THE TOP ACADEMIC
OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS - 2013
NOVEMBER 6, 2013
AMENDED: NOVEMBER 21, 2014

PREPARED BY SCOTT GERBER
GERBER ANALYTICS, LLC

 

This document identifies the best schools in Ohio based on each school's performance on the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). This is the only report that examines Ohio's public, private, and charter schools together. This report analyzes the March 2013 OGT, and this is the seventh year for this analysis.

What Was Included?

For those unfamiliar with the OGT tests, there are five parts -- Reading, Mathematics, Writing, Science, and Social Studies. There is also a summary page that shows the percentage of students who successfully passed all five parts with a “Proficient” rating. The data used in this report is from those five parts and the summary.

There were 1,006 schools included in this analysis. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Local Report Card data download capability was used to acquire most of the data for the public schools. The ODE provided electronic media as the source for the private school data, the charter schools, and the "percentage of students who passed all five parts" of the test for all schools.

Methodology Used

To obtain the initial group of schools to evaluate, the top schools were identified by using the percentage of students who scored “Proficient” on all five tests. This approach emphasizes the importance of getting all students to successfully pass the test. Those schools which had 91% of their 10th grade students pass all five portions of the test moved to the next round of the analysis. This year, 9.4% made the cut. Eight schools had 100% passing rates for all five portions of the test.

YEAR

# ACHIEVING 91% THRESHOLD

% ACHIEVING 91% THRESHOLD

# OF SCHOOLS WITH 100% PASS RATE

2007
59
6.0%
7
2008
65
6.6%
12
2009
114
11.3%
13
2010
63
6.2%
5
2011
84
8.2%
8
2012
104
10.1%
9
2013
96
9.5%
8

After identifying the schools that met the 91% threshold, the next step was to calculate the "Performance Index Score (Adjusted)" (PIS) for each school. This field mimics the calculation that the Ohio Department of Education uses for its Performance Index Score, and it more accurately reflects the overall performance of a school. The difference between the ODE value and this document's is that this document calculates the number for only the 10th graders who took the tests. It also calculates the Performance Index Scores for private schools which the ODE does not provide. Creating this field permits an apples-to-apples comparison for all schools. Click here to go to the Appendix to view the calculation.

Championship Schools

My list of the championship schools are listed below in Performance Index Score order. St. Charles Preparatory, Seven Hills, and Ursuline Academy have been named as championship schools for each of the past seven years.

HIGH SCHOOL

CITY

COUNTY

YEARS AS CHAMPION

Columbus
Franklin
2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Columbus
Franklin
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Cincinnati Hamilton
2013
Cincinnati
Hamilton
2011, 2012, 2013
Cincinnati
Hamilton
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Cincinnati
Hamilton
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Cincinnati
Hamilton
2013

Identifying the Championship Schools

The criteria for selecting the championship schools should be relatively clear upon examination of the table below. The schools were selected based on a combination of Performance Index Scores, the number of top ten rankings in each subject, and a natural break between schools. The seven schools identified as champion schools had Performance Index Scores that were slightly higher than last year's championship schools.

This is the second year that statewide rankings are displayed for each school. To create the rankings, the Performance Index Scores were calculated for each individual subject. The schools' subject Performance Index Scores were then sorted. For example, Columbus School for Girls had the highest ranking with its overall Performance Index Score (116.4) , and when the same calculation was used to create a "Performance Index Score" for the individual subjects, it was also ranked first in Reading and Social Studies. The schools which have subjects ranked in the state's top ten are further identified with a blue background.

The subject rankings provide an additional dimension by helping to identify the strengths and weaknesses within each school. To view detailed performance on each school, click on the school name. Please note that the amount of information available for each school has been expanded this year to include five years of trend charts. (See below for more information about the rankings.)

Note that the table is long -- it contains detailed data for all of the 93 schools that reached the 91% threshold. These schools are sorted according to their Performance Index Scores.

HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
Columbus School for Girls
OAIS - Columbus School For Girls
Franklin
45
116.4
100%
1
6
4
2
1
5
St Charles Preparatory HS
Columbus Diocese
Franklin
151
116.4
100%
4
1
5
1
2
5
Madeira High School
Madeira City
Hamilton
106
115.1
97.2%
3
3
40
3
4
4
Walnut Hills High School
Cincinnati City
Hamilton
375
114.6
97.9%
13
8
9
7
6
4
Ursuline Academy HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
197
114.5
99.5%
2
7
3
9
43
4
Seven Hills School
OAIS - Seven Hills School
Hamilton
79
114.4
98.7%
5
15
23
5
22
2
Indian Hill High School
Indian Hill Exempted Village
Hamilton
147
114.3
93.9%
6
4
36
19
9
3
Laurel School Academy
OAIS - Laurel
Cuyahoga
64
114.2
100%
17
11
7
12
14
1
Columbus Academy
OAIS - Columbus Academy
Franklin
86
114.1
97.7%
18
16
54
4
15
1
University School
OAIS - University
Cuyahoga
92
114.0
100%
10
10
12
17
39
2
Hathaway Brown HS
OAIS - Hathaway Brown
Cuyahoga
89
113.9
98.9%
7
24
6
21
30
2
Hawken School
OAIS - Hawken School
Geauga
97
113.8
100%
12
31
17
10
24
1
Summit Country Day HS
OAIS - Summit Country Day
Hamilton
95
113.7
95.8%
46
40
1
18
8
2
John Hay Early College High School
Cleveland Municipal SD
Cuyahoga
52
113.7
96.2%
26
2
41
74
3
2
HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
Ottawa Hills High School
Ottawa Hills Local
Lucas
79
113.6
94.9%
42
13
15
20
18
0
Village Academy
OAIS - Learning Unlimited-Village Academy
Delaware
19
113.4
100%
11
27
60
6
54
1
Dublin Jerome High School
Dublin City
Franklin
339
113.3
94.4%
29
37
27
22
13
0
Our Lady of The Elms HS
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Summit
32
113.2
96.9%
9
20
89
7
65
2
Solon High School
Solon City
Cuyahoga
403
113.2
92.8%
19
56
29
16
34
0
Cedarville High School
Cedar Cliff Local
Greene
45
113.1
97.8%
59
29
1
15
55
1
Aurora High School
Aurora City
Portage
242
113.1
95.9%
39
22
66
24
11
0
Oakwood High School
Oakwood City
Montgomery
174
113.1
96.0%
68
17
10
29
27
1
Miami Valley School
OAIS - Miami Valley
Montgomery
41
113.1
100%
16
25
69
14
48
0
Independence High School
Independence Local
Cuyahoga
104
112.9
94.2%
52
30
87
26
7
1
Upper Arlington High School
Upper Arlington City
Franklin
409
112.8
95.1%
57
23
59
31
16
0
Toledo Early College High School
Toledo City
Lucas
52
112.8
94.2%
20
12
64
37
46
0
Hudson High School
Hudson City
Summit
403
112.8
96.0%
35
55
25
27
31
0
Western Reserve Academy
OAIS - Western Reserve Academy
Summit
94
112.7
94.7%
14
14
34
11
156
0
Orange High School
Orange City
Cuyahoga
147
112.7
93.2%
32
64
22
50
12
0
HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
St Xavier HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
399
112.7
97.0%
28
28
100
25
38
0
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
OAIS - Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
Hamilton
109
112.6
94.5%
34
26
19
47
45
0
Russia High School
Russia Local
Shelby
47
112.5
91.5%
30
9
53
28
86
1
William Mason High School
Mason City
Warren
809
112.5
93.0%
58
21
113
49
10
1
Rocky River High School
Rocky River City
Cuyahoga
210
112.4
91.0%
64
19
37
30
71
0
Chagrin Falls High School
Chagrin Falls Exempted Village
Cuyahoga
151
112.3
96.7%
21
45
31
40
64
0
Wyoming High School
Wyoming City
Hamilton
152
112.3
90.8%
44
38
61
58
28
0
Mariemont High School
Mariemont City
Hamilton
106
112.3
94.3%
50
76
16
43
36
0
Dayton Regional STEM School
59
112.3
91.5%
38
71
57
13
68
0
Bishop Watterson HS
Columbus Diocese
Franklin
257
112.2
96.1%
43
53
68
56
20
0
Kalida High School
Kalida Local
Putnam
54
112.2
98.1%
107
33
55
32
29
0
Maumee Valley Country Day HS
OAIS - Maumee Valley Country Day
Lucas
46
112.2
97.8%
23
32
35
35
91
0
Bellbrook High School
Sugarcreek Local School District
Greene
202
112.2
94.6%
37
54
91
34
32
0
Turpin High School
Forest Hills Local
Hamilton
305
112.1
93.8%
78
66
43
36
33
0
Avon Lake High School
Avon Lake City
Lorain
282
112.1
95.0%
45
41
38
33
74
0
HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
Olentangy High School
Olentangy Local
Delaware
332
112.1
92.5%
69
44
52
60
34
0
Minster High School
Minster Local
Auglaize
68
112.0
91.2%
103
5
131
68
17
1
Granville High School
Granville Exempted Village
Licking
199
111.9
95.5%
40
39
48
42
75
0
Olentangy Liberty High School
Olentangy Local
Delaware
415
111.8
94.0%
71
35
41
64
59
0
Fuchs Mizrachi of Cleveland
Fuchs Mizrachiof Cleveland
Cuyahoga
26
111.6
96.2%
15
126
119
38
50
0
Sycamore High School
Sycamore Community City
Hamilton
400
111.6
91.3%
47
51
159
46
41
0
St Vincent St Mary HS
