Commentary of Best School Lists

Best school lists are a popular commodity in the education industry. Education websites each have secret methods of their own for devising these lists; but when it comes to Newsweek, one of the current leaders of school rankings and the discussion around it, they're open about the best schools process in which they determine which schools are the best and which are not. As Newsweek puts it, "The Challenge Index is designed to honor schools that have done the best job in persuading average students to take college-level courses and tests. It does not work with schools that have no, or almost no, average students."

Newsweek's list shows the top six percent of all public high schools, measured based on International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement scores. Though schools lower on the list might seem deceptively inferior, every school on the list is at the top of the nation. They also have a Catching Up list that shows schools with an exceptional amount of growth.

There are exceptional schools that won't make Newsweek's list at all. Magnet schools that gather the best-of-the-best are left off the list to make room for schools with "average students" that are being challenged into higher learning with IB and AP.

Needless to say, there's some controversy on the validity of Newsweek's best school lists. This controversy applies to "best-of" lists, even extending to our best private schools list. One of the things to keep in mind when looking at lists like Newsweek's The Public Elites is that these lists are not meant to deter the schools that aren't on it, but earn prestige for the schools that are; they are meant to give recognition and possibly scholarship funding for future students and should have an entirely positive effect on education, not the other way around.

They should also not make a parent's decision whether a student should go to a school or not. While it might act as a good starting point for research, parents should research all the school options available for their child and make a choice that is right for their individual child. This, more often than not, will not involve a "best list."

When using resources on the best schools, the best programs, or the best-anything for your child, critically interpret the information. Sites like K12 Directory of Schools are meant to bring a variety of resources to a parent's fingertips, so lists don't make the decisions about choosing the best elementary school, the best secondary school, or the best high school--the parents do.