Now that lists of high school rankings are being published in the media, parents, teachers, and students will no doubt be wondering where "their" school ranks on the list. The lists of high school rankings are based on student test results. I would argue that the criteria for what makes a high school a good one should be based on something more than what these tests measure.

What are the Basis of High School Rankings?

When you look at high school rankings, information other than the test scores may also be included. Along with the test results, the total number of students attending the school, and the student-to-teacher ratio is also provided. The percentage of students receiving a free or discounted lunch is also tracked.

Since the high school rankings do show that it is possible to have a good number of students getting a free or discounted lunch yet do well on tests, why is this figure included in the numbers prepared for publication?

Again, the administrators and the public are basing their opinion about what makes a school a good one simply on a snapshot of the test results from a single day. This view of high school rankings is a very narrow one. What about intangibles? What about facility attitudes toward teaching? What about student safety? Is the environment encouraging or discouraging. For example, taking California’s API scores, a school catering to a naturally above average student body in aptitude may end up with the highest test scores without teaching or challenging its students. Another school that begins with a student body collectively average or below in natural aptitude may score much lower but provide a challenge and significant improvement to the student body. Which school is then doing its job better? Put another way, if we truly want to get a good handle on high school rankings and what they mean, we need to keep in mind that they only tell one part of the story. Consider, if you will, a competition of any kind. It could be an athletic or academic one. At the end of the day, the winners will be selected. The standings don't show what the competitors went through to prepare for that day, who competed while battling symptoms of the flu, or which ones had trouble concentrating on the task at hand because of problems at home.

High school rankings do the same thing. They show a snapshot of one day but don't take into consideration the hard work the students are putting forward when they go to school or how much progress they have made over the school year. The high school rankings don't indicate which students were fortunate enough to have teachers who were willing to offer extra help or lend an ear when students had a problem they wanted to discuss.

All of these elements have a bearing on high school rankings. You simply can't take all the work that goes into a school year and choose one day that will indicate whether the students are a success or not. Check out the high school rankings if you want to, but do keep in mind that a set of figures does not tell the whole story about a school.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit High School Rankings

California High Schools

California high schools range, like most across the nation, from those high in standards to those severely lacking?in quality, in tools and materials, and in morale.

But as a community college instructor who taught at-risk students from the ?feeder? California high schools in the summer, I would like to focus on the quality institutions?using the same information you can find on a number of websites.

HIGHEST RANKED CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOLS

The ?no child left behind? policy/program came along long after most of these schools were already reaching high. Such schools are ranked by the California Department of Education, given how they sit on the scale: the 1-10 indicating whether the school is in the top one percent through the top ten percent?of all schools in the state. (Such demographics as follows are included in the ranking process: grade level, level of parents? education, and number of students getting free or reduced-price lunch [according to greatschools.net].)

Here are some of the highest ranking schools, for example, in the San Mateo and San Francisco County districts:

At 9 are Aragon High School, Burlingame High School, and Carlmont High School.

At 8 is Hillsdale High School, which is in a more upscale neighborhood, by the way.

At 7, in primarily working-class surroundings, are El Camino High School, Capuchino High School, and Half Moon Bay High School.

And at 2, in the heart of San Francisco on Mission Street, is Jefferson High School.

MOST MANAGABLE CLASSROOM SIZED CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOLS

Another important criterion in the evaluation of high schools is how small the classrooms remain?the teachers clearly able to provide more quality instruction to the more controlled sizes.

Keep in mind that while average size protocol hasn?t changed all that much in many years, population changes have impacted the attempts to keep the average number of students per classroom down to between 20-30.

The following averages, then, according to the standards set by and the reports made by the Dept of Education and others, do not account for classes with more than 50 students (lecture classes, for example), classes taught by department chairs, or special education classes (according to CADOE, 2005-06):

With an average of 25 students per classroom, Jefferson might use this stat to account for its high success/ranking. Close behind 27 students per class on average is Hillsdale. Capuchino and El Camino follow with an average of 28 students per classroom. And with 30 per class on average are Carlmont, Half Moon Bay, and Burlingame. Aragon has 31.

CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOLS WITH SPECIAL SUPPORTIVE PROGRAMS

Might affordable nourishment also account for highly ranking success?
At Burlingame and Aragon high schools, 2 and 5 percent of the students reportedly participate in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program(s). 8 percent do so at Hillsdale High. Respectively, 13, 14, and 17 percent participate in the program(s) at El Camino, Carlmont, and Capuchino. And 24, 25, and 26 percent receive free or reduced cost lunches at High Tech High, Half Moon Bay, and Baden. And again, Jefferson High sees 44% of the students taking the free or reduced-price lunches.

Other factors are important in the assessing of California high schools, but classroom size reduction, the institution of affordable lunches programs, and the relentless devotion on behalf of parents, teachers, and high school administrators clearly contribute to the student?s successful futures.

High School Class Reunion Advice

Let's admit it; we all love and cherish those crazy high school years. Okay, maybe not exactly. It seems like high school goes great for some, and pretty darn terrible for others. I have to say that it wasn't so special for me. I was just kind of there. Anyway, I think it's safe to say that we did all make connections back in school. You probably had a few friends that you were really close with and a few more that you saw on a daily basis. It wasn't so bad. But where are all those old acquaintances now? Have you lost touch with them? Well, no worries if that is the case. There are always more and more high school class reunions. I'm sure you have one every ten years. It's crazy to actually go back there and see all those people you once new. It's amazing how we all change.

I will be the first to admit that I ditched the high school class reunions. I no longer lived in that area, and I wasn't about to make a trip across country to attend that surreal event. However, I found a way to get in touch with old high school buddies and acquaintances with out the hassle of high school class reunions. Not long ago I received an email from my old high school. It was asking me to join a free online club of graduates. Everyone who attended my high school could meet on there and reunite. That's pretty sweet! I simply logged in with me free password and began finding old classmates. There may be something just like this that applies to you and your old high school.

The Internet has made high school class reunions almost unnecessary. With massive websites such as classmates.com and yearbook.com, we hardly need a grand formal get-together. I recently got back in touch with four former buddies from my high school just by using the free website. If you don't have access to such a site, you should give classmates.com a shot. Maybe you want to find out what's happening with a few of your buddies before you tackle one of the 10-year high school class reunions. If no one you want to see is even going to show up, then you might not care to attend yourself. Have a blast by keeping in-touch via the World-Wide-Web.