<p>Here is an interesting take on what makes "the best high school" Best... </p>
<p>How realistic is this list? What does it really tell us? How do the usual suspects on CC stack up against this list?</p>
<p>Interestingly the creator of the list Prefers IB over AP, because IB does not have multiple choice and every one has to write a looong essay.</p>
<p>I would like to solicit every one's comments/ideas.</p>
<p>Didn't this list get a lot of criticism for its method of ranking last year?</p>
<p>Jay Matthews (the guy who makes the list) gets tons of criticism for his methods.</p>
<p>Basically, the more kids taking an AP or IB test, the better the school (done by a percentage of the number in the graduating class) -- it doesn't matter if the kids pass the tests or what their score is. It doesn't matter what curriculum the school offers, the GPA, college placement, innovations in education, etc -- just the number of AP/IB tests taken.</p>
<p>plus -- the list is only public schools -- no privates. Andover and Exeter would not even make the list because, if I remember correctly, they do not offer AP classes.</p>
<p>hsmomstef. no. basically almost all top NE boarding schools use AP instead of IB. Exeter and andover offer ore than 25 APs.. typical high school offers a couple. anyway this ranking is only for public schools</p>
<p>bearcats -- sorry, I thought I had read somewhere that Andover and Exeter were doing away with AP classes since the wanted to be able to structure the curriculum better. </p>
<p>the point is -- just having the most kids take the tests (not necessarily even pass them) does not make a school "the best". I have no doubt that some of the schools on the list are actually excellent -- I just have issues with the methodology</p>
<p>It was my impression that the issue regarding some of the schools potentially going away from express "AP" label was purely financial and not how to better structure curriculum? Didn't ETS get a trademark or servicemark registered with that label and then start requiring schools to license it? Weren't some schools offering the same classes with a label of something like "preparation for advanced placement"?</p>
<p>The classes still cover the AP material. My science teacher said that many schools were offering the name too liberally and that the AP officials were ssentially auditing schools. Many boarding schools do not want to do this because the process involves more of a pre-set curriculum than what the schools want. I've also heard from another teacher that they want a copy of his syllabus and he thought that was pretty pointless. The classes cover the material, prepare for the test, but do not have an official "Advanced Placement" in the title.</p>
<p>sugerkim is correct regarding the AP label. Some boarding schools have done away w/ using the AP label's on their classes. I know that Exeter and Lawrenceville have done so (and suspect other schools have already done so or will follow soon). Removing the AP label has allowed the masters (teachers) more flexibility in designing their own curriculum. However, the curriculum will generally still prepare students for the AP tests, which they are encouraged to take.</p>
<p>Dreyfoos is in my town and a few girls in my grade (8th) are going there next year. One of them is taking like, two AP courses in ninth grade but she isn't like, a genius. It's ranked 17 on the list.</p>
<p>AliJ -- I don't think many people take that list seriously.</p>
<p>This is the sort of thing that's done for no other reason than to sell magazines. It's not an indicator of anything. It is objective and quantifiable and...meaningless.</p>
<p>The pre-season football magazines do this all the time. They keep putting Notre Dame on the cover or a Notre Dame athlete and they project Notre Dame really high and so I buy the magazine to read all about my alma mater and then they break my heart when they actually go out onto the playing field.</p>
<p>That said, the magnet school that my son was going to attend if he wasn't going to BS next year had been a top 100 school, getting into the top 25. I think it's a good school. Is it one of the "top 100" in the country? Who knows? Nobody. Who cares? Lots and lots of people. There'll be a front page story in the local paper about it. The school community will be proud of the ranking. People will apply to the school because of the ranking and the attention that comes with it. And the higher the ranking, the more people connected to a school will tend to agree with the ranking...and hold Newsweek and MSNBC in high esteem for being so insightful and perceptive.</p>