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Post by warriorpride on May 20, 2008 20:14:43 GMT -5
\3woodgal, I'm curious, why did you do this (speak with a college admissions officers)? I know one personally so not a big dealto get the answer. Hey if you have connections that have the answers, then why would I not ask. Your question makes no sense. Like I said, call for yourself. My question does make sense. by your own accounts, you have a "little guy", and I assume he goes to Brooks, as you've stated that you live in Stonebridge. I have a kid in middle school and a freshman, and I haven't started looking into colleges. And I don't think it would ever occur to me to ask colleges how they would view/weight applications from WV and NV differently - that's an irrelevant point. Just wondering why you investigated this.
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Post by title1parent on May 20, 2008 23:35:45 GMT -5
I have an idea: when a 204 school gets acclaimed for something, how about if nobody tries to shoot it down or reduce the significance of it? Just a thought I agree. When I post articles from the papers, I try to make sure I include ALL schools in this district. And, I dont recall there being any "bashing" of NV on this site, ever. Please correct me if I am wrong. So, sorry if some of us get a little sensitive with the WV comments. As for Still MS, which was discussed previously, BOTH my children have attended and are attending there. BOTH have never had a problem. I have talked with staff and faculty who work at other schools in this district. They have said the "respect" factor is an issue in THE DISTRICT. Obviously, NOT just one particular school. That goes back to parenting. Finally, if you have issue with Still MS or WV's environment, I agree with GM. Homeschool, go private, or MOVE.
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Post by rural on May 21, 2008 0:03:24 GMT -5
Take the time as I have done and speak with a college admissions officer....not the recruiters. Many schools take the application and perspective students are awarded points for categories. Often your GPA is multiplied by a number (based on the high school) which will give you a new number to be used ib your total points being used to determine admission. I am not saying that the WV number is bad vs the NV number....but for the 2 schools I spoke to the NV, NC and NN numbers are higher than WV. what are the numbers ? For those interested here are the October 2007 ACT numbers: Naperville Central 24.1 Naperville North 24.6 Neuqua Valley 23.8 Waubonsie Valley 22.6 They don't seem that far apart if you asked me. www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/October-2007/How-Your-High-School-Stacks-Up/By-the-Numbers/index.php?cp=1&si=0
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Post by warriorpride on May 21, 2008 5:42:59 GMT -5
Ok, so a 1 point difference in average ACT scores, and bascially the same programs are offered at both WV and NV. The college entrance weighting info that 3woodgal stated doesn't make sense.
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Post by title1parent on May 21, 2008 5:58:18 GMT -5
A list is nice but student achievement is even better
May 21, 2008 SUN OPINION
First, let us say that our local public schools offer a fine education.
Be they in Naperville School District 203 or Indian Prairie School District 204, residents can and should feel comfortable that their offspring are getting the kind of education that will help them become successful in life.
Accordingly, it is good to see Waubonsie Valley High School ranked as one of the top 1,300 high schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine.
THE ISSUE: Newsweek magazine has put Waubonsie Valley High School in its list of the top 1,300 public high schools in the nation. OUR VIEW: It's gratifying to be sure, but Newsweek bases its list on only one criterion. When we first saw the announcement of this, we admit we were a bit puzzled. It's not that we don't consider WVHS a top high school, but we would also think that Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central and Naperville North high schools would make such a list as well.
Don't misread this.
In no way do we intend to disparage WVHS's accomplishment.
But Newsweek seems to base its list of the top 1,300 high schools on only one criterion.
That method is to take the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors.
All of the schools on the list of 1,300 are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way.
Newsweek can, of course, develop its list any way it wants, and certainly how many students take advanced courses as a ratio of how many graduate is one valid criterion - but it is only one.
Others might include percentage of graduating seniors, performance on standardized tests, percentage of students attending college, and many others we're sure educators can devise.
WVHS Principal Jim Schmid has put an emphasis on Advanced Placement courses and the district has a lot of them and many students who take them. The idea is that AP courses prepare the students for the rigor of college.
We heartily agree with Schmid on this and applaud the students who take the courses and the parents who probably have to push their youngsters out of their comfort zones to take something more challenging that may help them later.
A ranking on a list is certainly gratifying, but getting students to extend themselves to excel in high school is the real prize.
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Post by asmodeus on May 21, 2008 7:03:11 GMT -5
Sorry to break it to you, but colleges have been normalizing high school GPAs for decades.
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Post by justvote on May 21, 2008 7:54:55 GMT -5
This opinion piece makes me wonder if it would have been written at all if, let's say, Naperville Central was the only area high school on the list. Message to Naperville Sun: your 203 bias is showing yet again.
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Post by gatormom on May 21, 2008 8:28:32 GMT -5
This opinion piece makes me wonder if it would have been written at all if, let's say, Naperville Central was the only area high school on the list. Message to Naperville Sun: your 203 bias is showing yet again. I agree. To criticize this method of ranking schools while some in this district have been ranking Neuqua and Waubonsie based on ACT score alone for years is beyond me. The academic achievement gap is based on those ACT scores and yet not only is it okay to rank our schools that way it appears to be "the method." Since WV had 20 or 30 students score poorly on the ACT to create that gap, it must be the lesser of the two schools.
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Post by asmodeus on May 21, 2008 12:09:50 GMT -5
Why can't there be a measurement of how much a student progresses from the time he enters HS to the time he takes the ACT or SAT? There should be mandatory testing of incoming freshmen to set a baseline. That way we can adjust for the "excellent" students rather than excluding them as this study does. In this scenario, if someone takes an 8th grade ACT-equivalency test and gets a 25, then gets a 25 on the "real" ACT, that would count as 0. If someone goes from a 17 to a 23, that should get a +6, and so on. We could then see how much the school is preparing the students vs. how much the student was "advantaged" going in.
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Post by WeNeed3 on May 21, 2008 16:27:49 GMT -5
Why can't there be a measurement of how much a student progresses from the time he enters HS to the time he takes the ACT or SAT? There should be mandatory testing of incoming freshmen to set a baseline. That way we can adjust for the "excellent" students rather than excluding them as this study does. In this scenario, if someone takes an 8th grade ACT-equivalency test and gets a 25, then gets a 25 on the "real" ACT, that would count as 0. If someone goes from a 17 to a 23, that should get a +6, and so on. We could then see how much the school is preparing the students vs. how much the student was "advantaged" going in. IMO this is one of the problems with NCLB also. District 204 is very transient. So naturally, there are incoming students from other areas that might not be meeting standards. Yet they are expected to be brought up to the norm in one year, even if they are three years behind. Each child and each situation is unique and it's hard when you are blanketed in with a generic "fit all" sort of system. There is only "meeting standards" or "exceeding standards" but no reward for "remarkable progress even though still behind" category.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on May 21, 2008 18:35:54 GMT -5
Why can't there be a measurement of how much a student progresses from the time he enters HS to the time he takes the ACT or SAT? There should be mandatory testing of incoming freshmen to set a baseline. That way we can adjust for the "excellent" students rather than excluding them as this study does. In this scenario, if someone takes an 8th grade ACT-equivalency test and gets a 25, then gets a 25 on the "real" ACT, that would count as 0. If someone goes from a 17 to a 23, that should get a +6, and so on. We could then see how much the school is preparing the students vs. how much the student was "advantaged" going in. I have friends who live in Park Ridge who have a very bright daughter. They were actually encouraged to have her take the ACT this year as an 8th grader to see how well she scored vs. when she was a junior. She scored a 20 in the second semester of 8th grade. The ACT costs quite a bit IIRC, so it would be expensive to make it a mandatory test, but you'd think they could do something with ISAT testing. The district is trying to get these kinds of benchmarks in ES with some of the newer metrics. I don't know what they are doing in terms of benchmarking in the higher grades.
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Post by 3woodgal on May 21, 2008 19:09:51 GMT -5
I know one personally so not a big dealto get the answer. Hey if you have connections that have the answers, then why would I not ask. Your question makes no sense. Like I said, call for yourself. My question does make sense. by your own accounts, you have a "little guy", and I assume he goes to Brooks, as you've stated that you live in Stonebridge. I have a kid in middle school and a freshman, and I haven't started looking into colleges. And I don't think it would ever occur to me to ask colleges how they would view/weight applications from WV and NV differently - that's an irrelevant point. Just wondering why you investigated this. I go str8 to the source for accurate information instead of relying on articles and comments on this board or any other. As I told you before I have a contact that can provide that info quite easily so I chose to get it and pass it on. Have a problem with that or is your problem that you don't like the answer?
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Post by 3woodgal on May 21, 2008 19:11:06 GMT -5
Ok, so a 1 point difference in average ACT scores, and bascially the same programs are offered at both WV and NV. The college entrance weighting info that 3woodgal stated doesn't make sense. The weight of the school as as whole! Call up some colleges and get the exact weighting.
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Post by rural on May 21, 2008 19:34:06 GMT -5
My question does make sense. by your own accounts, you have a "little guy", and I assume he goes to Brooks, as you've stated that you live in Stonebridge. I have a kid in middle school and a freshman, and I haven't started looking into colleges. And I don't think it would ever occur to me to ask colleges how they would view/weight applications from WV and NV differently - that's an irrelevant point. Just wondering why you investigated this. I go str8 to the source for accurate information instead of relying on articles and comments on this board or any other. As I told you before I have a contact that can provide that info quite easily so I chose to get it and pass it on. Have a problem with that or is your problem that you don't like the answer? I agree. I don't take anything on hearsay, even from such a reliable source as yourself.
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Post by warriorpride on May 21, 2008 19:46:03 GMT -5
My question does make sense. by your own accounts, you have a "little guy", and I assume he goes to Brooks, as you've stated that you live in Stonebridge. I have a kid in middle school and a freshman, and I haven't started looking into colleges. And I don't think it would ever occur to me to ask colleges how they would view/weight applications from WV and NV differently - that's an irrelevant point. Just wondering why you investigated this. I go str8 to the source for accurate information instead of relying on articles and comments on this board or any other. As I told you before I have a contact that can provide that info quite easily so I chose to get it and pass it on. Have a problem with that or is your problem that you don't like the answer? My problem is with people that have nothing but negative things to say about WV.
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