Decatur High #9 in Georgia According to Washington Post Ranking

Decatur Metro | May 20, 2011 | 6:01 pm

Don points out Decatur High School ranked as the 9th best high school in the state and 233rd best in the nation in a new ranking by the Washington Post.

What’s the formula?

The formula is simple: Divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors. While not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college.

What Georgia schools top Decatur?  Here’s the full list, but for those of you exhausted after a week of clicking-thru, here’s 1-8…

  1. Walton High School in Marietta
  2. DeKalb School for the Arts in Avondale
  3. Riverwood International School in Sandy Springs
  4. Berkmar High School in Lilburn
  5. Alpharetta High School
  6. John Davidson Fine Arts in Augusta
  7. Morgan County in Madison
  8. Columbus High School in Columbus

BTW, it looks like the high ranking high school in the country is in Dallas, TX and the lowest ranking high school on this list is Jackson County High School in Jefferson, GA.

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10 Responses to “Decatur High #9 in Georgia According to Washington Post Ranking”

  1. CSD Mom says:
    May 20, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    That can’t be right. I grew up in Gwinnett County and went to Parkview. Berkmar was the worst school in the district in the 90’s!

    • Sharron says:
      May 20, 2011 at 10:24 pm

      “Berkmar was the worst school in the district in the 90′s!”

      2 decades ago now stereotypes your opinion? Things can change.

      • LTS says:
        May 23, 2011 at 6:43 pm

        Things haven’t changed. Berkmar has been near the bottom in Gwinnett County for years. SInce the 90s, the area around Berkmar has fallen even farther economically. Berkmar has more students on free/reduced-price lunch than any other school in the state. Other rankings aren’t nearly as complementary: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schools/0255001905/school.aspx. Berkmar’s SAT scores are below average for the state and way below average for the county: http://www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/gcps-mainweb01.nsf/FileAttachments/99F4914F7E326AC985256BCE004FEEC7/$file/BerkmarHS.pdf. Looks like this ranking just happens to focus on one bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture for Berkmar. Clearly these rankings are pretty meaningless.

  2. TOK says:
    May 20, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    Given the ranking formula, this looks next to worthless.

    • sarahph says:
      May 21, 2011 at 11:07 am

      Agreed….

  3. Decatur Heights Dad says:
    May 21, 2011 at 11:50 am

    Actually if you read his rationale, it’s not quite as dismissive as you would be led to believe on first glance. His POV is that it’s easy to only have certain students take AP level courses and then have a higher scoring school. However, does this prepare the largest number of students for college? I can appreciate his approach because it’s a better indicator of where the entire school is as opposed to where the top 25% of the students are re: academic achievement.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/high-school-list-shows-hidden-differences/2011/05/11/AFPacM7G_story.html?hpid=z4

  4. J.a.c says:
    May 21, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    Oh man I just got a great idea for a new reality show! Have the Walton High kids trade places with the Jackson County High kids for a month!

    • treesrock says:
      May 22, 2011 at 12:47 am

      That I would watch.

  5. Ben says:
    May 23, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    How did we do last year?

  6. JoeBlow says:
    May 23, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    Glad to see Lakeside at #13…