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Summit
157
111.5
94.9%
118
62
76
44
40
0
Carroll HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Montgomery
171
111.5
93.6%
53
75
51
45
84
0
St Ursula Academy
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
157
111.4
94.9%
22
81
28
55
136
0
Magnificat HS
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Cuyahoga
204
111.3
95.1%
24
102
24
61
124
0
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin HS
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Geauga
167
111.2
95.8%
31
139
39
41
104
0
Akron Early College High School
Akron City
Summit
82
111.2
93.9%
106
137
63
62
25
0
St Ignatius HS
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Cuyahoga
346
111.2
93.9%
41
77
110
80
56
0
Whitney Young School
Cleveland Municipal SD
Cuyahoga
27
111.1
100%
25
33
161
132
60
0
Highland High School
Highland Local
Medina
272
111.1
91.9%
92
51
88
64
70
0
HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
Wellington School
OAIS - Wellington School
Franklin
42
111.1
97.6%
49
47
85
71
106
0
Miller City High School
Miller City-New Cleveland Local
Putnam
36
111.0
91.7%
97
171
96
51
23
0
Dublin Coffman High School
Dublin City
Franklin
458
110.8
91.5%
77
93
126
58
63
0
Gilmour Academy ACADEMY
OAIS - Gilmour Academy
Cuyahoga
81
110.8
95.1%
86
58
44
115
94
0
St Joseph Academy
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Cuyahoga
171
110.8
93.0%
63
170
30
97
57
0
Notre Dame Academy
Toledo Diocese
Lucas
165
110.8
96.4%
55
90
11
92
142
0
Mount Notre Dame HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
190
110.7
93.2%
66
65
75
94
122
0
Cuyahoga Hts High School
Cuyahoga Heights Local
Cuyahoga
71
110.6
91.5%
56
36
103
179
80
0
Cincinnati Country Day HS
OAIS - Cincinnati Country Day
Hamilton
71
110.6
94.4%
67
92
66
52
169
0
Lakeview High School
Lakeview Local
Trumbull
138
110.5
92.8%
84
103
70
102
73
0
Archbishop Alter HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Montgomery
173
110.5
91.9%
101
98
83
101
61
0
Canfield High School
Canfield Local
Mahoning
236
110.5
91.9%
141
106
107
81
53
0
Fairfield Christian Academy
Fairfield Christian Academy El
Fairfield
42
110.3
92.9%
27
87
58
123
181
0
Grandview Heights High School
Grandview Heights City
Franklin
81
110.3
93.8%
172
72
92
57
110
0
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Acad
Summit
145
110.3
91.7%
70
127
98
108
83
0
HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
John Hay School of Science & Medicine
Cleveland Municipal SD
Cuyahoga
81
110.2
96.3%
113
60
79
159
77
0
Avon High School
Avon Local
Lorain
271
110.2
91.9%
82
112
125
114
66
0
Walsh Jesuit HS
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Summit
239
110.2
94.1%
73
155
77
79
114
0
Beaumont School
Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Cuyahoga
80
109.9
91.3%
65
227
13
155
115
0
Moeller HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
230
109.9
92.6%
102
122
112
126
76
0
South Range High School
South Range Local
Mahoning
113
109.8
94.7%
111
95
152
86
109
0
Toledo Christian HS
Toledo Christian
Lucas
49
109.8
98.0%
80
130
193
54
134
0
Bloomfield High School
Bloomfield-Mespo Local
Trumbull
20
109.7
95.0%
162
135
279
91
25
0
Anthony Wayne High School
Anthony Wayne Local
Lucas
298
109.7
90.9%
131
89
180
95
95
0
Ottoville High School
Ottoville Local
Putnam
30
109.6
93.3%
126
68
221
103
103
0
New Albany High School
New Albany-Plain Local
Franklin
312
109.6
92.0%
121
99
93
142
125
0
Norwalk Catholic School
Toledo Diocese
Huron
48
109.5
93.8%
114
235
62
134
98
0
McNicholas HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
142
109.3
93.0%
88
162
50
175
167
0
Mother of Mercy HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Hamilton
107
109.3
90.7%
62
101
72
163
253
0
Bishop Fenwick HS
Cincinnati Archdiocese
Warren
132
109.0
91.7%
95
134
109
105
239
0
HIGH SCHOOL /
DISTRICT
# STU.
PASS 5%
STATEWIDE RANKINGS
# TOP 10
READING
MATH
WRITING
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
Central Catholic HS
Youngstown Diocese
Stark
96
108.5
90.6%
154
131
114
93
306
0
Lima Central Catholic HS
Toledo Diocese
Allen
87
108.4
93.1%
204
257
74
149
139
0
Delaware Christian HS
Delaware Christian
Delaware
18
108.3
94.4%
97
274
46
137
300
0
New London High School
New London Local
Huron
77
107.7
94.8%
248
167
201
96
275
0
Temple Christian School
Temple Christian School
Allen
16
107.6
93.8%
176
440
245
225
37
0
Hiland High School
East Holmes Local
Holmes
68
106.7
91.2%
325
113
270
313
176
0

