Grading Our High Schools

By Clancey Denis, Judy Naegeli, Alexandra Notman, and Mary Pritchard

WE CONTACTED EVERY public school district and accredited private high school in King County, requesting student demographics and combing databases for standardized test scores, to compile the following guide to secondary education in the Seattle area. You’ll note a few inconsistencies between the public and private charts, since public schools track data differently from private schools, and private schools track data differently from other private schools. But, like any good student, you’ll of course complement these statistics with firsthand research: Scour websites (we’ve provided those, too), tour prospects, meet instructors, and talk to other parents to help you find your best high school.

Click here for a PDF of the findings.

Updated December 16, 2010. In the December 2010 cover story, “Our Best High Schools,” we indicated that Interlake, Mount Rainier, and Kent-Meridian high schools offer zero IB courses. In fact, they offer 39, 20, and 19 courses, respectively. The number of students per teacher at King’s High School is 14, not 24.

After press time, Shoreline Christian School supplied new data. And Washington State’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction corrected its figures for percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch in the Highline school district as follows: Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment (76.8, not 50.3), Arts and Academics Academy (77.4, not 50.7), Aviation (20.9, not 13.9), Global Connections (69.6, not 37.7), Health Sciences Human Services (76.7, not 44.1), Highline (55.1, not 34.4), Highline Big Picture (54.9, not 36.4), Mount Rainier (40.3, not 25.1), and TEC (67.2, not 44.8).

Further corrections were made to Highline Big Picture’s stats: 83 percent of teachers have master’s degrees, not 55.6 percent as we originally reported; Adequate Yearly Progress was met; SAT scores in math, writing, and critical reading are 383, 434, and 474 (and not 387, 389, and 425); and the on-time graduation rate is 71.2, not 57.9.

KEY

PUBLIC SCHOOLS
A dash (—) indicates the figure does not apply to the school, the school does not track the figure, or the sample is too small to evaluate. NA Data is not available. NP School did not provide data. Students Passing HSPE Percentage of 10th graders who passed the High School Proficiency Exam, meeting the state standard in reading, math, writing, and science, respectively. Adequate Yearly Progress This column represents whether the high school achieved state goals for proficiency in reading and mathematics. On-Time Graduation Rate Percentage of seniors who graduate within four years.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS
A dash (—) indicates the figure does not apply to the school, the school does not track the figure, or the sample is too small to evaluate. NA Data is not available. NP School did not provide data. An asterisk denotes a school with multiple locations that declined to give separate data for each branch. School of Thought Religious affiliation and/or academic emphasis. “Experimental” schools follow a nontraditional approach to academics. An “integrated curriculum” employs a cross-disciplinary teaching style. An “individualized curriculum” tailors lesson plans to each student. “Individualized instruction” focuses on each student’s particular learning style. At “one on one” schools a student learns by him- or herself. Some schools specialize in teaching students with “learning disabilities,” diagnosed cognitive issues, and others focus on “learning difficulties,” which include a variety of behavioral issues. Acceptance Rate We listed the rate at all first-come, first-served schools as 100 percent, though they do stop accepting applicants once they run out of space. Other rates are as reported by the schools. Diversity Typically refers to the percentage of nonwhite students currently enrolled, but some private schools include other factors—such as parents’ marital status or religion. Average Class Size The average number of students per classroom. When schools provided different averages for distinct grades—say, 20 kids per class for one grade or subject, but 15 for another—we averaged those numbers to come up with the figure on the chart.

Published: December 2010

Comments

By Steph on Feb 15, 2012 at 1:32PM

Will you be publishing a similar article for 2012?

Thanks!

By Ariana Dawes on Dec 15, 2010 at 9:53AM

Thanks, Jeff, for bringing these errors to our attention. Corrections to our high schools data will be updated on this page as soon as we can confirm new data.

By Jeff Petty on Dec 13, 2010 at 9:15AM

I forgot to mention the reported 55.6% of teachers with Master’s degrees. In fact, 10 of our 12 certificated teaching staff, or about 83, have a Master’s degree. If you count the two co-administrators, often in teaching roles in our small school, the figure is 86.

Jeff Petty, Principal
HBPHS

By Jeff Petty on Dec 13, 2010 at 9:42AM

Sorry, that was 83% and 86%.

By Jeff Petty, Principal, Highline Big Picture High School on Dec 10, 2010 at 5:18PM

I saw your “Our Best High Schools” issue at a grocery store check stand today and picked it up to have a glance while waiting to check out. I was surprised to find our school listed, since we are relatively new, very small, and tend still to be somewhat under the radar despite district-leading results on parent and student surveys and strong gains in student performance, including college enrollment and persistence.

What surprised me more were the specious figures for free and reduced lunch (it’s much higher), students per teacher (it’s much lower), Adequate Yearly Progress (should read "Yes"), and On-Time Graduation Rate (71.2 instead of the 57.9 you published). I also noticed the omission of at least three other public high schools in our district (Highline), and an obviously erroneous 0 for AP/IB courses at Mount Rainier HS, where a thriving IB program with 20+ courses has existed for several years.

I would have been happy to provide accurate figures about our school but was not contacted. I don’t know if parents actually use your magazine to research schools; if so I’d advise a rigorous fact-checking.

Jeff Petty, Principal
Highline Big Picture High School