Table: Montgomery County, Md., School Performance on State Tests

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US News should change their rankings title from "best" to "most improved" schools. I think it is wonderful to acknowledge schools with high achievements in more challenging student populations. But the US News methodology is like awarding Olympic medals to the swimmer who improves their time the most in a given year. The fastest swimmers get eclipsed because their improvement may be measured in tenths of seconds--enough to set a new world record but not a significant improvement. Montgomery County schools like Whitman and Churchill have pass rates on MSAs in excess of 95%.. There isn't a whole lot of room for improvement by this measure. The choice by US News not to call the schools with the highest achieving students "the best" becomes doublspeak if not just plain disingenuousness.

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spedwindh of AL 6:01PM December 22, 2009

but I'll bet Montgomery Blair has a principal who puts students first and goes out of his/her way to keep ANY administrative mumbo-jumbo from being unnecesary distractions or discouragements to the best of his/her classroom teachers.
You don't get a statistical blow-out like this in a tough school without teachers being properly encouraged from the top. I don't mean driven like cattle, or "managed" like store clerks----I mean reach-out-and touch-'em encouraged!

Muser of NM 2:11PM December 18, 2009

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Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings

Robert Morse is director of data research for U.S.News & World Report and has worked at the company since 1976. He develops the methodologies and surveys for the Best Colleges and Best Graduate Schools annual rankings, keeping an eye on higher-education trends to make sure the rankings offer prospective students the best analysis available. Morse Code provides deeper insights into the methodologies and is a forum for commentary and analysis of college, grad, and other rankings.