North Allegheny rated the 7th best school district in the USA (estate, ranked)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

There are thousands of school districts in America, for a local school board to be recognized for excellence shows they are doing something right.

Recognizing North A doesn't denigrate any of the other fine districts that might not have been so recognized.

North Allegheny is the 2nd largest district in the county, I wouldn't be surprised if its great size made more people aware and gave it a big advantage over Hampton or USC schools, or the other excellent districts here. But they shouldn't feel bad about it.

You know all the buzzwords, but that's still patronizing. There are no national school rankings done by educational groups. There are some such state rankings.
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=62

[PghYinzer]

My dog and I discussed it, and we feel that Keystone Oaks is the best high school in the area. We are an independent group, as we have no children in the district, in fact we don’t even live in the district, however we polled each other and that is the conclusion we came to. I do believe he voted based solely on the fact that it is the only high school he has ever sniffed/walked by and knowledge of the existence of said school probably gave it an advantage over other lesser sniffed/walked by schools in the area.

Sure, the methodology utilized may not be as scientifically sound as some might expect, but it is certainly great news for the community whose school is being recognized.

[Copanut]

Hey, how's bout dem Stillers!


As a proud tax payer in the Great State of McCandless I'm proud as punch for the ranking of good old NASH, as we say it around here. Funny, as a proud graduate of Gateway Area High School we never called it GASH. Go figure.

[chris1219]

While this and any similar ranking is highly unscientific, I believe that most of them correlate with reality pretty closely.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by chris1219

While this and any similar ranking is highly unscientific, I believe that most of them correlate with reality pretty closely.

No, and I'll tell you why.

Here are some stats for N. Allegheny, posted by Retiredcoach:

"NA has a 99% graduation rate, a 0.3% dropout rate,89% of the student body scored proficient in both Reading and Math, an 1840 SAT average,and an average ACT score of 29."

That's great! However, it is well known in education circles that test scores are directly correlated with SES. In other words, NAHS is a wealthy school. NAHS is also the only HS in that district, a district of ~8000 students. In some parts of the country, e.g. the south and the mountain west, for two examples, school districts can be large, with numerous high schools. Look at the Charlotte, NC area SD, for example. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...IQSlGjPj1PBaBA 32 high schools in this huge district. While you might find similar stats at one of those schools, a district with this many pupils and much economic diversity will not have these kind of over-all stats. Size matters, in other words.

Average ACT score of 29. Well, that's high. However, the ACT is a test used mainly by midwestern and mountain west schools, and kids in NA who aren't planning to go to such schools do not generally take it. 16 states, mainly IN the midwest and mountain west, require every junior to take the ACT. Those schools have much lower average ACT test scores.
Which States Require the ACT? Full List and Advice

Of course, NADS has already put this "award" on their website.
North Allegheny School District / District Homepage

ETA: NA has two divisions of its high school, a 9-10 HS and an 11-12 HS, with only one graduating class, albeit large (699 students).

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

No, and I'll tell you why.

Here are some stats for N. Allegheny, posted by Retiredcoach:

"NA has a 99% graduation rate, a 0.3% dropout rate,89% of the student body scored proficient in both Reading and Math, an 1840 SAT average,and an average ACT score of 29."

That's great! However, it is well known in education circles that test scores are directly correlated with SES. In other words, NAHS is a wealthy school. NAHS is also the only HS in that district, a district of ~8000 students. In some parts of the country, e.g. the south and the mountain west, for two examples, school districts can be large, with numerous high schools. Look at the Charlotte, NC area SD, for example. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...IQSlGjPj1PBaBA 32 high schools in this huge district. While you might find similar stats at one of those schools, a district with this many pupils and much economic diversity will not have these kind of over-all stats. Size matters, in other words.

Average ACT score of 29. Well, that's high. However, the ACT is a test used mainly by midwestern and mountain west schools, and kids in NA who aren't planning to go to such schools do not generally take it. 16 states, mainly IN the midwest and mountain west, require every junior to take the ACT. Those schools have much lower average ACT test scores.
Which States Require the ACT? Full List and Advice

Of course, NADS has already put this "award" on their website.
North Allegheny School District / District Homepage

ETA: NA has two divisions of its high school, a 9-10 HS and an 11-12 HS, with only one graduating class, albeit large (699 students).

Still doesn't mean you can't make a comparison to Pittsburgh schools...

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by lettert

Still doesn't mean you can't make a comparison to Pittsburgh schools...

You can make any comparison you want. Whether or not it's valid is a different issue. Large, economically diverse school districts do not have the dazzling statistics of small, high SES districts. Individual schools in said districts may have similar stats.

[Craziaskowboi]

Let's all just pretend that the North Allegheny School District is mediocre instead. Better yet, let's do the "City vs. City" thing and split hairs to create the chasm we need to somehow "prove" that North Allegheny is inferior to the best school districts in every other major metropolitan area. After all, who in their right mind would think that North Allegheny deserves any of the awards it gets as a school district?

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

Let's all just pretend that the North Allegheny School District is mediocre instead. Better yet, let's do the "City vs. City" thing and split hairs to create the chasm we need to somehow "prove" that North Allegheny is inferior to the best school districts in every other major metropolitan area. After all, who in their right mind would think that North Allegheny deserves any of the awards it gets as a school district?

Oh, get over it, Craziaskowboi! Methinks you doth protest too much. I never said the school was mediocre.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

Oh, get over it, Craziaskowboi! Methinks you doth protest too much. I never said the school was mediocre.

Get over yourself. I wasn't talking about you.