Washington Post Analysis Ranks HHS Top School in Westchester

Harrison High School is the best school in Westchester County, according to rankings published this week by the Washington Post that compare the number of graduating seniors to the number of advanced-level tests taken at that school each year.

Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews created the rankings using his High School Challenge formula. The formula rewards school districts for the amount of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) tests taken each year. 

The rankings are based strictly on participation in the tests, not on scores. Though not necessarily a telling factor of the quality of the schools, Mathews said in the article that the rankings, "reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college."

Numbers were calculated using the graduating class from the previous year, so this year's rankings reflect the Harrison graduating class of 2010. 

In past years Newsweek, which the Washington Post sold in 2010, had published the same study. Harrison has now been ranked in the top 125 nationally for the last four years.

This year Harrison ranked 71st in the nation (from 99th in 2010 by Newsweek) and first in Westchester County (from third in 2010 by Newsweek). Harrison High School was also ranked fourth highest in New York State and eight in the East Coast region. 

“We are proud of our high school’s standing in the Washington Post Challenge Index. It demonstrates our commitment to challenge and to provide opportunity to all of our students, and most importantly to prepare them to face the rigor of college," Harrison Superintendent Louis Wool said in a statement. "We have been and continue to remain committed to excellence for all the students who attend Harrison High School.”

Matthews explains that The High School Challenge didn't include test scores because schools at times have barred lower-achieving students from taking advanced tests in order to improve their pass rate.

"I decided not to count passing rates in this way because I found that most high schools kept those rates artificially high by allowing only top students to take the courses," he said in a Washington Post article explaining the calculations. "In other instances they opened the courses to all, but encouraged only the best students to take the tests."

Mathews is the author of the 1999 book Class Struggle, What's Wrong (And Right) With America's Best Public High Schools, which takes an in-depth look at nearby Mamaroneck High School and a handful of other public schools. The book takes a hard stance against grouping students based on ability, including barring lower-achieving students from taking advanced level classes.

A hot-button issue during this year's Harrison Board of Education election was whether or not Mamaroneck's test scores are comparable to Harrison, and whether or not the current open-enrollment philosophy that has led to more AP test-takers in Harrison is the right direction for the district.

The Washington Post article went on to say that even students who fail an advanced test went on to do better in college. That stance was debated exhaustively during this year's Harrison Board of Education election.

School officials have maintained that the jump from 34 AP Scholars in 2002-03 to 121 in 2009-10—a 256 percent increase—is cause for celebration. But since the 2005-06 school year 53 percent of the 4,464 AP tests taken by Harrison students have resulted in a failing grade, leading some to question the legitimacy of rankings that don't consider test results.

The Harrison Board of Education has maintained that challenging students by allowing open-enrollment is the best preparation for life after high school, in the past referencing the increase in AP scholars from Harrison as evidence of the school's positive direction.

“Our experience demonstrates that when you hold high expectations for children and both support and challenge them, they rise to meet them," Wool said.