Uh-Oh! Hampton Not on Newsweek List

According to an article in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, One of America's Great Newspapers, Newsweek magazine has announced its 2009 list of the top 1500 U.S. public high schools. The following are the Allegheny County (PA) schools making the list, followed by their rankings: Pine-Richland, 814; Upper St. Clair, 917; Quaker Valley, 1,163; Mt. Lebanon, 1,181; North Hills, 1,317; and North Allegheny, 1,326.

Hampton Township will no doubt be smarting, having made the Newsweek list the past 2 years, and having placed a high value on appearing on such lists.

The ranking is based on a Challenge Index devised by Jay Mathews, education writer for the Washington Post. The index is a ratio of the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests given at a school to the school's number of graduating seniors. But actual performance in the AP classes or on the exams doesn't matter! All that's really needed for the index is fodder for the exams.

Look for some expensive programs to be developed to increase AP enrollment and exam participation.