WaPo Challenge Index released

The Washington Post has released its annual "Challenge Index" ranking of US High Schools. The Challenge Index "measures a public high school's effort to challenge its students" by dividing the total number of AP and Baccalaureate tests taken by students at a school and dividing that by the total number of seniors. The rankings are the brain child of WaPo education reporter Jay Matthews. They have been used by Newsweek to developer their own "top schools" list.

The value of this ranking is debatable—but it is interesting to note. The highest ranked school, Gifted and Talented HS in Dallas, has a cringe-inducing 14 AP tests / senior!! What are they thinking? Who's responsible for this child abuse?

The "Excellence and Equity" data is also very curious. Where available, this data measures the percentage of seniors in a school that achieve at least one AP grade of 3 or better. A low E&E score would seem to indicate a school that offers a lot of AP test with poor results. So the Carlsbad HS with an impressive 2.7 APs/senior but only manages to teach 10% of their students enough to gain a 3+ on any one of them is, in my opinion, just torturing their kids needlessly. Either that or the %10 of the school that takes these test are taking 27 AP tests. No, I don't think so. Tossing your students into the deep end is one thing. Drowning them is another.

I've taken the liberty of tabulating the California schools that appear in among the top 500 schools in their ranking. Of parochial interest here are the two San Francisco high schools that make the list: Lowell was ranked 26th nationally and 3rd in California. Washington came in at 318th nationally and 48th in the state. Congratulations to both!

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Rank	School	City	Index	Equity and Excellence	Subsidized Lunches
14	Eastern Sierra Academy	Bridgeport	5.500	50.0	30.0
22	San Diego High School of International Studies*	San Diego	4.576		47.0
26	Lowell	San Francisco	4.462	90.8	31.0
46	Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies	Los Angeles	3.964	69.0	34.0
47	Troy**	Fullerton	3.956	59.8	Less than 1
80	Gunn	Palo Alto	3.407		5.0
111	Torrey Pines	San Diego	3.056	48.8	4.0
112	School of Creative and Performing Arts	San Diego	3.049		40.6
121	Serra	San Diego	2.976		n/a
145	La Jolla	La Jolla	2.823		15.3
149	Mission San Jose	Fremont	2.791	65.1	3.3
154	Monta Vista	Cupertino	2.772		1.3
158	University	Irvine	2.748	60.8	6.0
166	San Dieguito	Encinitas	2.703		5.4
167	La Costa Canyon	Carlsbad	2.697	9.7	10.5
170	La Canada	La Canada-Flintridge	2.649		n/a
175	University City	San Diego	2.616	23.9	25.0
177	Sunny Hills**	Fullerton	2.607	12.8	2.4
185	Diamond Bar**	Diamond Bar	2.575	50.1	4.0
190	Palos Verdes Peninsula	Rolling Hills Estates	2.537	61.4	Less than 1
192	San Marino	San Marino	2.531		1.0
193	Coronado**	Coronado	2.530	24.5	0.0
200	Westlake	Westlake Village	2.498	35.7	7.4
207	Mira Costa	Manhattan Beach	2.466	42.7	3.0
215	North Hollywood	Los Angeles	2.435	42.6	74.0
218	Saratoga	Saratoga	2.430		Less than 1
226	San Jose High Academy*	San Jose	2.409		58.8
235	San Pasqual	Escondido	2.384	34.0	17.0
242	Malibu	Malibu	2.356	53.4	7.9
248	Menlo-Atherton	Atherton	2.342	52.4	24.1
251	Mira Loma**	Sacramento	2.336	12.5	35.0
252	Palisades Charter	Pacific Palisades	2.333	43.2	21.0
253	Scripps Ranch	San Diego	2.319		18.0
257	Oak Park	Oak Park	2.311	39.6	1.1
258	Cerritos	Cerritos	2.310		5.8
259	Mountain View	Mountain View	2.308	27.5	8.0
259	Patrick Henry	San Diego	2.308		24.9
264	Arcadia	Arcadia	2.288		n/a
269	Santa Monica	Santa Monica	2.271	45.7	22.3
273	Foothill	Pleasanton	2.261		None
275	Leland	San Jose	2.258	47.0	7.0
283	California Academy of Math & Science	Carson	2.239		41.9
284	Burlingame	Burlingame	2.235	37.0	3.0
288	Marshall Fundamental	Pasadena	2.220	30.5	70.0
298	Northwood	Irvine	2.190	55.8	2.4
301	Los Altos	Los Altos	2.185	45.5	n/a
309	Amador Valley	Pleasanton	2.155		2.2
318	George Washington	San Francisco	2.127	27.0	42.0
325	Piedmont	Piedmont	2.113		0.0
330	Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies	Tarzana	2.099	33.2	40.0
334	El Camino	Oceanside	2.075	34.8	31.0
335	Miramonte	Orinda	2.062	60.4	n/a
344	Edison	Fresno	2.047	35.1	65.0
351	Beverly Hills	Beverly Hills	2.037	84.0	2.0
353	Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet	Los Angeles	2.028		85.5
360	Tesoro	Rancho Santa Margarita	2.012	42.5	2.7
363	Palo Alto	Palo Alto	2.005	64.3	4.0
364	Aragon	San Mateo	2.003	35.0	3.0
365	Crescenta Valley	La Crescenta	1.989	39.0	8.0
380	Berkeley	Berkeley	1.955	35.5	n/a
384	Mills	Millbrae	1.947	3.4	4.5
392	Acalanes	Lafayette	1.940		2.0
394	Mission Viejo**	Mission Viejo	1.937	24.2	2.0
399	San Clemente**	San Clemente	1.927	33.2	6.0
404	Bonita	La Verne	1.915	31.9	14.3
406	Marshall	Los Angeles	1.910		72.5
409	Newbury Park**	Newbury Park	1.908		9.0
418	Eagle Rock	Los Angeles	1.898	30.5	63.8
419	Rancho Bernardo	San Diego	1.897		4.0
423	Foshay Learning Center	Los Angeles	1.888	5.6	85.3
424	Mira Mesa	San Diego	1.887		26.2
426	Walnut**	Walnut	1.884		8.5
427	Tamalpais	Mill Valley	1.880		6.0
433	Hillsdale	San Mateo	1.869		10.0
442	Van Nuys	Van Nuys	1.842		80.4
445	Silver Creek	San Jose	1.835		25.0
459	Marina	Huntington Beach	1.819		n/a
461	King Drew Medical Magnet	Los Angeles check	1.814		63.7
465	Point Loma	San Diego	1.806		32.1
469	Clovis West	Clovis	1.804	32.1	17.0
475	Arcata	Arcata	1.788	21.0	10.0
476	Albany	Albany	1.785		n/a
499	Esperanza	Anaheim	1.758	31.6	4.1

* Schools that offer IB tests
** Schools that offer AP and IB tests