Local News

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Bertha-Hewitt High School ranked in U.S. News and World Report by Rebecca Komppa of the Sebeka-Menahga Review Messenger and Karin L. Nauber of the INH Bertha-Hewitt, Sebeka and Verndale high schools received bronze medals in the first-ever nationwide ranking of public high schools by U.S. News & World Report magazine. That in itself speaks well for our local educational standards, as only 37 schools in Minnesota received recognition in the report, with six schools scoring silver medals and 31 receiving bronze. Overall, the national news magazine analyzed 18,790 public high schools in 40 states using data from the 2005-06 school year. Their methodology is based on the key principles that a great high school must serve all its students well, not just those bound for college, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes that show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators. The high schools surveyed were a diverse mix that included charter and magnet schools and very select high schools. The top 100 schools were awarded gold medals, 405 schools were awarded silver medals, and 1,086 schools received bronze medals. North Dakota and South Dakota were not included in the survey because their schools' testing data was not available. U.S. News & World Report used three sets of data to measure the high schools: reading and math state test scores; test performance of low-income and minority students compared to state averages for such students; and college-readiness performance. They used data provided by School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poors that focuses on a comprehensive review of all education information. In the first step, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students was factored into the state reading and math test scores to determine which schools were performing better than their statistical expectations. For those schools that made it past the first step, the second step determined whether the school's least-advantaged students were performing better than average for similar students in the state. They compared each school's math and reading proficiency rates for disadvantaged students with the statewide results for disadvantaged student groups and selected schools that were performing better than the state average. Schools that made it past the first two steps became eligible to be judged nationally on the final step: college-readiness performance, using Advanced Placement data as the benchmark for success. (AP is a College Board program that offers college-level courses at high schools across the country.) The number of seniors who took at least one AP test before or during their senior year, divided by the total number of seniors, along with how well the students did on those AP tests was how college-readiness performance was determined. Gold and silver medals were awarded to the top performing high schools in this third measure. High schools who made the grade in the first two steps, but not the third, were awarded bronze medals. Bertha-Hewitt High School Principal Mary Merchant said that when she received the news and looked at the criteria she was impressed with the school, staff and students in previous years (the report period is from 2005-2006). "This wasn't anything magical that we did last year. With the high population of free and reduced lunch students we have, it impressed me that we are challenging every single student in the same way. We don't just focus on the high level students. We are really helping those students to strive and meet the challenges. That is what is so exciting about it," Merchant said.