<p>This is obviously a ranking of public high schools, but regardless, it is a great accomplishment.</p>
<p>It’s been up there (top 20?) for like the last five or six years. Nothing new Alexandre</p>
<p>I was not aware of this ranking until this year, so this is new to me. Either way, it is a great accomplishment. I know Detroit and Michigan have some of the best public schools in the nation. I recall reading somewhere that the Michigan high school system is among the top 15 (of the 50 states) in the nation.</p>
<p>I don’t really pay attention to these public high school rankings because they are skewed toward states with high population and wealthy (a.k.a. large porportion of professionals) communities. Another criteria the US News is AP/IB exams. I took these exams myself years ago, but less-prosperous districts don’t have the resources to offer a wide variety of these courses for their students. For instance, read this:</p>
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</p>
<p>It gives another reason for some families on both coasts to brag about status and prestige at the (yikes!) high school level.</p>
<p>Shame on U.S. News.</p>
<p>If you want to know the best public school districts in the state of Michigan, use the Detroit Free Press MEAP evaluation database (April 2009): [MEAP</a> database: Find scores for your school district | freep.com | Detroit Free Press](<a href=“http://www.freep.com/article/20090402/NEWS06/90402083/MEAP-database--Find-scores-for-your-school-district]MEAP”>http://www.freep.com/article/20090402/NEWS06/90402083/MEAP-database--Find-scores-for-your-school-district)</p>
<p>IMO, the best five public school districts in Metro Detroit are in Oakland (Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Novi) and (Grosse Pointe, Northville) Wayne counties.</p>
<p>[Birmingham</a>, Bloomfield Hills, Novi schools shine as county has several of state?s top MEAP scores - The Oakland Press News > Local News: The best place for news in and around Oakland County](<a href=“http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/04/03/news/local_news/doc49d5cd5ce2c28051831371.txt]Birmingham”>http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/04/03/news/local_news/doc49d5cd5ce2c28051831371.txt)</p>
<p>[GP</a> schools earn all As from state](<a href=“http://www.grossepointenews.com/Articles-i-2009-09-10-238115.112112_GP_schools_earn_all_As_from_state.html]GP”>http://www.grossepointenews.com/Articles-i-2009-09-10-238115.112112_GP_schools_earn_all_As_from_state.html)</p>
<p>[Journal</a> Newspapers Online: District officials happy with MEAP scores](<a href=“http://www.journalgroup.com/Northville/9468/district-officials-happy-with-meap-scores]Journal”>http://www.journalgroup.com/Northville/9468/district-officials-happy-with-meap-scores)</p>
<p>that’s such bull crap. Thomas Jefferson and the NYC specialized schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science are head and shoulders ahead of International Academy, yet the NYC publics are nowhere to be found on the rankings. Then looking at the methodology and you can tell how worthless the ranking is.</p>
<p>Alexandre I doubt you can say that International Academy is the second best public school in the nation with a straight face.</p>
<p>On to other news… <a href=“Examiner is back - Examiner.com”>Examiner is back - Examiner.com;
<p>^^ Thomas Jefferson was ranked #1 on the US News list, bearcats. </p>
<p>But I agree that the ranking overall is worthless. </p>
<p>And what does bashing Detroit Public Schools have to do with this thread? DPS is irrelevant here.</p>
<p>If you don’t know anything about DPS, I suggest you leave it out.</p>
<p>Speaking as New Yorker, I am a little surprised the special publics (Sty, Hunter College, Brook Tech and Bronx Science) were that low.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh ********. Yonkers is NOT BETTER than Greeley or Scarsdale.</p>
<p>^ my point exactly. International Academy is not better than any of those schools, and half the ranking is screwed up</p>
<p>Ok, addressing some things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>To tenisghs, who made the comment about the rankings being biased towards high-income communities: I agree to an extent, but the International Academy has a vary socioeconomically diverse student body in that the school is a consortium, meaning that surrounding districts buy seats at the school. It isn’t just the Troy and Bloomfield Hills districts that buy these seats, but rather districts like Waterford, Pontiac, Clarkston (formerly), White Lake, and Fenton (formerly). So the attributing the high funding per student to wealthy tax bases is far too simple because IA actually lobbies the state for funding and individual districts buy seats.</p></li>
<li><p>At bearcats: You say that the specialized schools are much better than IA, but you fail to consider the implications of “specialized.” Part of the reason the IA is highly ranked is that it’s students have varied ability levels and varied interests (one only needs to pass an algebra test and a writing test to enter the student lottery, and seats are assigned by chance, not aptitude). So while the specialized schools you refer to are technically “public,” I think it is unfair to automatically assume they are better when their student body is handpicked. Further, the IA offers an extremely rounded curriculum, a trademark of liberal education absent from a specialized curriculum. In this respect I think that the IA is worthy of a high ranking.</p></li>
<li><p>Students at the IA fund their own IB tests, and scholarships are given by an in-house organization to students who cannot afford the examination fees. As for the IB licensing fees, the same in-house organization raises money to pay the fees. So it has less to do with a high tax base and more to do with determination.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>“At bearcats: You say that the specialized schools are much better than IA, but you fail to consider the implications of “specialized.” Part of the reason the IA is highly ranked is that it’s students have varied ability levels and varied interests (one only needs to pass an algebra test and a writing test to enter the student lottery, and seats are assigned by chance, not aptitude). So while the specialized schools you refer to are technically “public,” I think it is unfair to automatically assume they are better when their student body is handpicked. Further, the IA offers an extremely rounded curriculum, a trademark of liberal education absent from a specialized curriculum. In this respect I think that the IA is worthy of a high ranking.”</p>
<p>That’s like saying… MIT and Caltech are very specialized and have a more rigorous selection process, but since they lack the range of “varied ability levels” and do not offer an “extremely rounded curriculum, a trade mark of liberal education absent from a specialized curriculum”, they are inferior to University of Michigan and should be ranked lower… sure</p>
<p>hey by the way, Ross is also very specialized, and “handpick” their students too. The range of “varied ability levels” is smaller and again, Ross does not offer an “extremely rounded curriculum, a trade mark of liberal education absent from a specilalized curriculum”, it is therefore inferior to the LSA and GS and MS of the world must be idiots for targeting Ross over LSA…</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson, Stuyvesant and Bronx Science are much more recognizable names than International Academy once you get out of the little Michigan bubble. Very few people outside of the education bubble would even know what International Academy is, but a lot of people would know these three schools.</p>
<p>“It gives another reason for some families on both coasts to brag about status and prestige at the (yikes!) high school level.”
