Dallas Schools Top Newsweek High School Rankings

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iding this and know what is going on in my siudy

kayla of WA 12:50PM October 28, 2011

There are plenty of high schools in affluent communities that are not succeeding in affluent communities, but this begs the question of how to define "success". Some of the most important aims for schools, such as promoting psychospiritual health for all involved and getting our students affectively prepared for a lifetime of learning, are not quantifiable. Among those that are usable for such rankings, I suggest they be assessed by final outcomes, e.g. how students are doing in institutions of higher education say six months after graduation from high school; learning outputs, e.g. scores on the best tests available, such as IB, AICE, and AP; staff inputs, crucially teacher quality and quantity; and physical resources, e.g. library, computers, laboratories. I suggest final outcomes, which should also measure student retention from enrolment through graduation, should comprise one-third of the total "score" for a school; learning outputs one-fourth; staff inputs one-fourth; and physical resources one-sixth.

Bruce William Smith of CA 2:36PM June 23, 2011

All such "best high schools" rankings should always include two additional characteristics for each listed school. (1) A description of the academic standards for student admission to the school. (2) The percentage of students who qualify for free-or-reduced-lunch benefits under U.S. Department of Agriculture standards. It would be very surprising if any of the listed schools has random enrollment and a majority of its students living in poverty. Any school can succeed if it can decide who is allowed to enroll and who is not, Any school can succeed if nearly all of its students reside in affluent households.

Rob Bligh of NE 3:10PM June 22, 2011

If schools and universities encouraged students to study what students find remarkable, interesting, and important, a student's cortex may more fully develop before age 22. Because students are so ensconced with the obedience to authority frame in schools and universities, major decisions and the brain power required to make them are not developed until they leave school. More is said about this in the book Re-opening Einstein's Thought: About What Can't Be Learned from Textbooks, Sense ublishers, 2008.

Conrad P Pritscher of OH 2:10PM June 22, 2011

schools for the wealthy and separated from reality kids. I applaud them for succeeding in educating anyone - even children who are programmed to conform and excel. Teaching is tough work.
But let's see which cities had the best schools when combining all of them in the area. I know a lot of folks in the Dallas area, and their kids say the schools there are being cut back, conditions are not good, class sizes are growing while the number of teachers is shrinking.
So - to get a more realistic picture of how Dallas is doing overall, let's look at SAT scores for all seniors, let's look at graduation rates overall, let's look at the number of girls vs. boys who graduate, take this information and compare it to other cities in the USA of comparable size.
Dallas may still show high marks - I'm not trying to imply they wouldn't. But I think it is a mistake to look at a few schools existing in rarified environments as barometers of how a city does educating ALL of its students. Our school systems should not be about a special few. As Americans we should be obssessing about how EVERYONE has the chance to attend a great school and gain the education that helps them succeed in life.
I personally know the value of public education. Both of my parents went to college. They established learning and college as a "given" in our home without pressure at all. I attended public high schools - nothing special. We were very poor - so we did not equate college with money - just knowledge and learning to think. I attended a state university. I worked my way through-paid it all or got scholarships myself. Had a super experience living on campus and on my own so I didn't miss a thing. Graduated with a Bachelor's degree, then my MBA. I have worked my whole life, had good middle management jobs, and have no financial worries at this time. All with a PLAIN OLD PUBLIC EDUCATION.
Boutique high schools can obtain exceptional results because they have the resources, but even more notable - they screen out the unmotivated kids who might drag down their scores and ratings. Those kids are the real challenge in education. Teachers work much harder to bring those kids along, and though their results may not be as stellar, sometimes the quantum leaps those kids make are far more impressive.
Hats off to the teachers who have half or more of their classrooms filled with kids who struggle. Those teachers are my heroes.

DeeToo of SC 11:13AM June 22, 2011