肯尼碎碎唸

2007 年 Newsweek 美國高中排名出爐, 令人意外的是不少所謂的 “窮人公立學校” 竟然榜上有名, 而且名次還超越一般的貴族學校

Newsweek 的Jay Mathews 說 以往的排名是以成績為標準, 像是以 AP 課程 (大學先修課程) 的通過律 (passing rate) 來排名, 他說很多學校為了要保持高的通過律, 因而限制只有成績很好的學生才能修 AP 課程, 這是很不公平的現象

Jay 也提到比成績很明顯地對富有的家庭有利, 他提到:

 
“Every study shows that if your parents fill their house with books, include you in conversations and take you to plays and museums, you tend to score well on standardized tests even if your school is not the best.”

 
因此他研究出一套以 “挑戰指數” (Challenge Index) 為標準的排名方法, 挑戰指數的算法是把學校該年參加 AP 考試的人數除以該校該年的畢業人數, 這樣一來大學校就沒有優勢, 而且考試成績不會影響排名,

 
Jay 的做法引來兩極性的反應, 可想而知, 貴族學校一定不滿這種排名方式, 而窮人學校會因為他們被重視而感到欣慰

  
有人說這樣以後會造成學校為了排名而鼓勵甚至要求所有學生考 AP, Jay 說當然不排除會有這種情況, 但是儘管如此的話也算是對教育有提升作用, 因為參加考試對學生有很大的學習意義, 總比為了出去玩而逃避考試好

 
最後, Jay 說他的目的是要大家關注一些很努力辦學但是卻被遺忘的學校

我想, 天下真的沒有一套完美的排名系統, 我們要努力的目標是要提升每個學生的競爭力, 而不是只在乎名校


 
P.S.
這些排名都是公立學校的排名, Jay 說大部分的私立學校不願意提供資料讓他們來排名, 所以要完整地排私立學校有困難

他說:
"My children attended both public and private high schools, and I share your interest in rating both varieties. The public schools are very quick to give NEWSWEEK and The Washington Post the data we need. They are, after all, tax-supported institutions. The private schools, sadly, have resisted this and most other attempts to quantify what they are doing so that parents could compare one private school to another. The National Association of Independent Schools has even warned its members against cooperating with reporters like me who might be trying to help what they call consumer-conscious parents like you. They say that parents should reject such numerical comparisons and instead visit each private school to soak up its ambiance. I am all for visits, but I think those private schools are essentially saying that parents like you and me are too stupid to read a list in a magazine or newspaper and reach our own sensible conclusions about its worth.

A few private schools have shared their data with me, but since the majority are resisting, any list of private schools would be too incomplete to be very useful."
 

請點下面的連結看學校排名:
2007 America's Best High Schools