State’s Best High School? University, Magazine Says

Dean Waldfogel bristles at the idea of ranking high schools. The notion that the parts of the high school experience can be broken from the whole misses the point.

“I’m suspect of almost any study that ranks high schools,” said Waldfogel, the deputy superintendent for curriculum in the Irvine Unified School District. “They are such a complex array of academic classes, athletic successes, activities and family involvement.”

He holds this view despite one such attempt, which appeared in Newsweek this week, that ranked Irvine’s University High School as California’s top school and in 22nd place nationwide.

The list also included a number of other schools in the county.

But the list has come under some criticism because the sole criterion used by survey author Jay Mathews was the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses students completed. Such courses are generally held to be college-level offerings, and students who pass a rigorous exam at the end of the course usually receive college credit.

Despite the narrow focus, the results are telling, said Mathews, an education reporter for the Washington Post.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams “are the only existing high-standard measurements of rigor in high schools that exist in the U.S. today,” he said. Taking the college equivalent courses alone isn’t enough, Mathews added. It’s the challenge of examination that prepares students for their future academic careers.

The reputation a high school gains over the years might cause the discrepancy in Irvine’s school district, where all high schools offer similar AP courses, according to some.

“If you take University and compare it against anyone in Orange County or the nation, it’s one of the top schools,” said Tom Nelson, Woodbridge High’s assistant principal in charge of AP courses. Woodbridge ranked 465th in the nation. “And you’re going to see some discrepancy, with the district being open enrollment.”

Word of mouth and excellent test scores have helped University High attract bright students over the years, agreed Diana Schmelzer, the school’s principal.

“Once you build that reputation, it feeds on itself,” she said, adding that teachers encouraged suitable students to enroll in AP classes. “Kids spur each other on and motivate one another.”

Passing the exams in subjects such as calculus, political science, chemistry and art history can earn students college credits and speed up their academic careers. But some said that AP classes were helpful for other reasons, too.

“It’s just a different experience,” said Derek Webster, 17, a senior at University High. “Teachers aren’t going to be baby-sitters as much. They don’t have to convince students why they are there.”

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Ahead of the Curve

University High School in Irvine leads California in total students taking Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes. Here’s a look at how the schools stack up against each other and the nation:

RANK

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Orange County Nation 1. University, Irvine 22 2. Sunny Hills, Fullerton 47 3. Fountain Valley 89 4. Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach 141 5. Marina, Huntington Beach 235 6. Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo 242 7. Esperanza, Anaheim 268 8. Brea Olinda, Brea 311 9. Laguna Beach 321 10. Irvine 327 11. Los Alamitos 370 12. El Modena, Orange 389 13. Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo 414 14. Foothill, Santa Ana 451 15. Woodbridge, Irvine 465

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Source: Newsweek