A Failing Grade?
Several of Newsweek’s ‘best’ high schools are not doing enough for their minority students, report says.
By Ibram Rogers
Many of the high schools on Newsweek’s popular annual lists of the nation’s Top 100 schools have glaring achievement gaps between Whites and minorities, according to a new report.
Education Sector, an independent, nonpartisan education think tank, collected student performance data for the 100 schools in Newsweek’s 2005 “America’s 100 Best High Schools” issue. Its report — “Why Newsweek’s List of America’s 100 Best High Schools Doesn’t Make the Grade” — suggests that the formula the magazine uses to compile its list is too narrow.
“While some schools on Newsweek’s list may be among the best in the nation, a closer look at the data reveals that many do not meet a reasonable definition of a good high school,” the report says. “Indeed, some of the schools on the list have such significant achievement gaps that they should be on a list of schools needing improvement rather than one for best schools.
“So many of the schools on the list have such significant gaps in achievement among their student subgroups that it calls into question that entire Newsweek enterprise.”
Sara Mead, co-author of the report and a senior policy analyst for Education Sector, says the formula that Newsweek uses for the rankings doesn’t take into account how schools serve students from different racial and income groups.
