Taking issue with magazine’s rankings of RI high schools

To the Editor:

Earlier this month while sitting in the doctor’s office, I perused the pages of the latest edition of Rhode Island Monthly. Amongst the superfluous real estate listings of homes far beyond my price range as well as the rankings of the “best” clam chowder and hot wiener establishments (which I disagree with but will save for another letter) were the rankings of the 50 “best” high schools in Rhode Island. As a high school principal, the visceral reaction that often accompanies the release of this type of information by news outlets is difficult and painful because it compels me to have to explain to students, parents and the wider general public why our school was ranked the way it was. The experience lends credence to Oscar Wilde’s quip: “In the old days men had the rack. Now we have the press.”

So, in order to do this I decided to delve deeper into the process of how Rhode Island Monthly’s high school rankings were derived. The magazine’s publishers provide a convoluted and cryptic explanation of the formula used to calculate the rankings that is based on an amalgamation of data points including Advanced Placement test scores, NECAP and SAT scores as well as graduation rates with different weights attached to each. Overall, 75 percent of a school’s score is derived from NECAP and SAT scores alone. This I found puzzling. To satisfy my curiosity I decided to contact the statistician who conjured this formula in order to seek a better understanding of it. The staff at Rhode Island Monthly informed me that they had no contact information since the person was “freelance.” I expressed my concerns about the validity of the rankings, since three-quarters of their score calculations were based on two very different standardized tests that are not calibrated, and which psychometrically contrast with each other. Furthermore, the statistical samples used for both tests were so small, it is impossible to use them to make an accurate values judgment about a school based on such poor research and ramshackle reasoning. The response I got was to “write a letter to the editor.” Fair enough.

I guess my problem isn’t the fuzzy math or dubious statistics that were used to divine these school rankings. These rankings tell us less about education per se and more about a child’s accident of birth.

My problem is that disadvantaged kids and families that live in less wealthy communities don’t need to be constantly reminded of the bad hand life has dealt them. Neither do public institutions that strive to reverse the deleterious effects of social and economic inequality need to be denigrated in order to sell overpriced magazines at the supermarket checkout. As a pillar of the Fourth Estate the patrician publishers of Rhode Island Monthly have an ethical responsibility to do a better job in vetting their sources of information or should get out of the school accountability business altogether. Perhaps they will even one day consider taking up journalism? Who knows? Either way, they should stick to the chowder and hot wieners since they don’t do the “best” research.

Zachary Farrell

Johnston High School