NOVA brag - ALL Fairfax Cty. High Schools make Newsweek's List of Top HS in US (Annandale: section 8, homes)

[normie]

Now that says a lot, not only about the quality of the schools but about the way of life here and the priorities people have. Congrats to all you parents out there, this is your victory too.

[slim04]

That's the philosophy that Jay Mathews believes in. Put average students in AP or IB classes, they do better than they would than if they were in normal classes. So he designed the rankings to reward schools that do this.

Compare this to my high school, in that they only put the very best students in the AP classes because it was expensive to operate and they only had a limited amount of slots. I prefer the Fairfax County method.

However, average SAT scores tell a different story and there are significant differences between the schools in the area.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by JEB77

.... it may be premature (wishful thinking?) to think the debate over the quality of the local schools will be put to bed any time soon.

My headache has come back *sigh*

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by horseplayer

Some schools pay for the kids to take the exams. I believe MCPS is one.

FCPS also pays for the tests so that they can boost their rankings. It is debated all the time whether they should do this or not, especially in tight budget years. Personally, I think they should cut it except for lower income families.

[frogbiscuit]

It's funny that all schools teach to the same SOL's, all students have to take (and pass) the same SOL's to graduate, yet some schools are 'better' than others.

[DC Oldtimer]

I'm not overly impressed with Matthews methodology. But I think his results are of some value.

At the very least, they are consistent with what I have long contended here: WE DONT HAVE ANY BAD SCHOOLS HERE IN FAIRFAX. All of our schools are good, it's just that some are better than others.

[SteelCityRising]

Great! This is all the evidence I needed to know that I WAS RIGHT (despite what you all said) in that school pyramid thread brou-ha-ha a while back in which people were wetting their pants to beat their chests proclaiming this school as good and that school as "bad" (in order to justify to themselves that they just "had" to pay the premium in housing prices to be in the "best school that money can buy.") As I said, even what you folks call a BAD school in NoVA is STILL an AMAZING school by national and state standards. Heaven forbid Little Johnny can't go to Harvard or Yale though, right? You'd have to be an idiot to argue with me that the NoVA schools are NOT excellent. If you pay $100,000 more for a home to live in a more "exclusive" district, then the joke's on you when your child would have succeeded in a cheaper area.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

WE DONT HAVE ANY BAD SCHOOLS HERE IN FAIRFAX.

(Grabs popcorn in anticipation of cha-cha line of angry Desperate Housewives trying to come up with idiotic excuses of as to why it was "essential" to pay top-dollar for over-inflated housing in "the best district money can buy" when ALL schools are great! )

[Denton56]

Hahahaha, this list has been a joke since Jay Mathews began doing it. It's meaningless to parents who know about education and actually look at what it measures.

And yes, FCPS pays for the kids to take the tests, and require that all students in an AP or IB class take the test. Even if they all fail the test, they still make Jay's list!

It's a very silly thing for FCPS to brag about. Too bad they can't brag about things like raising the SAT scores for Black students, or even for white students. Or how many more kids can read by 4th grade or how many more are reading on grade level by 8th grade. Or opening a second school like TJ because 6 times more students apply than can be accepted. Or how they've really changed academics in low preforming high schools. FCPS hasn't improved any scores, or anything else, in well over a decade.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

I'm not overly impressed with Matthews methodology. But I think his results are of some value.

At the very least, they are consistent with what I have long contended here: WE DONT HAVE ANY BAD SCHOOLS HERE IN FAIRFAX. All of our schools are good, it's just that some are better than others.

Of course! And all the children are above average with very attractive parents who make buckets of money. LOL

Lake Wobegon, right here in Fairfax county!