classicalstandsout2007

LYNN - The Alliance for Excellent Education has released an updated 2008 state report card, providing data and statistics regarding Massachusetts high schools and their students.

Now in its fourth year of publication, the state card series offers an overview of relevant high school statistics and other information, often used by lawmakers, funding organizations and the Department of Education.

While Massachusetts is one of the top states in the country when it comes to test scores and academic progress toward No Child Left Behind, the state's dropout rates leave quite a bit to be desired.

According to the state report card, the Commonwealth ranks 23rd in the nation in dropout rates, with an estimated 73.2 percent four-year graduation rate. That number is determined through an independent agency that takes into account statistics provided by both the Massachusetts and U.S. Department of Education.

The statistics reported by those two agencies differ greatly, however, with Massachusetts officials reporting a 96.2 percent graduation rate while the U.S. DOE rates the state's high school students at a 79.3 percent clip.

The report card further breaks down dropout rates by finding schools that are considered "dropout factories," where four-year graduation rates have dropped below 60 percent.

According to the Alliance Web site, official dropout statistics are rarely accurate, but working with Johns Hopkins University the organization has compiled a "promoting power" database, which keeps a constant tab on the number of students enrolled at a school as seniors, compared to the total number of students who enrolled in that same school four years earlier as freshmen.

According to the statistics, Lynn's high schools are teetering on the edge of becoming "dropout factories," although the numbers may not be as accurate because the number of students who change schools or move in and out of the city is higher than many other areas.

Lynn Classical had the highest promoting power rating at 84.07, followed by Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute at 63.39 percent and Lynn English at 61.58 percent.

The Alliance admits that the numbers are not totally accurate, and says on its Web site that the ultimate goal is to have the best graduation rates at every high school in the country.

The Alliance argues that high dropout rates have a strong negative effect on the economy, costing the state $5.8 billion in loss of lifetime earnings from 2007 high school dropouts.

The report card also says that the state would save $363 million in lifetime health care costs and $57.1 million per year in community and state college remediation costs.

Again rating the state as a whole, the Alliance identified 10 specific areas that make a high school successful, and rated the state in those 10 areas.

Massachusetts passed in eight of the 10 sections, including the ability to track individual students over time, identify student demographic information, track students' test records to measure academic growth, knowing which students have been tested, recording information on student college readiness including SAT scores, recording student-level drop out data, match student records between grades K-12 and higher education systems and the ability to evaluate data system quality.

LYNN - Eat your heart out Essex County educators.

According to a new study ranking the top public high schools in America by the U.S. News and World Report, English and Classical are among the leaders in the state in educating students for the future.

The two high schools joined Manchester Junior Senior High School in Manchester-by-the-Sea as the only schools in Essex County to make the three-tiered list, with bronze medal distinctions for both schools.

The nationally recognized magazine ranked 18,000 public high schools in 40 states based on state test scores, college preparation and the education of disadvantaged students. The top 100 schools were classified as gold medal winners, with 405 silver medal schools and 1,086 bronze medal schools.

Overall, Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia was ranked the best in the country, and Boston's Latin Academy led the state rankings in 19th place on the gold medal rundown. Westin, Dover and Wellesley high schools also earned gold medals in the study, which named Massachusetts as the best overall state for a high school education.

The schools studied were based on information available from 2005-2006 state tests and the College Board's Advanced Placement program. To be eligible, schools also had to have "sufficient grade 12 enrollment," meaning that nearly every public high school in the state was studied.

The magazine used a three-step formula in collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 data research and analysis business, and ranked schools based on whether or not they were "performing better than statistically expected for the average student in the state" and "the key principle that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those that are bound for college," according to www.usnews.com, the magazine's Web site.

While English and Classical did not make the gold medal list, they are still among the only schools in the area to receive any recognition, making the administrators that lead them very proud.

"Any time we can be recognized for academic excellence it is a thrill and an honor," said Classical Principal Warren White. "To be mentioned in a nationally recognized publication like the U.S. News and World Report speaks volumes in itself just to be on the radar."

Scores on the MCAS tests have been steadily improving at both schools, and have been particularly successful at English in recent years, but the study does not look at test scores alone. It also looks at a school's ability to educate underprivileged and disadvantaged students who may not be headed to college.

"We do a very nice job here at English; our MCAS scores say a lot about the school. But we don't go looking for a lot of publicity - we treat the top student to the one ranked 1,650th the same," said English Principal Andrew Fila. "Nice and steady, we try to make every day a good day, not a great day, but a good day. We believe in hard work. Everyone here has to earn everything they have."

Both principals also said they were proud to see their schools rise above others in Essex County, proving that the stigma that Lynn may carry in surrounding communities is unfounded.

"It means a lot to this school, and I'm sure it means a lot to the superintendent that everyone who goes to Lynn Public Schools is going to get a good, solid education," said Fila.

Both schools have extensive college preparatory programs, along with programs set up to help students struggling with MCAS testing, or just adapting to the culture of a new country.

For example, the Jobs for Bay State Graduates Program, with participation at both schools, help seniors generate job and industry awareness, along with promoting charitable efforts.

Both schools have also fostered a variety of math and English/language arts programs to help students become more successful in core subjects.

"We have a special math program here where kids volunteer time, and over the last couple of years we have seen those math scores leap up," said White. "We work very hard to meet the needs of all of our students, not just the ones at the top of the class."

The only disappointment in the distinction for the two schools is that Advanced Placement test results were not released by the College Board, which could have prevented the ranking from being even higher.

Administrators said they were planning to contact the local representative to find out why that information was not available.

"We know that both English and Classical have shown very competitive programs, so to see that information was not available was troubling," said Classical Dean of Students Christine Lander.