From Harford County Public Schools:
Two Harford County public high schools, C. Milton Wright and Fallston, are part of an elite group of schools nationwide that are included in the “2009 America’s Top High Schools” list compiled by Newsweek magazine. This recognition places C. Milton Wright and Fallston high schools in the top six percent of public schools in the country rated this way.
The Newsweek list, known as the “Challenge Index,” identifies schools that offer a rigorous instructional program based on high numbers of students taking either Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) tests. The Challenge Index, which was devised by Newsweek reporter Jay Matthews, divides the number of AP or IB tests taken by all students at a school by the number of graduating seniors. The resulting ratio score is used to rank schools in the Newsweek survey.
“We are extremely proud of C. Milton Wright and Fallston high schools for this achievement and are equally as proud of our staff for their dedication to the success of our students,” said Superintendent Robert M. Tomback. “We will continue to encourage our students to enroll in AP courses to elevate them to the highest level of achievement and prepare them for college.”
The total number of AP participants and the number of tests given at Harford County high schools has increased each year since 2005. Last school year, participation in AP assessments increased slightly from 1,230 students in 2008 to 1,253 students in 2009; at the same time, total high school enrollment in the county dropped by approximately 240 students.
C. Milton Wright, Fallston and Bel Air high schools accounted for nearly 60 percent of AP test takers in Harford County in 2009. As a part of school improvement efforts, schools are accelerating student performance to ensure greater participation in AP courses. In particular, the school system continues to address its goal of increasing minority student participation and success in all AP courses.
Superintendent Tomback and Board of Education Vice President Leonard Wheeler will present C. Milton Wright High School and Fallston High School with commemorative wall hangings highlighting their achievements at their schools at 2 p.m. on October 5 and October 22, respectively.
The complete list of Newsweek’s top high schools may be found at http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160.
I think these are both fine schools but it is not a fair way to judge. These tests costs $85 to take. I had a daughter who graduated from Fallston and most of the kids taking the AP course took the test. I have a daughter at the SMA in Aberdeen. Her science AP courses are SMA courses but her history and english AP courses are not. Most of the kids taking the english and history AP tests were SMA kids because many of the others could not afford to take them. It also doesn’t mention how the kids score on those tests! If everyone takes them and they all score a 1 then they are an elite school. Good to know!
Sandy the AP challenge index is crap in my opinion for the reasons you mention. Additionally many schools on the list game the system by getting tons of seniors to take tons of tests to get a high number!
The Newsweek Best High Schools List which school districts around the country love to boast making, is a load of hooey. Jay Mathews, who also writes for the Washington Post which owns Kaplan (SAT/AP prep), has a vested financial interest in selling his List. Mathews also wrote a book about IB which was co-authored by the Deputy Director General of IB and published by an IB Board member.
The List is not outcome based – it doesn’t matter if 99% of the kids who took the AP/IB exams fail them, as long as schools are pushing a large number of kids into these classes, it works well with Mathews’ computation ratio.
http://www.truthaboutib.com
As most everyone knows, the first three posters above are correct. Not to take anything away from our kids, but Volrath & Co. should be ashamed of themselves for trumpeting this list as an “elite” accomplishment. They know better (or SHOULD know better). I might add, if you remove Baltimore City from the data, almost half of the public county high schools in Maryland made this “elite” list; yet only 20% of Harford high schools made it. That should be cause for concern, not celebration (if this list measured something truly meaningful). And it’s pretty pathetic that HCPS is over-blowing the self-congratulation about it; especially since it has absolutely nothing to do with ACHIEVEMENT.
Mr. Volrath: Please stop with the usual smoke and mirrors. We are proud of our school communities, and we have great students (and parents and teachers) in this county….. give them some credit and honor them when they achieve; not when you get enough of them to show up for a test.
I do see some value in this “Challenge Index”, so-called because it recognizes schools that challenge average students to take rigorous coursework, rather than offering AP courses only to the very top students in order to boast high passing rates. That’s important given that so many students a.) go to college after high school and b.) need remediation once they get there.
The problem is that the index presumes that any student who takes an AP test has had rigorous preparation. But without performance data, there is no way to know if the coursework was AP in fact or AP in name only. Once again, we’re measuring inputs without the check and balance of knowing the outputs.
