clue what that means? Yet, there are so many 2e kids in the school system.

Twice exceptional (GT and special ed).

[normie]

Originally Posted by Denton56

It's teachers who care, it's their agenda to make everyone look equal. It is NOT the kids' agenda. Kids couldn't care less if someone is doing calculus while they work on Geometry, or if someone is reading War and Peace while they read Harry Potter.

That's been my observation over the years, too. Of curse, this is nothing new. They were doing a similar thing even back when I was in school. The upper elementary school kids would be divided for math class into four groups. The teachers tried so hard to pretend that there was no difference between the groups. But we kids weren't fools, we knew one group was the fast track, one was for slowest kids, and the two middle groups had the average kids. We went along with the charade because it seemed important to the teachers to pretend the groups were all the same. But you're absolutely right, it's not like any of us cared.

I see the same thing happen with my kids and now my grandkids. Although I agree with the general principle, from my observation catering too much to "sensitivity" can be a mistake. Kids might as well learn that there are some kids who are faster and some who are slower and some who change how fast or slow they are as they grow. That's just part of reality, if you try to over protect kids you end up with young adults who have a hard time adjusting to the real world once they get out of school. IMO.

[Caladium]

So what do you think, will all the schools be making the list again this year?

[normie]

I guess this year's list must be out because I saw an article in the Loudoun Times that mentioned in passing that all of the Loudoun School's made the top 6%.

[Badger21]

Although I agree with the general principle, from my observation catering too much to "sensitivity" can be a mistake. Kids might as well learn that there are some kids who are faster and some who are slower and some who change how fast or slow they are as they grow. That's just part of reality, if you try to over protect kids you end up with young adults who have a hard time adjusting to the real world once they get out of school

Yup. Balance is the name of the game. well said.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

All Fairfax County High Schools Make Newsweek's List of Top High Schools in U.S.

All Fairfax County high schools* have been designated among the most demanding public schools in the country and are featured in the 2009 Newsweek-Washington Post list of 1,478 top U.S. high schools, found at Newsweek - National News, World News, Health, Technology, Entertainment and more... | Newsweek.com. The 1,478 schools represent the top six percent of high schools nationwide.

Two Fairfax County public schools made the list of top 100 schools published in Newsweek, based on a formula devised by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews. In the top 100 are Woodson High School, ranked 71st, and Langley High School at 100.

Rankings for other Fairfax County Public Schools are: Lake Braddock Secondary School, 106; McLean High School, 112; Centreville High School, 129; Fairfax High School, 131; Chantilly High School, 134; Oakton High School, 155; Marshall High School, 157; Herndon High School, 164; South County Secondary School, 174; Westfield High School, 190; Falls Church High School, 196; Madison High School, 197; West Springfield High School, 258; West Potomac High School, 265; Stuart High School, 279; Robinson Secondary School, 296; Hayfield Secondary School, 499; South Lakes High School, 558; Edison High School, 771; Lee High School, 785; Annandale High School, 966; and Mount Vernon High School, 1168.

The Challenge Index measures public high schools’ ability to challenge their students. A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Cambridge tests given by a school to all its students by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students.

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How ridiculous is this? If every high school is great, the list is rather meaningless. Does anyone really think that Woodson is twice as good as Oakton and Madison? Of course not.

[Muffy62]

To do well on this list, make sure your students take as many AP/IB exams and your school will be ranked high! Of course, it doesn't take account of HOW WELL these students did on the test -- what good is it if the passing rate is low? I would like to see the passing rates of the students who took the AP/IB test and I would also like to see how they did on each individual test.

[claremarie]

These rankings also don't take into account of the serious learning that DOESN'T happen when too many students are taking the AP cram courses (often taught by teachers who don't have the necessary background and are working from canned prep materials) and focusing on memorizing the facts that will be on the tests.