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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > December > 21 > Entry
Stivers ranks high, but it’s not the only great local high school
Stivers School for the Arts just earned a silver medal in the annual U.S. News and World Report ranking of the nation’s top 100 high schools.
It deserves that praise, and Dayton and the region are again reminded that the school is an educational gem.
As it was hailing Stivers, the magazine passed over five other excellent local high schools that had been ranked last year. It did so even as nothing has changed in Oakwood, Centerville, Cedarville, Bellbrook and at the Dayton Early College Academy to warrant their being bumped off. They were excluded primarily because of a change in the way they were evaluated.
To be fair, they ought to be celebrated, too.
The explanation for how these schools were dropped is a good reminder about the weaknesses of school quality measures. Depending on which criteria are used, good arguments can be made that these schools — and others in the Dayton area never mentioned by U.S. News — also belong in any conversation about great schools. Stivers, a downtown public high school, is highly selective. Only about one in three applicants are picked each year to enter at seventh grade based on their artistic talent, not their academic records.
Unlike most selective schools, Stivers has a challenging population of poor and minority children, kids who often struggle in other settings. At Stivers, they thrive. Test scores compare well with any school in the area, and the accomplishments of Stivers graduates are a testament to the quality of education they get.
Stivers is an especially good example of the particular type of standout school that U.S. News seeks to reward with its list. The magazine judges schools not just by their overall excellence on tests, but also how ready their graduates are for college and, notably, on their success helping their most disadvantaged students to succeed.
The magazine does a service by pointing out great schools that help kids overcome sometimes staggering barriers to compete on a world stage. But U.S. News’ approach is only one measure of excellence.
Here’s what went wrong for the local schools left off the list this year. U.S. News looks at detailed test data to make its first cut, including how many kids at each school scored in each of five categories — accelerated, advanced, proficient, basic and below basic.
Schools that move students up the steps of that ladder, especially poor and minority kids, earn big points.
But this year, U.S. News didn’t have test scores in such detail when it prepared its list. It’s unclear why, since the data is now available on the Ohio Department of Education Web site. Instead, U.S. News used less detailed test data, focusing on how many kids had gone from failing to passing. Schools that dropped from the ranking may have looked less impressive by this measure than they might have with the more detailed data.
It’s likely the five schools dropped out of the top 100 for essentially a technical reason, not due to any significant change in performance.
But they aren’t the only great local high schools that are missing. It just depends on how “great” is quantified. Looking at total test performance? Springboro and Northmont were among the very best in the area. Neither made U.S. News’ list.
If average ACT college entrance scores were a primary measure, then Beavercreek, Tippecanoe and Franklin-Monroe in Darke County would be ranked. Greenview comes in right behind Oakwood if the percentage of graduates receiving an honors diploma is key.
All these schools are excellent in one way or another.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: City of Dayton, Editorials, Education, Rural Communities, Scott Elliott, Suburban Communities
Comments
By Justice Advocate
December 21, 2009 2:43 PM | Link to this
Just curious IF this editorial would have been written had this Dayton PUBLIC School NOT made the list while suburban schools did…..the sad reality is I truly doubt it. Kind of similar to when Kettering’s AYP rating fell and you felt need to justify it and question the No Child Left Behind rating system when a 25% special needs population in DPS which has similarly effected its’ ratings for years has never been allowed to be used as an ‘excuse’. Dayton, this double standard, race and economics based crap has got to end or this entire region will die. It’s sad when even journalistic ethics take a back seat to pure ol’racism, classism and the need to one-up you….our children will compete with the WORLD not just kids down the street who happen to be of a different race or poorer/richer …..and this excuse based crap will not prepare them very well. You think your child is better than a child with less money, less resources, less opportunities? Ok, that’s an easy comparison……but when they enter my classroom on the collegiate level I can guarantee you the there are kids of other nationalities who will outperform them in all areas, so what have we as a nation gained? Your pond of comparison is small and easy but hear this ol’timer when I say the word is large and highly competitive. How sad we won’t advocate and applaud ALL of our regions children because we are too focused on this ‘mine is better than yours’ crap, especially when the playing field is so painfully uneven and YOU KNOW IT!. Common sense says any rating system has flaws and yes, it’s subjective and one can always question why this and not that, but how sad you chose to applaud a DPS School with one sentence while spending the bulk of the editorial justifying why suburban schools were left off this list. Ask yourselves when have you EVER done this to explain or justify a DPS School? Check your hearts people…you might find some ugly stuff in there! As a suburbanite who embraces equality first please allow me to apologize to Stivers and DPS and say CONGRATULATIONS, we, the entire region should be proud of you and ashamed of anyone who would attempt to steal your thunder because of their innate need to feel superior!
