THE TOP ACADEMIC
OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS - 2012
MAY 10, 2013
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 2012 OGT, and this is the sixth 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 1,022 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, 10.1% made the cut. Nine schools had 100% passing rates for all five portions of the test.

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, Hathaway Brown, and Ursuline Academy have been named as championship schools for each of the past six years. [Note: All of the links below go to March 2013 data, not the March 2012 data.]

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. Fewer schools were selected as championship schools this year versus last year because the Performance Index Scores were higher last year among the championship schools.

This is the first 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, St. Charles Preparatory had the highest ranking with its overall Performance Index Score (117.2) , and when the same calculation was used to create a "Performance Index Score" for the individual subjects, it was also ranked first in Reading, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The schools which have subjects ranked in 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 104 schools that reached the 91% threshold. These schools are sorted according to their Performance Index Scores. [Note: All of the links below go to March 2013 data, not the March 2012 data.]

HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
St Charles Preparatory HS Columbus Diocese	Franklin	172	117.2	100%	1	1	4	1	1	5
Seven Hills School OAIS - Seven Hills School	Hamilton	61	115.8	100%	2	7	6	2	2	5
Columbus School for Girls OAIS - Columbus School For Girls	Franklin	50	115.0	100%	4	20	1	15	3	3
Hathaway Brown HS OAIS - Hathaway Brown	Cuyahoga	85	114.9	100%	5	2	3	9	4	5
Ursuline Academy HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	175	114.9	100%	3	6	2	4	19	4
Walnut Hills High School Cincinnati City	Hamilton	376	114.1	98.9%	13	4	13	12	9	2
Maumee Valley Country Day HS OAIS - Maumee Valley Country Day	Lucas	44	114.0	97.7%	14	11	19	8	8	2
Columbus Academy OAIS - Columbus Academy	Franklin	91	113.7	100%	9	17	22	5	24	2
University School OAIS - University	Cuyahoga	84	113.7	100%	11	13	23	3	35	1
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy OAIS - Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy	Hamilton	115	113.6	99.1%	20	3	16	17	13	1
Solon High School Solon City	Cuyahoga	400	113.5	95.0%	10	22	31	13	5	2
Summit Country Day HS OAIS - Summit Country Day	Hamilton	97	113.4	94.8%	6	28	5	24	22	2
John Hay Early College High School Cleveland Municipal SD	Cuyahoga	66	113.3	100%	12	15	15	30	10	1
Miami Valley School OAIS - Miami Valley	Montgomery	47	113.3	97.9%	7	16	7	20	45	2
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Indian Hill High School Indian Hill Exempted Village	Hamilton	183	112.9	93.4%	17	34	53	21	7	1
St Xavier HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	388	112.9	99.0%	18	14	48	14	42	0
Laurel School Academy OAIS - