Winter 2004 Edition     

Improving the High School's Ranking by Matt Greenfield (Fair Lawn High School student)             It began in the summer of 2000, when New Jersey Monthly gave Fair Lawn High School the rank of 92nd of the 309 public high schools in the state (in 1999’s rankings, Fair Lawn was placed 67th).  Since then, Fair Lawn High School has not appeared in the top 100.             New Jersey Monthly’s method for evaluating schools (much like that used by Newsweek and other magazines) relies heavily upon numbers which do not fairly reflect a school’s quality.  For instance, Fair Lawn’s position tends to be demeaned by the percentage of students who take Advanced Placement tests, however the fact that Fair Lawn offers more Advanced Placement courses than any of our neighboring schools goes entirely unaccounted for.  Our numbers may not look exemplary in New Jersey Monthly because the scores of “special populations” on standardized tests are below average, but this wholly ignores Fair Lawn’s mean SAT score in contrast to the state average.  The list takes into consideration the school’s annual graduation rate, yet it overlooks graduation requirements (at 130 credits, Fair Lawn has demanded unusually high performance from its students in recent years – many local schools require as few as 110 credits for graduation).             From that publication, more than three years ago, citizens, teachers, students, and school administrators throughout Fair Lawn have worked toward the pursuit of raising Fair Lawn High’s standing among its peers.  They have done so with good reason: Fair Lawn’s false ranking serves as an unfair reflection upon our community.  The esteem in which a school is held can have serious ramifications on local real estate values.  A higher-ranked school is also more appealing to prospective school employees, encouraging more qualified teachers and administrators to seek a job in the district.             Of course, no administrator should ever choose maintenance of rankings over the actual substance of education, but no administrator should ever need to make that choice.  There are countless ways available through which Fair Lawn Public Schools can continue to deliver the superior education its students deserve while boosting its placement.  Many of these have been recently implemented, whereas others remain untapped possibilities.             Solution 1: Advanced Placement testing.  When the writers of Newsweek Magazine establish its list of the best secondary schools in the nation, they use a single factor as the basis for their decisions: the proportion of the number of students who sit for Advanced Placement (AP) tests to the number of graduating seniors.  More than 400 schools were listed who had a proportion better than 1:1.  Among them were Fort Lee, Tenafly, and River Dell High Schools.  A similar statistic is blamed as the primary reason for Fair Lawn’s recent slip in New Jersey Monthly’s rankings.  The district’s Academic Council has recently proposed to the Board of Education a new policy which would require students who enroll in AP courses to make a commitment to take the respective AP test.  While the students’ reaction is somewhat split over the issue (as many students are weary of the plan’s specifics), this change will raise our ratings in this particular area and will strengthen the integrity of the AP program by ensuring that only those students who are serious about a class’s objectives will be enrolled in the class. Solution 2: Broaden vocational offerings.  Unfortunately, New Jersey Monthly does not weigh heavily the provisions made for vocational students.  However, many students’ futures rely upon these courses because they tend to be career-based.  Generally as a result of budget cuts, vocational electives become fewer and fewer each year.  This is a trend which must be corrected if Fair Lawn High School is going to serve all of its students.  Many graduates do not seek post-secondary education, and to them Fair Lawn must offer a labor and career-oriented subjects compounded with a general core education.             Solution 3: Ease graduation requirements to accommodate curriculum-driven changes.  As the breadth of elective and vocational course offerings is expanded, graduation requirements must be loosened in order to allow students to make use of those provisions.  Electives and career-based classes bear fewer credits toward graduation than do more traditional academic subjects.  For students to take advantage of what is available to them, in terms of art courses and other electives, the school must accept them as substantial attainments of credit.  Recently, the Board of Education did just this when it! voted unanimously to lower the number of course credits required for graduation (while that number is lower than before, it is important to note that it is still considerably higher than at many of the schools against whom we vie for high ranks). Solution 4:  Special programs.  What truly sets a school system apart from the rest is found less in the rank it achieves in the eyes of a magazine than in the uniqueness of the programs it offers.  In this area, Fair Lawn High School’s offerings are unparalleled.  Through a partnership with Fairleigh Dickinson University, FLHS students can receive college credit for certain high school courses, and a new program in conjunction with Bergen Community College allows seniors to take some of their classes in a post-secondary setting.  This combination is unique to Fair Lawn Public Schools, and reflects the strength of our commitment to those students with true initiative.             Solution 5:  Expand provisions for students with special needs.  Tremendous resources are devoted each year to students who require special education.  Nonetheless, only 41% of students with disabilities in Fair Lawn were considered to be proficient in mathematics, according to the results of last year’s High School Proficiency Assessment.  Budgetal considerations force the Board of Education to constrict Special Education, however if Fair Lawn is going to achieve more impressive numbers (especially under the No Child Left Behind Act), more resources must be committed to these special populations.             Of the possibilities that exist, many would be easy to achieve.  Others would present a challenge to Fair Lawn Public Schools.  Behind each of those challenges lay a single factor: the absence of money.  As long as Congress continues to produce unfounded education mandates, as long as spending cuts for education are authorized in Trenton, and as long as Fair Lawn’s bond referendums are voted down, the status quo of our schools will remain unchanged.  Improvements are being made, but without money little can be done to restore Fair Lawn’s prowess in N.J. Monthly’s “Top 75.”  None of us should be resigned to accepting any less.   See Matt Greenfield's Previous Columns Spending Money Wisely  (Fall 2003) Student Governance (Summer 2003) School Budget (April 2003)  (April 2003) Seven Wonders in the Schools (February 2003) Smoking:  Story of Reconciliation  (December 2002) Support The Referendum (October 2002)