• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Columbus High Tied for No. 1: Rigdon Road, Britt David Also High on List of State's Top Public Schools

Posted on: Friday, 10 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Mark Rice, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Mar. 10--Sure, the statistics are two years old and the report is four months old. But whenever you find out your high school is ranked No. 1 in the state, it's a mighty good reason for ice cream and brownies.

That's the treat Columbus High students and staff are scheduled to receive Tuesday, when they celebrate this week's realization that the Georgia Public Policy Foundation declared their school tied with Davidson Magnet School of Richmond County for the top spot among the state's 361 public high schools.

Other high-ranking Muscogee County schools in the foundation's 2005 Report Card for Parents are Rigdon Road No. 2 and Britt David Magnet No. 5 among the state's 1,148 public elementary schools.

The county's highest-ranking middle school is Blackmon Road, rated No. 53 out of 452 in Georgia.

Muscogee's lowest-ranking schools are: Jordan, No. 333, among high schools; Marshall, No. 428, among middle schools; and South Columbus, No. 1,106, among elementary schools.

Columbus High learned about the report card Wednesday, after physics teacher Luther Richardson discovered it while looking for something else on the foundation's Web site, gppf.org, said principal Susan Bryant. Richardson alerted Bryant, who alerted the school district central office, which alerted the media that evening.

"We knew we were No. 1 in our hearts, but now it's official," Bryant said Thursday. "It's wonderful to see it in print, but why didn't someone tell us?"

A foundation official couldn't be reached for comment to explain why it didn't notify the school district about the report. The foundation bills itself as the only private, nonpartisan research and education organization in Georgia that focuses on state policy issues.

These rankings are based on the state's standardized tests in the 2003-04 school year. For high schools, the achievement score is the average of two figures:

-- The percentage of students who attained a "pass" or "pass-plus" score in English/language arts on the Georgia High School Graduation Test.

-- The percentage of students who attained a "pass" or "pass-plus" score in math on the graduation test.

For elementary and middle schools, the achievement score is the average of two other figures:

-- The percentage of students who met or exceeded standards in reading on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test in fourth grade for elementary schools and eighth grade for middle schools.

-- The percentage of students who met or exceeded standards in math on the CRCT in fourth grade for elementary schools and eighth grade for middle schools.

Columbus High was ranked No. 2 in the 2002 report card, then tied with five other schools for No. 1 in the 2004 report card, Bryant said.

"We look forward to continuing the trend," she said. "This has come as a result of everybody working as a team, setting high standards, holding students accountable and the teachers holding themselves accountable -- and a lot of long hours and long nights."

Seven of Georgia's high schools had 100 percent of their students pass the English/language arts and math graduation tests, according to the 2005 report card. Davidson Magnet and Columbus High, which also is a magnet school, received the No. 1 ranking, however, because they remained tied after the tiebreaker: the percentage of students exceeding the state's test score standard, called "pass-plus." Columbus High and Davidson had 96.3 percent of their students earn "pass-plus."

The tiebreaker also is why Rigdon Road wasn't ranked No. 1. Kittredge Magnet School of DeKalb County and Rigdon, which isn't a magnet school, had 100 percent of their fourth-graders pass the CRCT. But 79.6 percent of Kittridge's fourth-graders exceeded the state's test score standard, while 51.6 percent of Rigdon's fourth-graders did so.

Rigdon principal Phyllis Jones could not be reached for comment.

These rankings don't take into account that Rigdon, as a neighborhood school, doesn't get to select its students, which happens at magnet schools. Although the report card does list a school's poverty rate, that statistic also isn't in the formula for these rankings. The foundation's subsequent "No Excuses Schools" list recognizes schools achieving significantly better than their poverty rates would indicate.

Rigdon and Dimon were among the state's 21 elementary schools given that honor last year. Rigdon is a year-round school, and Dimon is a magnet school.

Contact Mark Rice at (706) 571-8543 or mrice@ledger-enquirer.com [mailto:mrice@ledger-enquirer.com]

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

More News in this Category