Okemos, East Lansing, Haslett have all been at the top of state, national rankings

In light of the state's new color-coded rankings which scored Okemos and other high-performing schools with average to failing rankings, Okemos scores second to bottom on state's new scale, Okemos Parents for Schools, September 3, 2013, I thought we would emphasize some of the recent good news for area schools.

Okemos got a lot of great news this year about how its high school was performing.  U.S. News and World Report ranked Okemos as the 7th best high school in Michigan.  The other nine schools in the top 10 are public schools like Okemos, not charter schools.  East Lansing, Okemos high schools among top ten in state, according to U.S. News & World Report rankings, MLive.com, April 24, 2013.  Okemos was also ranked the 7th on U.S. News and World Report's NATIONAL ranking of  science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) schools.  U.S, News and World Report explains these rankings:

To determine the top science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) schools, U.S. News looked at the top 500 public schools from our latest Best High Schools rankings, and then evaluated their students' participation and success in Advanced Placement (AP®) science and math tests. [U.S. News and World Report]

Yes, only six schools in the entire country performed better on AP STEM tests than Okemos High School.  Overall, Okemos got rated with a "Gold Medal" by U.S. News and World Report.

Of course, every district is different, and some districts face greater challenges than others.  So, simply comparing standardized test scores may not be a fair indicator of how well a school is performing its core function of education.  In January of this year, Bridge Magazine released a ranking system to account for that discrepancy, a "value-added" index:

Unlike traditional rankings that focus solely on student achievement, often on standardized tests, the Bridge rankings include an adjustment for student family income, which is often a predictor of academic achievement, according to Bridge.

The new ranking system is essentially designed to test overachievement – or the expectation of each school's performance against the actual performance. [Okemos schools earn top honors under new rankings released by Bridge Magazine, MLive.com, January 10, 2013]

Okemos ranked 9th in the state by this measure as well.  Bridge Magazine

East Lansing High School also received a "Gold Medal" rating from U.S. News and World Report.  U.S. News and World Report - East Lansing.  East Lansing also ranked one higher than Okemos in the state high school rankings, 6th, and ranked 65th NATIONALLY in AP scoring in STEM classes.

Haslett also ranked near the top of the state in Bridge Magazine's "value-added" index, coming in at 24th.