Learning
Efforts to change selective admissions policies fuel parent activism Min
Lee Cheng graduated from San Francisco’s Lowell High School in 1985. He counts himself one of the lucky ones. Lowell High, which was the only local public school specifically for high-performing students, had a strict racial-quota admissions policy when he applied. No racial or ethnic group could comprise more than 40 percent of the school’s student body. The rule was aimed at desegregating the district, but even as a teenager, Cheng found it unfair. It meant that Asian students had to score higher on the entrance exam than white students, who in turn had to score higher on the exam than Black and Hispanic applicants. Cheng’s friend his orchestra partner was not admitted, though if he had been of a different race he might have earned a seat. The boy’s parents were poor immigrants his father a waiter and his mother a seamstress. “He would have gotten in, but for being Chine
These Are 50 of the Best Public High Schools in America
By Meagan Drillinger, Stacker News
On 2/7/21 at 11:00 AM EST
As the world continues to grow more intellectually advanced, so does the quality of academics, even at the earliest levels. A study from the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that children who experience quality early childhood education are less likely to be placed in special education, less likely to be held back a grade, and more likely to graduate from high school. Since many parents see their children s first foray into formal education as a make-or-break gauntlet that will define the course of their child s academic career, it stands to reason that this stress could only be amplified when it comes to choosing a high school, the time in a young person s life when they undergo many emotional, physical, and psychological changes.
FAIRFAX, Va. (CN) A Virginia judge has denied a preliminary injunction sought by parents of middle school students who sued the Fairfax County School Board over a plan to jettison standardized testing as part of the admissions process for one of the nation’s top high schools.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is a so-called governor’s school. As such, the lawsuit argued, it operates as a high school for gifted students identified through multiple criteria, including aptitude or achievement tests.
But in his ruling Tuesday, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge John Tran found that no Virginia Department of Education regulation “requires specific measures for selecting candidates for admission to a governor’s school.”
Judge declines to halt elite school s admissions changes Follow Us
Question of the Day By - Associated Press - Wednesday, February 3, 2021
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - A judge on Tuesday refused to issue an injunction to stop an elite northern Virginia high school from changing its admissions policies.
Fairfax County Public Schools is overhauling the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, which has been ranked as the top public high school in the country.
The school board hopes the changes will increase diversity at the school, which has long failed to attract Black and Hispanic students. Standardized tests that have long been part of the admissions process have been scrapped in favor of a more holistic review.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) A judge has refused to issue an injunction to stop an elite Northern Virginia high school from changing its admissions policies.
Fairfax County Public Schools is completely overhauling the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, which has been ranked as the top public high school in the country.
The county school board hopes the changes will increase diversity at the school, which has long failed to attract Black and Hispanic students.
Standardized tests have been scrapped in favor of a more holistic review.
Supporters of the existing system filed suit.
A county judge on Tuesday refused to issue an injunction but is allowing the lawsuit to continue.