The Newsweek article does provide AP passing rates on the chart that ranks the schools for the Challenge Index, but the passing rates are not a factor in the rankings. It would also be helpful to know what percent of each school’s population take AP classes (many take the class, but not the test).
I’ve asked HCPS for clarification about the AP passing rates noted on the Newsweek chart for CMW and FHS. I’ve also asked that the passing rates (known as the Equity & Excellence rating) be provided for all schools and I’m told we’ll get it this year and also that we’ll see some AP data in the superintendent’s state of the system address planned for October 26.
Cindy Mumby,
What good is “challenging” students to take courses that are above their level of understanding setting them up for failing the exam? How does that improve student morale and readiness? Isn’t it better to have kids SUCCEED at the level of instruction that is appropriate for their needs?
Pushing kids to take AP/IB courses, success be damned, just to make it onto the Newsweek List is detrimental to the entire school. Having kids who aren’t capable of college-level work in a class with students who are, merely slows down the pace of learning for the most gifted students while those who shouldn’t have been there in the first place try to catch up. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Schools need to stop being so PC, re-establish prequals for these higher level courses and improve the quality of teaching in the Honors and Basic tracks. Tracking is not the dirty word Liberals make it out to be.
A few examples of gaming the system. Schools in rich SEC areas force all seniors to take AP English and take the test. Small private schools have all there seniors take AP tests even if they did not take an AP class for it. Small population schools that skim off the top do well on this as they have all the Ivy leaguers and again have them taking 6 or 7 tests. One issue with AP exams is you never had to take the AP class to take the test. IB I believe you did have to take the class. This list is a load of crap as low SEC schools and large schools are generally punished despite their best efforts. Some kids don’t bother with the tests as their school doesn’t accept it or charges them for the credits anyway.
the ‘challenge index’, as stated, is based entirely on a ratio of students taking ap/ib tests. this is a poor measurement of student achievement.
what this does measure is a socio-economic demographic, rather than a skills-achievement index. what that means, is that although students come from a more affluent socio-economic community, and thus follow more entrenched higher education and economic paths/opportunities, THERE IS NO CLEAR INDICATION OF HIGHER SKILLS using this measurement.
students competing to enter top universities will need to test higher on skills..um…period. not on any ‘challenge index’ (gay)
using the ‘challenge index’ we learn our children are economically gifted. however, there is NO INDICATOR that our children function higher, or will score higher on any achievement tests whatsoever, among their peer group (college bound teens).
in short. get off the high horse CMW, yr kids are coming out college-prep STOOPID, and not competitive on a broader international spectrum. average, at best. pat yrself on the back via achievement tests, or stfu.
if we look at achievement tests, CMW in well above the 50th percentile, but comletely at norm for any similar socio-economic (affluent) locale. but CMW students DO NOT not test significantly higher than any similar economic demographic. heh.
being best doesnt work that way.
Oh boy, a bunch of kids paid to take a test — big flipping deal. It doesn’t change the fact that these same schools require remedial classes to get into college. So much for preparing our students, much less challenging them.
I speak from experience – 2 kids graduating from FHS, both required remedial math and english, both in college prep courses, one in certificate of merit courses…
One more reason why I’ve homeschooled the remaining kids in my family, none of which, so far, have required remedial classes to get into college. Less nonsence, better college prep.
juls,
CM courses were the lower level college prep courses, and then honors and AP were the higher level college prep at CMW 2000-2004 when I was there…and nobody I knew who took AP or honors classes needed remedial help for college. Yes, many CM students needed remedial courses for college….because they were students who did not want to learn (should not even have been in CM) and therefore struggled at CM and college if they went on to it. Blame the student if they failed to learn at a place like CMW or FHS or BAHS
And Blame the teacher if they failed to learn at another school?
No, I feel personally that at the other schools there is a key piece missing….PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT….there is a much more active “school community” that supports the kids in their endeavors at the “above-95” schools….Teachers should not be blamed because I doubt they would want to put themselves in those schools and to deal with the issues they face there if they did not care a lot and want to help. I speak from personal knowledge….my parent teaches at Rt 40 schools.
What I meant is that at the “above-95” schools if a child has the right support at home or from family….they will do well if they choose to work at school….but plenty still fail bc they hate school and don’t try at all. I have seen it plenty.
But there tends to be a lack of that support and cherishment of education as a ladder to opportunity in some of the other schools….which is why I am not suprised by the stats about what schools do the best. Teachers shouldn’t be blamed. It is the student who ultimately makes the difference, but their at home environment is the most telling sign of how they will fare in school.
Mike the issues in both communities are not specific top the community but endemic of the whole system you also forgot to mention the enabling parents who make excuses for Johnny when he fails and blames it on everyone but Johnny. That too happens in all communities!
I agree on the parental involvement. I always tried to contact the teachers at the beginning of each school year to make myself available and establish a rapport. It always scared the teachers, and I felt bad, but wasn’t willing to step back just because other parents were screaming at the poor teachers.
Mike – my kid got straight A’s and B’s in CM classes… just FYI…
When I was in CM classes in Anne Arundel County it was the same curriculum as AP, and we studied with the AP kids, the difference was the test prep and taking the AP test. I didn’t have any remedial classes for college… and it wasn’t that long ago.
I got into 2 ivy league schools and nearly a full ride to a “new-ivy” school after taking CM English and Honors/AP everything else at CMW…..it is an excellent school and nearly every Honors student I knew who took similar courses was also able to go on to elite colleges and universities and to do very well….places like MIT, Pitt, Michigan, VTech, Chapel Hill, RPI, Cornell, Washington College, William and Mary, College Park, UVA…..etc. Anyone who wants to gripe about the “state of the schools” and the “poor education” just doesn’t get it. Any child who wants to be a high caliber student and go on to success can do so here.
Cdev,
“Rich schools” DO NOT FORCE their seniors to take the AP English test. If you are so proud of your route 40 schools then do a human interest piece on them and get it published. But do not knock the “high SEC” schools for doing well. There is no “gaming the system” in place at CMW or vast conspiracy to “keep down the low SEC schools” by “FORCING” seniors to take an AP test. You should be ashamed of such a thing. And FYI…..CMW BAHS and FHS are the biggest 3 high schools in the county…..so therefore its not the case that “small schools are rewarded and small schools punished” by this ranking methodology. You’re the kind of person who would allow students in a Rt. 40 high school to feel justified in the “whoa is me, I give up because those people up there want me to fail” mentality. Every person at CMW would probably well up with tears of joy to hear that Rt. 40 students caught up to them in achievement, if it happens. Take pride in your community and you reap the rewards of what you sow. And pride is not the same as despising successful schools due to a percieved slight from SEC status.
Not here but nationally some have done this simply to get there name on this prestigious list. That is why it is a bunch of crap (the list) schools play games to increase their scores without doing anything meaningful to reform instruction! Please READ!
Also note The biggest three schools by enrollment in this county are CMW, ABE and I believe NHF comes in at number 3! At least check your statistics!
About catching up with those schools in achievement. Students at Rt. 40 schools can’t take the classes if they’re not offered. There are more offered at CMW, BAHA and FHS.
I was speaking of enrollment from the standpoint of when I knew the enrollment numbers more…which was 3 or 4 years ago..I guess with the Magnet school Aberdeen becomes #2 in size….but CMW is still biggest and Bel Air, Fallston, N. Harford are all around the same size plus or minus 30 kids (all three are a tiny bit smaller than Aberdeen if you include their magnet school population). It still does not change the fact that actually taking AP tests is worth it and that at many of our schools….the AP students are the only ones who care to learn in a college prep sense….that is not a slight against those who don’t take AP because you do not have to go to college to be a good person or do well in life necessarily….but I think it should still be encouraged that kids have A PLAN FOR THEIR FUTURE regardless of what their path is….
No try Bel Air and Fallston minus 150 kids! And it is more then a tiny bit smaller!
I agree that kids should have a plan for their future.
I think this list is a load of crap and measures nothing and has been easily manipulated by schools on this list! If CMW and Fallston got on this list the correct way by getting kids to take AP classes who belong in them and decide on their own to take the AP test because they feel prepared and have decent pass percents. Great job BRAVO. The sad fact is nationally this list is manipulated by many schools on it to get a high ratio by doing some of the dishonest things I mentioned above!
B. Young,
Can you lend your opinions to this whole discussion? I know in your runs for the council you have mentioned education as a big component of your platform and mentioned things like teacher endorsements, and I would love to see you make your views on AP tests, achievement, etc. heard here since it is a relevant topic. And as a BAHS grad who worked hard to do well, I would think you definitely have something to say about “our schools not prepping students for college”. You are running again this time I hope?
Thanks for your comments Mike, I appreciate your thoughts. The jury is still out on a 2010 run.
The biggest question here is definitely the results of the tests. My second question would be how many students enrolled in AP classes chose not to take the test? I took all the AP tests offered except 1, because I did not feel prepared in that class. As it turns out, the test was remarkably easy as the nationwide “4” and “5” pass rate was so high they revamped the entire test the next year (they made it so tough that it went from one of the highest average tests to one of the lowest). If students took AP courses, but not the test, it would be a bad sign.
The other question is whether or not AP courses are actually more difficult than non-AP courses. Typically, AP courses have better behaving students, so they are more sought-after by teachers. Rank typically means more experienced, better teachers teach the course; my AP English 12 course was hard, but was actually less work than the lower course with a different teacher.
The bottom line is that these statistics, especially ones so limited in scope, really don’t say much. There are many reasons these schools are good; the only thing it really tells me is that the disparate number of AP courses offered at each school in HCPS needs to be explained. Mike is right in that this an issue I asked about 3 years ago.
Mike is also right that the responsibility of education primarily rests on the student; all HCPS schools give a student with a desire to learn the chance to do well in college and, more importantly, in the real world.
Something Brian Youngs points out about AP exams bears repeating from a different perspective. AP allows the flexibility for a student to either take the course and not the exam, or take the exam and not the course. The same does not hold true for IB. IB students MUST take the exam. In addition to the $88 IB exam fee, a school must pay $129 to IBO to “register” that student. No such “registration” fee is necessary with AP to the College Board.
As a parent of children who have attended different high schools but in the same geographic region, I can attest to the fact that teachers do make a big difference. I would say that parental invovlvement is important but I know many involved parents whose students didn’t pass the AP tests and I do believe if their children would have had different teachers, they probably would have. It is a parent’s job to have their child prepared and to study, but it it is not their job to teach the class. Additionally, the school system employs many administrators (former teachers) to work with other teachers and they are housed right in the schools. I think it would be their job to work with the teachers who don’t know what they are doing.
In some subject matters, you can teach a lot more of the “AP Curriculum” and still have it fit into the Harford County curriculum. In other subject matters, like English they have a lot more to fit in with the local curriculum and AP. What really matters is whether the students can pass the test(s) and what percent actually did. You could have a school or school district pay for every student to take the test but that information doesn’t tell you how much the students got out of the AP curriculum.
Question – are there any scholarships available to cover the costs of the AP tests for kids in lower income areas who can demonstrate need?
juls,
that is exactly what I was wondering when thinking about the issue of the cost being prohibitive to kids of low income families…probably not but maybe that could be something that is started by someone with the time and dedication to it. I smell a platform for those seeking office to run on! Haha.
When I taught in a PG county school we used Soda MAchine money to pay for AP test for FARMS kids and any kid who was taking more then 3 exams in a year which we had a few do.
That’s a great idea!
Godd question juls, the answer is yes – here is the link to Federal fee waivers for both AP and IB:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/gt/ap/
ok, I was just curious. Thanks.
To answer your question NY Observer, setting kids up for failure doesn’t do any good and if that’s what some schools are doing just to make this list, I agree with you that it’s disgraceful.
But AP courses are not just for gifted students. They provide the rigor that all students who are planning to attend college will soon face.
At CMW and FHS, over 70% of the Class of 2008 said they planned to attend either a 2 year or 4 year college. Yet according to the Newsweek chart, only around 20% of seniors at either school passed at least one AP test while in high school.
Maybe some students go to college who shouldn’t. But there’s still a big gap between expectations and preparation that could be narrowed by encouraging able students to take AP coursework in high school.
And not just at schools like CMW and FHS, where large numbers of students are predisposed to take college level classes. The true achievement would be to provide opportunities and the necessary instruction so that motivated students anywhere can demonstrate success on AP exams. The Newsweek chart may just scrape the surface of that vision, but I still think it provides some useful information.
By the way, thanks for the links about the IB program – interesting stuff.