Making the Grade - Economic Disadvantage Doesn't Have To Equal Bad Schools

[Lisa Starbuck]

WATE has a story on their web site about several schools in East Tennessee making the annual U.S. News and World Report's top school list.

No schools in Knox, Blount, Anderson or Roane counties made the list.

The schools were ranked according to how well students did on state tests, how economically disadvantaged students performed on the tests, and how much college-level or AP course work was successfully offered to students.

Over 18,000 high schools were ranked on a "college readiness index" and placed in either gold, silver or bronze categories. The top 100 ranked schools were in the gold category; all others with an index of at least 20 were in the silver; and schools that didn't offer advanced placement courses or achieve a college readiness index of 20, but successfully met the other two performance indicators, were in the bronze category.

Nine high schools in East Tennessee achieved the bronze category:
* Cosby High School, Cocke County
* Gatlinburg Pittman High School, Sevier County
* Morristown East High School, Hamblen County
* Morristown West High School, Hamblen County
* Clarkrange High School, Fentress County
* Oakdale High School, Morgan County
* Sunbright High School, Morgan County
* Oneida High School, Scott County
* South Greene High School, Greene County

Only one Tennessee high school in Tennessee achieved a gold ranking: Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet- Pearl High School in Nashville, where over 95% of the students are economically disadvantaged. This magnet school for engineering and health sciences had a 93.7% proficiency rate for state tests, and a 98.7% AP participation rate.

Compare this school to the dismal numbers at Knox County's attempt at a magnet high school - Austin East Magnet.

What are we doing wrong and why can't we learn from others who are having success? If Nashville can do it well enough to rank in the top 100 high schools in the nation, why not Knoxville?

You can view the complete list and additional details at http://www.usnews.com/sections/education/high-schools/.

[Debi]

My two cousins and their family were thrilled to be accepted into Metro's magnet high school, but I don't think it was the MLK school. There is a completely different outlook on the magnet programs in Nashville.

I questioned a KCS employee about our magnet schools here for my kids. I was told that the elementary programs were great, but to carefully consider the middle/high programs. As I understood it, and I might be wrong, there are magnet classes in an otherwise "normal" high school. I understood him to say there is one magnet class per grade? This seems odd, I might not understand it.

Compare the criteria between the two:

http://www.mnps.org/Page2696.aspx

http://www.kcs.k12tn.net/magnet/austin-east.htm

If A-E is a truly magnet school, then why are kids still zoned there? Why are all the kids in the area not rezoned for other schools unless they meet a rigorous criteria to attend, like Metro's programs? And, if the school were to be run like this, why would parents want their kids to attend at that location? I certainly don't. I also don't believe a true magnet school should have to be a project grad school.

My op, either the area surrounding the school needs to be cleaned out, like Mechanicsville, or the school needs to be moved to a more desirable location.

[Jamey Dobbs]

My children were in the first magnet school class. The "school within a school" concept was not in the original plan when creating innovative magnet schools. The first magnet was located at South Knox Elementary for a few years and involved the whole school. When the Federal Office of Civil Rights (OCS) ordered KCS to improve its desegregation status, this mandate superseded the original magnet school plan and funding. KCS was then expected to achieve both objectives: keep the innovative educational practices and layer on more effective desegregation. KCS staff had to scrap one plan and recreate another. The timing of the OCS order made things very challenging as you can imagine.

Perhaps because of the urgency of the mandate, parents weren't effectively included as collaborators, even though we offered a lot of support. We organized for five years as a group called Network Inner City Schools, but there wasn't a model of effective collaboration to follow. We all stumbled. I hope our new Superintendent brings some new energy to parent/citizen collaboration. It happens in other places and it is critical to school success.

I haven't been able to follow the magnet task force report yet but would like to hear from anyone who has.

[BP]

This isn't entirely true. Newsweek's top 1300 high schools ranked Farragut as 1186 and West as 1206 as well as Oak Ridge at 582. These public schools are ranked based on the number of Advanced Placement Tests (and/or IB or Cambridge Tests, neither of which are offered in Knox County) taken divided by the number of graduating seniors. True, MLK was ranked 25, but Knox County Schools are making an effort. At a somewhat economically disadvantaged school like West, 1186 is pretty good. Keep in mind that, unlike MLK, it is NOT a magnet school.

[Debi]

Having one child of three with a disability, I always wonder why those with disabilities are not factored into what constitutes a great school. If a study like this on economic disadvantaged were done based on the disabled population alone, you would likely find completely different schools listed. Friends in Oak Ridge Schools tell me that were the quality of education for the disabled being considered, Oak Ridge would not be an A school.

Bottom line, AP test scores do not equate to "top schools." It's but one aspect of a top school. My op, do a study on where the graduates, all graduates with subcategories, like disabled, race, are job-wise at 5yr & 10 yr intervals (homemaker does count high!!!), what their level of post-secondary education is, their happiness level, how many are incarcerated, and what their annual incomes are. These would be interesting statistics in finding "top schools."