the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, in New Jersey Monthly’s Top Schools 2018 list , Glen Rock High School came in a very strong 2nd in the state ,moving up from 10th place in 2016 and Ridgewood High School slid from 33rd place in 2016 to 36th place this year .
Data for the New Jersey Monthly ranking of the state’s high schools was obtained from the state Department of Education’s most recent New Jersey School Performance Reports (covering the 2016-2017 school year). Only public high schools were included in the rankings. Among the 305 high schools ranked were six charter schools. Schools lacking sufficient data were excluded.
Leflein Associates, an independent research company in Ringwood, analyzed the data by first standardizing individual indicator scores so that small differences did not have a disproportionate impact on the ranking, but very large differences were not minimized in the relative scores. These indicators were grouped into three categories: School Environment, Student Performance and Student Outcomes. Certain indicators were given extra weighting, as described below. The weighted summary scores for each category were added together to arrive at an overall score. The schools were ranked according to that score.
Here are the categories and indicators used in the ranking:
School Environment: The sum of the standardized rank scores for student/teacher ratio; number of AP and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) subjects offered; percentage of 11th- and 12th-grade students taking at least one AP or IB test in any subject; total number of AP or IB tests taken as a percentage of total 11th- and 12th- grade students; and percentage of students grades 9-12 taking at least one course in visual or performing arts. (Grade 12 enrollment is shown in the published chart for reference only; it is not part of the scoring.)
Student Performance: The percentage of students scoring at or above the benchmark for the math SAT; percentage of students scoring at or above the benchmark for the reading and writing SAT; and the percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher on AP tests or 4 or higher on IB tests.
Student Outcomes: The sum of standardized rank scores for four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (the number of four-year graduates divided by the number of first-time ninth-graders who entered the cohort four years earlier); and the percentage of students enrolled in a two- or four-year college 16 months after high school graduation.
Weighting: The overall student performance score has a weight of 2.67.
The Top High Schools 2018: McNair in Jersey City Soars to #1
https://njmonthly.com/articles/towns-schools/top-high-schools-2018-mcnair-soars-1/
what has improved at Ridgewood schools since Fishbein took office? If nothing has improved, he should probably resign.
Well after Ridgewood Board of Education installs golden bathrooms in the high school and other cosmetic changes Ridgewood High will move up to number 1.
Down down down we go. We don’t need the cosmetic devices. “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!”
How about spending some money on education instead of fancy finishes? No college asks “How beautiful was your school?” They ask “What did you learn there?” How many 3-D printers does Ridgewood own? How many students take the AP exams? How do they do? How many students who don’t wish to go to college but need education in more manual skills have that opportunity? We had all this up until the 80’s? We were very highly ranked in the 70’s, slightly lower in the 80’s, and as close to the bottom of current schools as we can get currently. Next year we well may be off of the charts.
We’ve given up “gifted and talented” classes, and there is no longer such a thing as homogenous reading and math groups–curtesy of the “no child left behind laws”. Our talented children are forced to hear the same math problem explained for days and get really bored and tune out school. We don’t seem to have robots, mechanical engineering, or any other learning based clubs. All the other schools are proudly shown off doing, and competing, in Club competition. Why not Ridgewood? Are our teachers too overwhelmed to be able to handle teaching to the child, not to the entire class? And why do our Administrators prefer to spend on beauty rather than things that will actually further our educational goals? Do we still have a debate club, a chess club, etc. etc.? Can all of our students sit at tables to eat or do we only one lunch period where students are sitting on floors, stairs, any where they can find someplace to plop?
Fishbein = USELESS
(and that’s putting it nicely)
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