We have a lot of great restaurants in Park City. When we first moved here, I decided to try one out and asked the server “what is the best thing on your menu?” She quickly answered, “The crab cakes, they are the best in Utah.” I had the laugh because I had just had what most consider to be the best crab cakes in Maryland. The thing is these Utah crab cakes cost $60 and the ones in Maryland were only about $16.
We may have the best School District best in Utah, but when making comparisons with school districts on a national basis how do we compare? My comparison looked nationally for districts that are similar (+/- 20%) to PCSD in 4 critical areas.
· Per Pupil Expenditure
· Student Poverty Rate
· Student Enrollment
· % Minority Students
I found 10 schools matched my criteria in the US. Now everyone uses different tests so it can be difficult to make valid comparisons. My favorite benchmark would be SAT scores, but that only measures the success of college-bound students. My next favorite is NCLB proficiency. How did we rank out of the 10 districts I found?
I was pleased to learn that in high school reading we did well coming in 4th place out of 10. The highest score went to Nordonia Hills City School District in OH taking top honors.
In math, we did not do quite as well coming 9th out of 10. That is correct; we came in next to last in my sample. Once again Nordonia Hills City School District took the top spot in math. Checking the numbers, it appears we lose ground someplace between the elementary school years and the high school.
I’m prepared to let Maryland keep the title of the best crab cakes. After all, they have something we simply don't have here in Utah -- local fresh crab. But I’m thinking the students in Ohio are no smarter than the ones here in Park City. From my perspective, there is no excuse for us not to be #1 in student achievement.
| District | State | 4th Grade Math | 4th Grade Reading | 8th Grade Reading | 8th Grade Reading | HS Math | HS Reading |
| Lockport Township HSD | IL | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 65% | 67% |
| Auburn Washburn | KS | 97% | 98% | 90% | 93% | 87% | 91% |
| Braintree | MA | 53% | 66% | 66% | 88% | 87% | 88% |
| Zeeland Public Schools | MI | 97% | 91% | 78% | 84% | 68% | 66% |
| Nordonia Hills City School District | OH | 83% | 88% | 78% | 83% | 96% | 98% |
| Cornwall-Lebanon School District | PA | 86% | 81% | 79% | 87% | 67% | 74% |
| Dripping Springs ISD | TX | 92% | 93% | 96% | 100% | 84% | 97% |
| Park City School District | UT | 85% | 88% | 86% | 94% | 56% | 94% |
| Fluvanna County Public Schools | VA | 88% | 88% | 90% | 91% | 93% | 96% |
| Arlington | DC | 56% | 82% | 51% | 79% | 32% | 77% |
The chart above is based on the 2008-2009 school year and are from the Federal Education Budget Project.
So, what are they doing differently that we are here in Park City? It is good to analyze, but how do we use this analysis to make us better?
ReplyDeleteGreat question. Finding better schools is only the first step, now lets see what those high performing schools are doing. Read my next entry. "Can We Make Great Teachers?"
ReplyDelete