[CSPS] CSISD Superintendent Writes --The Complete List of the 1, 000 Top U.S. High Schools

[Mahajan, Arvind]

Below is an e-mail I received from the CSISD Superintendent, Dr. Steve Johnson. CSPS membership should be pleased that its efforts are acknowledged and CSPS does make a difference. Steve suggests we continue doing what we have been doing...including maintaining a presence in all that occurs in our schools.
 
As Kate Kelly wrote yesterday, "In some respects, we've been a behind-the-scenes organization, quietly fostering a progressive and rigorous approach to the content and the delivery of knowledge.  In this sense, I think we may deserve a small bit of credit for Consol's success." 

I couldn't agree more!

Arvind


-----Original Message-----
From: STEVE R. JOHNSON [mailto:sjohnson at csisd.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 1:25 PM
To: Mahajan, Arvind
Cc: csps at PHILEBUS.tamu.edu
Subject: Re: The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. High Schools

Arvind,
I appreciate your acknowledgment of the outstanding ranking our high
school received in Newsweek. This marks the second time our high school
has received this recognition. In looking over the list of schools from
Texas that made the list, the majority are considered magnet schools. For
example, South Texas Health Science is a magnet school for the health
sciences. I am not sure exactly how many "comprehensive grades 9-12"
schools from Texas are ranked. 

I can tell you that CSPS can assist by doing what they are doing....being
supportive of the schools and maintaining a presence in all that we do.
Community support is so vital to the success of the school system.

Again, thanks for taking time to acknowledge our recent ranking in
Newsweek.

Have a great day...

Steve Johnson
Superintendent
College Station ISD
979-764-5455

"Mahajan, Arvind" <mahajan at tamu.edu> on Wednesday, May 11, 2005 at 4:11 PM
-0600 wrote:
>Newsweek has just now published its ranking of top U.S. high schools.
>This list and the related article can be accessed at 
>
>[
>http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek&&CM=EmailThis&CE=1
>]http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek&;&CM;=EmailThis&CE;=1
>
>
>CSISD is ranked # 447. 
>
>According to the article, there are 27,468 high schools in the U.S.
>Newsweek acknowledges that assessing such a large and diverse group of
>schools is daunting. To come up with its Best High Schools List, Newsweek
>used a ratio, the number of Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International
>Baccalaureate (IB) tests taken by all students at a school in 2004,
>divided by the number of graduating seniors. Using this criterion,
>Newsweek has ranked 1,042 schools. 
>
>Based upon these numbers, A&M Consolidated High School is in the top 2%
>of all high schools in the nation and in the top half of all ranked
>schools. This is a remarkable achievement for any high school, and in
>particular, for a Texas high school. The CSISD administration  and
>teachers deserve our congratulations for this feat. 
>
>Coincidentally, in my very recent conversations with some CSISD
>administrators and school board members, I had noted that it will be
>desirable to know how Consol stacked up, not just against other Texas
>schools, but nationally. Notwithstanding reasonable quibbling with the
>criteria used and the coarseness of the rankings, they do shed light on
>the issue.
>
>Given this achievement,  A&M Consol's benchmark should now be to crack
>the top one percent. How can CSPS help? 
>
>Arvind 
>
>Arvind Mahajan 
>Lamar Savings Professor of Finance 
>306N Wehner Building 
>Texas A&M University 
>College Station, TX 77843-4218 
>Phone 979-845-4876 
>Fax     979-845-3884 
>
>