Schools

Do High School Rankings Mean Anything?

Newsweek, GoLocalProv.com, and RI-CAN recently offered their rankings of Rhode Island high schools — how do you look at this information?


Over the past couple of weeks, several sources — both local and national — have issued their rankings of high schools in Rhode Island.

And while it may be an accomplishment to be named the state's top high school by one group, parents and students may be left scratching their heads when they read other results.

Take Johnston High School, for example.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

GoLocalProv.com named the home of the Panthers number 22 out of 49 in Rhode Island — and Newsweek didn't include it in its national rankings.

And the advocacy group RI-CAN listed Johnston 32nd out of 39 school districts in school performance.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Yet in the past three years, the high school's graduation rate has climbed 12 percentage points since 2007 — and while they still lag behind state averages, student scores on the SAT and NECAP tests have shown some improvement over the past few years.

In the end, the question remains for parents of current — and future — high school students: Do these rankings mean anything?

What do you think?

Are the rankings for your high school fair? What do you think they say about the community? Does a student from a 15th-ranked school actually get less of an education than someone attending a high school ranked in the top 5? 

Have your say in the comments section below.


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