For the First Time Ever, a Ranking of the State’s Public Schools
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
And this isn’t a trivial debate. Figuring out what makes our best schools work is an essential step towards school reform, a hot-button topic throughout Rhode Island.
But who's right? GoLocalProv put the data to the test, and after months’ worth of research and thorough vetting and analysis, has emerged with a ranking.
Are you ready to debate? Rethink? Relocate?
Top Schools Rankings: The Math A peek under the hood of a summer's worth of data collection and analysis.
Top Schools Rankings: The List From #1 to #52, a listing of every public school and how it fared.
Top Schools Rankings: The Table From NECAPs to SATs and more school data, a comparison of every school.
Fifth Place Top School: South Kingstown High School
Fourth Place Top School: Barrington High School
Third Place Top School: Narragansett High School
Second Place Top School: Block Island School
Rhode Island's Top School: East Greenwich High School
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Comments:
Doreen Gardner
9:04am on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
It is interesting how per pupil spending is factored in. I am guessing that North Smithfield lost quite a bit of ground in the standings because even though the school does a good job preparing students, the town does not financially support the schools like other communities do. The school budget is always very lean. I think that using per pupil spending skews the results.
Tom Martin
9:16am on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
This ranking really adds some science to the debate about funding and serves as a good guide to parents -- the top schools are from all over - EG, Block Island and Classical at #6.
Brilliant work.
Bruce Lemois
9:42am on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Not sure this evalutaion is valid? How does Cumberland HS rank #29 when they out scored Rogers HS, ranked #19, in every area but dollars spent....and teacher/student ratio. Seems they spend more for teachers and get less results????
Seems to me that data would make this ranking, well #53.
John Ghiorse
12:05pm on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Being and empirical guy, I've got no beef with the numbers approach but perhaps there's a way to evaluate the intangibles such as school safety, faculty/student relations, attitudes, spirit, etc. If so, would that change the rankings? Food for thought down the road.
Jill Tobak
7:18pm on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Yea, we're #19; I could not be prouder of my alma mater. Always nice to know where we stand.
Jim T.
Rick Simard
7:51pm on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
I think these numbers show an alarming statstic. At the cost per student as high as it is, it would seem to point out the time has come for school vouchers. When a system spends anywhere from $10K - $18K per student and get these kinds of results, what is wrong? Give this kind of money to a private school and see what those numbers tell!!! I know first hand having been a private school teacher for 10 years and seeing what we had and what we can do for either equal or in some cases, FAR less per student! Time for our politicians to wake up! Make our schools compete for students and see what will happen! #1 students will get a better education and we as parents then have a viable choice of WHO, and WHERE our kids get educated! Thanks for prducing this guide of just HOW bad our educational system truly is! One question, why are schools that spend so much per student given more credit? In my opinion if you spend less but get better results that is worth far more!
johanna Schiffer
8:48pm on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
I'm so proud of all 3 Narragansett schools though not surprised at all at their high ranking. We have such wonderful, creative and dedicated teachers and administrators. They really seem to care about these kids. The PTO is amazing lending support to both staff and the children which really does make a big difference. Another great reason to live here in Gansett!