Schools in region achieve national recognition

By Harold Gwin

The data used in the study came from the 2006-07 school year.

YOUNGSTOWN — Four area high schools have made the 2009 list of America’s Best High Schools as complied by U.S. News & World Report.

The honor is based on performance during the 2006-07 school year.

Chaney High School in Youngstown, Canfield High School, Columbiana High School and Commodore Perry Junior-Senior High School in Hadley, Pa., all qualified for a Bronze Medal award in the ranking.

They are among 1,321 high schools in 48 states to achieve that recognition.

An additional 100 schools were awarded the Gold Medal award, and 504 received Silver Medals.

“We were happy to see it,” said Pete Lymber, a dean at Chaney. “There’s a lot of good things happening here.”

Adeline Barone, Canfield principal, said the results show a commitment to education by the staff, students, parents and the community.

Put it all together and “you get good results,” she said.

Timothy Sexton, Columbiana principal, said he is extremely proud of all the initiative the students and faculty have taken to achieve the honor. He noted that Columbiana has also been nominated by the state of Ohio for a Blue Ribbon award under the No Child Left Behind program.

The survey was conducted by School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor’s, based on key principles that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are bound for college.

The schools must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show that the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.

A total of 21,069 public high schools were surveyed across 48 states. That’s the total number of schools in those states that had grade 12 enrollment and sufficient data for the analysis.

Nebraska, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., were excluded for not having sufficient data for the 2006-07 school year examined.

The study looked at three basic criteria, and the four local schools passed the first two steps, earning them a Bronze Medal, according to the magazine.

The first step, using math and reading proficiency test scores, determined whether a school’s students were performing better than statistically expected for the average student in the state. The local schools reached that level.

The second, again looking at math and reading test scores, determined whether the school’s least-advantaged students (black, Hispanic and low-income) were performing better than average for similar students in the state. Again, the local schools all reached that level.

The final step is college-readiness performance, using Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate test data as the benchmarks for success.

It essentially measures which schools were deemed to produce the best college-level achievement for the highest percentages of their students.

Wendy Webb, Youngstown superintendent, said the district is focusing hard on the college readiness portion of the study, stressing a rigorous curriculum in hopes of moving up in the ratings.

gwin@vindy.com