Using This List

The schools on My Top Academic Ohio High School list are all exceptional schools, however, there are other excellent schools which are not on the list because they did not reach the 91% "Passed Five of Five" threshold. If a school wants to proclaim that it is 25th on the list, that is appropriate. To proclaim that a school is 25th in academics in Ohio, is inappropriate. Again, the 91% threshold is extremely important because it tells readers that essentially all of the students are extremely serious about academics and that all of the kids in each and every classroom really care. There are also a few schools that have been on the list in the past (i.e. Columbus Torah Academy) but not this year because they did not have performance data. The ODE requires that at least ten students take the tests before they release the data and some schools did not have enough students take the test. For the complete ranking list of all schools in Ohio, click here.

Comparative Analysis

While the performance numbers and trend charts are beneficial, what sets this web site apart from others is the comparative analysis that this site permits with other schools and within schools.

An example of a side-by-side comparison is here with Lakota East and Lakota West. As with most schools within the same school system, the results are similar.

Looking at a comparison within a school, Lakota East excels in Reading and Social Studies. Lakota West is stronger in Mathematics and Reading. Lakota East is also substantially better in Reading and Social Studies than Lakota West.

One of the goals for this web site is to encourage communities to become better informed and to ask questions. I believe these tools encourage this.

Map of Top Schools

It is easier to visualize the schools and Ohio's areas of education strength by providing a map. Click on the link to view the map or click on the image to the right.

Readers may use the map scroll bar on the left to navigate the map.

Note that the Gerber Analytics' championship schools use red markers, and the others use blue.