By nullvoid
December 21, 2009 3:28 PM | Link to this
My thoughts exactly!
By not impressed with CHS
December 21, 2009 4:52 PM | Link to this
Centerville high school is not that great. My son graduated in 2003 with a 3.4 GPA. He was a 2 time winner of the Athletic academic achievement award. This is the award that they give to sports lettermen if they maintain a 3.2 GPA. My son’s SAT & ACT scores were 95%tile in math and science and 13%tile in reading and English. How does a kid that basically cannot read achieve a 3.4 graduating GPA? The kid’s counselor said he can read just fine with no problems. He was doing great they told me. How was I to know he could not read with mostly A’s all over his report card? I sent him to University of Cincinnati for Aerospace Engineering because China is not going to build our F-16’s for us. As expected he struggled to maintain a 2.4 GPA in his first 2 years. By the 4th year of the 5 year program he had taught himself how to read. He had achieved the deans list his fifth year but by that time the GPA had been set in stone. My son is now one quarter away from a master’s degree and has been on the deans list the whole time. A kid that reads in the 13%tile and graduates high school with a 3.4 GPA is the norm. The school system denying that there is a problem is the norm. Padded grades and no interest help kids in their problem areas is the norm. Those parents of eighth graders and freshmen need to know this is business as usual at CHS and get on to this problem early. One wants to be proud of their local school but not at the risk of one’s child’s education. The only thing we “owe” our kids is an education.
By mlh
December 21, 2009 5:17 PM | Link to this
Bravo, Justice Advocate. You’ve hit Dayton’s nail on the head. That Stivers is an arts magnet is only mentioned in passing. I wonder how much effect their focus on arts and creative problem solving has had on the improvement of their students. When will we understand that removing the arts from our educational institutions is hampering our children in basic life skills as well as stealing their humanity.
By Guilty
December 21, 2009 5:27 PM | Link to this
As I read Justice Advocate’s comments I admit I felt a little guilty. This editorial is unfair to Stivers because it mainly seeks to say Stivers won this award, BUT (whine, whine, whine, whine whine!)…..It is not congratulatory to Stivers, rather it is a slam that some suburban schools weren’t included (or UD’s DECA that boasts a graduation rate that fails to discuss how many kids it puts out the program each year….talk about selective)and instead of just blaming the subjective decision makers (US News) it pokes holes at why Stivers was chosen. I have to agree with JA that had Oakwood or numerous other suburban schools won this award and Stivers been left off the list this year this piece would not have been written and THAT is biased reporting. To say that Stivers is ‘highly selective’ is almost laughable because we all know most suburban schools accept ALL students’ right? (Umm, hmm, whose parents can afford to live in a 250K or far more home and fall within the middle or upper middle income brackets). Please help me understand how suburban schools are NOT ECONOMICALLY selective and we all know there is a strong correlation between economics and academic performance, so this is a weak comment from seemingly professional people who SHOULD (and I suspect do) know better? Could it be you are reluctant to admit a Dayton Public, inner city school with all its inherent challenges could actually even be considered in the same vein as our precious suburban schools let alone come out on top? If this was NOT your intent then know your choice of wording for this editorial gives that impression (maybe you should have let the kids in the Stivers Journalism program edit it for you). As much as I hate to admit it we do enjoy feeling our suburban schools are better than inner city schools and the comparisons are inherently unfair. Thank you JA for having the guts to stand up for right and make us face the ugly truth. Maybe by facing our own ‘crap’ we will grow as adults and teach our children better. I agree the survival of this region greatly depends upon us getting our racism and classism issues in check…..not being from this area I have never seen such overt problems in these two areas as I’ve witnessed in this city/suburbs. Grow up people, the world is progressing and your inability to do so is the noose around your own survival (or not).
By Dan Patterson
December 22, 2009 6:47 AM | Link to this
Only the Dayton Daily News can place the dark cloud inside the silver lining of good and positive news.
By fortressdayton
December 22, 2009 10:54 AM | Link to this
For those who are not forced to send their kids to DPS, rejoice. Your applause and reward comes as your children are lucky enough to live in CV, Oakwood or other areas. What else do you want? Stivers is the only good school in the DPS line-up in my opinion. This article reminds me of the Russian saying: “Oh Lord, my neighbor has a goat and I have none. Oh, Lord, please kill my neighbor’s goat!”