Bogus or Believable? U.S. News Ranks High Schools
NEWS FLASH PART 2 FOR TODAY: Based on a more in-depth assessment of the criteria supplied in the U.S. News & World Reports 2012 Best High Schools rankings, it's difficult to see how the selected high schools were selected.
U.S. News & World Report released Tuesday what quickly was called "one of the most extensive analyses and national rankings of U.S. public high schools ever published."
See earlier Eureka-Wildwood Patch News Flash: Rockwood High Schools Receive U.S. News Ranking, Or Not
The exclusive online list, Best High Schools, includes school-specific data on enrollment, location, ethnicity, school type, state assessment proficiency tests, and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. "Using some of this data and a comprehensive methodology, the schools were given a college readiness index score and then numerically ranked and awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals," according to a PR Newswire release about the new list.
Editor's Question: Is the key element here that they said "some" of the data was used? Why wasn't all data used for all the high schools analyzed?
Eureka-Wildwood Patch research revealed the following. NOTE: The data in this grid is taken directly from the U.S. NEWS ONLINE REPORTS and was not created by Patch. Compare for yourself and please share any comments about why you think only one of Rockwood School District's high schools made the top-ranked list for Missouri. (While U.S. News listed student body information and test ratings for most U.S. schools, only Marquette High in the Chesterfield quadrant made its list of best Missouri schools.)
Marquette High College Readiness Index: 43.8
Eureka High College Readiness Index: 47.5
Lafayette High College Readiness Index: 42.1
Rockwood Summit High College Readiness Index: 41.5
The report stated that Rockwood School District's average College Readiness Index is 43.7.
| HIGH SCHOOL | TOTAL ENROLLMENT | Total Minority Enrollment |
Total Economically Disadvantage | Total Full-time Teachers | Proficient in English 2 | Proficient in Algebra 1 |
| MARQUETTE | 2,274 | 20% | 6% | 141 | 89% | 61% |
| EUREKA | 1,880 | 13% | 5% | 125 | 84% | 57% |
| LAFAYETTE | 2,059 | 18% | 3% | 125 | 88% | 55% |
| ROCKWOOD SUMMIT | 1,372 | 15% | 10% | 93 | 78% | 50% |
In This article
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Rockwood School District -- Administrative Center
111 E North St, Eureka, MO -
Eureka High School
4525 Highway 109, Eureka, MO -
Lafayette High School
17050 Clayton Rd, Ballwin, MO (Actually located in Wildwood but uses a zip code stemming from Ballwin Post Office)
Layla Azmi Goushey
3:34 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
My kids have had great learning experiences in Rockwood. Granted, nothing is ever perfect, but there are much worse school districts. I feel blessed that my kids have good learning opportunities. I hope we can find a way to help more kids have these opportunities. As for the data, there are just too many variables to be able to have truly accurate nationwide rankings.
Pam Lieber
5:11 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I'm sorry....but Algebra I scores are dismal !! 50%....is absolutely pathetic! This should be concerning to many parents! No way to spin that....the scores are the scores! The "wonderful" discovery math curriculum is to blame....Everyday and Connected math :-(