Hover over the marker to see the school name. Click on the marker to see the school's Performance Index Score.

The satellite view is also available via the controls on the upper right.

 

 

 

To Repeat a Portion of Last Year's Report. . .

Does this document include any mistakes? Hopefully not, the data was carefully entered and the numbers were double checked, but it is possible. Please send a Feedback message with any significant discrepancies. The revised document will be updated and placed online.

Will this type of ranking put more pressure on schools to do well? It might if the State of Ohio would endorse and publish the results of this type of friendly competition. It would encourage all schools and their students to do better as they strive to be one of the best schools. However, this is not about applying pressure to just the high schools. Excellent performance on this 10th grade test is not possible without the following:

Will this type of ranking force schools to spend more time emphasizing the process of test taking? Some schools spend an inordinate amount of time teaching their students to take the OGT. The above schools also prepare for the OGT, but they likely cover the fundamentals so thoroughly that the OGT is a minor distraction for them -- not a major emphasis. There are also some schools that appear to have substantially better approaches than others to teach some subjects. Perhaps they would be willing to share some of their best practices with other schools?

While it would certainly be great to profit from this effort, please record the last seven years of this education analysis as a pro-bono or volunteer effort. I do this type of analysis because I enjoy doing it. I am also hopeful that it will benefit an extremely large number of Ohioans. If this analysis receives a large distribution, that might happen. I certainly appreciate the Cincinnati Enquirer's coverage of this analysis in previous years.

You may forward this report to anyone you wish but please give proper attribution if you use any of this material. To assist with tracking, please provide others with this link:

I have a substantial "one-of-a-kind" database, and I am open to new analysis projects. If you have an education-related analysis project in mind that you think would benefit all Ohio schools, please contact me.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Scott Gerber
Gerber Analytics, LLC
GerberAnalytics.com

Click to submit a Feedback for any questions and/or to have your email address included so that you may be alerted to additional analysis.

** Note: Chagrin Fall's "Pass All Five %" was listed at 96.7% in ODE electronic media that is used to acquire that number. Based on other numbers provided by the ODE, the 96.7% cannot be correct, and it was not included on this list.

*** Revised Note: On 11/20/2014 Chagrin Falls' Principal Steven Ast made me aware that the ODE numbers were incorrect for their school in 2013. The correct numbers were included on 11/21/14 and Chagrin Falls was included in the Top Schools report and the rankings were re-computed.

Calculation of Performance Index Score (Adjusted)

Note that the Performance Index Score (Adjusted) is different from what you may have seen on the Ohio Department of Education’s Report Card. The calculation in this document is only for the 10th grade students. It was calculated as follows:

Ada High School


Subject
Below Basic Basic Proficient Accelerated Advanced

 

Mathematics 9.4% 9.4% 24.5% 20.8% 35.8%  
Reading 3.8% 5.7% 43.4% 35.8% 11.3%  
Science 3.8% 18.9% 26.4% 22.6% 28.3%  
Social Studies 15.1% 9.4% 24.5% 22.6% 28.3%  
Writing 5.7% 5.7% 39.6% 47.2% 1.9%  
             
Total of Above 37.7% 49.1% 158.5% 149.1% 105.7%  
Average of 5 7.5% 9.8% 31.7% 29.8% 21.1%  
Factor

0.3 0.6 1 1.1 1.2  
            Summation
Average * Factor 2.3 5.9 31.7 32.8 25.4 98

The new "Advanced Plus" designation was used randomly for some schools. To insure an "apples-to-apples" comparison, the percentage of students scoring "Advanced Plus" was added to the Advance category.

Amendments:

November 20, 2013: Two schools were added to this list: Canfield and Avon. Their "Passed Five of Five" percentages were initially omitted, which prevented them from being added to this list. The detailed reports for each school were also amended.

November 20, 2013: The Map of Top Schools was modified to include the two schools above and to include each school's Performance Index Score when users hover over the marker.

November 21, 2014: Chagrin Falls' Principal Steven Ast made me aware that the ODE website contained incorrect scores for the 2013 school year. New scores were retrieved and used in this modified report.