Here's the link
http://www.newsweek.com/photo/2010/06/13/best-high-schools-top-20.html?GT1=43002
RB looks to be #4 in the state by this years survey.....dropping from #2 in 06/07 and #3 in 08/09.
Riverside Info » About Riverside
America's Best High Schools - Newsweek
(10 posts)-
Posted Monday Jun 14, 2010 14:42 #
-
Unfortunately, we are only about 18th in the Illinois list based on passing rate of AP tests. I don't see the point of AP tests if students do not pass them.
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 10:52 # -
... and I never understood why the main 'index' they calculate does not include the AP test passing rate.
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 10:55 # -
They say that the AP classes offer rigor---and that colleges look for a rigorous schedule.
Do you know that there is a fee of $82.00 for each AP test that you take?
Most AP kids take more than one advanced placement class, so the extra $82.00 adds up quickly. Oh, and RB offers slightly more weight for every A that the student earns--5.5 per A, compared with 5.0 for honors, compared with 4.0 for an A in a "regular" class. Of course, certain colleges look for the unweighted GPA, but that is beside the point.
But if you DON'T take the test, the A is only worth 5.0---even though the student who takes the class but doesn't take the test did the same amount of work as those who do take the test. Unfair you say? Expensive you say? Yeah, me too.
So really, RB doesn't care if you pass the test. They only care if you TAKE the test.
I wonder if RB offers more money to the AP teachers, either by salary or stipend. Hmmm....
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 11:29 # -
And there, in a nutshell, is how Jack Balderman gamed the system. He realized that the Newsweek High School rankings were based only on the number of students taking a test, and not on how well they did or what they learned. Kids were forced into taking tests that they had no chance of passing, but RB got a good ranking from Newsweek. The thing is, RB is a good school with smart kids--there was no reason to spend so much time pursuing a distinction that has little impact on the performance of the students or the school.
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 12:04 # -
I do not know what an AP teacher's salary may be but I can tell you the AP class itself is more intensive according to my son ( he just graduated from RB this month). The Ap test itself is scored on a 5 - 1 basis with 1 being the lowest 5 the highest rank. Most colleges will only give advanced credit for a AP class with a test score of 4 or 5.
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 12:22 # -
Not only that, but colleges will not allow the student to *advance place* out of their major or minor---meaning, if you are a history major and you suffered through AP Euro knowing all of the popes in order, even if you get a 5 on the test, the college will only count it as an elective. So what's the point?
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 13:51 # -
Close friends children have told me taking an AP course prepared them for college in that, ie: taking Stats over again in college they were able to get a high grade where as many of their classmates taking it for the first time got C's or even failed.
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 13:59 # -
There are other benefits for the more liberal use of AP tests besides better prep for college. First, increasing the rigor and the standards of the classes - and therefore the school in general - makes for higher expectations in academics and adds to the 'academic atmosphere' of the school. Sort of like 'dressing for success'. ("We're not To sir with love here"). It is like shooting for the higher target and , even if you get the lower level, it is still higher than if you never sought that higher level in the first place.
Second, the fact that RBHS is egalitarian in allowing anyone to take the test is a very big positive to the student body at large and therefore to the community. I am pretty sure that other schools such as Fenwick, for example, only allow students who satisfy some kind of criteria, or are in some kind special category, to take these tests. Students who happen to not have those kind of (iq/entrance?) scores to be in that special elite category still need rigor and high expectations. I know of several students who never were in any kind of 'gifted' track but , with these AP classes , have distinguished themselves and caught a stride with the gifted kids. At another school they may not have had that opportunity.
Also, 18th place in the whole state is not that bad. It is definitely something that RB should work on -- maybe to provide better assistance to those who need it -- but RB is at least 'pointing in the right direction' and playing in the right field by having the students exposed to that level of rigor.
Maybe this is some of the reasoning the Wa Post used in not giving as much weight to the pass rates when developing the ranking?
Posted Tuesday Jun 15, 2010 20:08 # -
regarding a rigorous curriculum-- two words: honors classes
Posted Wednesday Jun 16, 2010 00:22 #
Reply
You must log in to post.