Sadly, or not so sadly (depending on who you are), money and prestige define the world. People try to downplay these things and think we live in a fair world. I thought I had seen it all before coming from pretty high income family but I have seen what both money and prestige can do first hand in ways most people won’t even imagine after spending four years in high school with people from not just ultra-wealthy, but billionaire families. They pretty much get everything work out their way whenever they want.</p>
<p>bearcats, I am no expert on high schools, but comparing a college that is quasi focused such as MIT (let us remember that MIT is among the top 10 universities in Business, Economics, Philosophy and Political Science) to a specialized high school is not the same. High school students MUST receive a well rounded education. That is not an option. If a student cannot read and write extremely well, they will not succeed in life and those skills are best learned in high school.</p>
<p>“If a student cannot read and write extremely well, they will not succeed in life and those skills are best learned in high school.”</p>
<p>Not to be disrespectful or anything, but you statement is misleading as in you speak as if kids at these high schools don’t take english, history, but simply science and math. That is not the case. They just have an EMPHASIS on math and science in expense of say, advanced government studies or fine arts classes beyond the required level, which is not necessary or important to everyone by any means. </p>
<p>For instance, at Hotchkiss, I took AP US history and AP English because they are required, but skip out on government studies, fine arts, performing arts and the like because they are optional courses that I simply do not like, but that by no means make my education any worse. </p>
<p>Kids at specialized high school simply focus more on math and science (if it’s a math and science specialty), but they still have to take the required humanities and social science classes. They have less OPTIONS in their OPTIONAL humanities and social science classes beyond what is required, in return, they get a much better range of options in math and science courses beyond requirements.</p>
<p>Just like kids at MIT is more likely to load up their schedule with math, science and engineering classes, but they also have to fulfill general requirements. They also have less OPTIONS in OPTIONAL humanities, that doesnt make them not better than Michigan from an overall education point of view.</p>
<p>Trust me Alex, those “specialized” high schools are INCREDIBLY balanced as well.</p>
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<p>Exactly what kind of things did they use their prestige/money for to get things work out the way they want?</p>
<p>My point was less about being well rounded and more about the ethics of selecting a specialized school that cherrypicks its applicants as a top ‘public’ high school. Magnet schools seem quasi-public to me, and IA is NOT a magnet school.</p>
<p>Also, bearcats suggests that the IA is virtually unknown outside of Michigan. I find that hard to believe in that it has some of the highest pass rates in North America for the IB Diploma and in that IA leadership has met with congressmen about the IB diploma program in D.C.</p>
<p>And, bearcats, your point about a range of options in the sciences seems limited. Are you saying that these kid can test into sophomore physics, chem, etc? Because the IA offers a Physics class worth 10 college credits, a chem class worth 8 credits, and a bio class worth 8 credits at the University of Michigan with many students testing out of even higher level courses in those majors as well. Further, the HL math curriculum offers the option to take up through linear algebra. The idea that the science and math curriculum at IA is “standard” is completely wrong.</p>
<p>And your point? Sty and Bronx Science aren’t magnets. Heck Hunter College High School didn’t make it high either, and that school makes Sty look ordinary.</p>
<p>Also smart cookie, I went to a school that isn’t close to Sty and the others, and we had classes that gave that many credits. Not too impressed, sadly.</p>
<p>just stating my opinion guys, but I think all these prestigious high school crap is BS… people are obssessed with major hooks and magnets and stuff… its getting to the point where little kids have to apply and get accepted to a prestigous middle school in order to get accepted AGAIN to a prestigous high school so that they can have a better chance of getting into an IVY or some great college with a famous name. and they spend hundreds of thousands of money for this education BEFORE they even get into college. I don’t know. I think this is just bs.</p>
<p>“they spend hundreds of thousands of money for this education”
Just curious, how do you spend hundreds of thousands to go to Thomas Jefferson or Bronx Science?</p>
<p>I would say it’s crap until I realized there is a big difference. I went to a (according to that list) top 50 or so high school, and I really saw a difference in the way the kids from my school were able deal with college work, versus kids from other schools.</p>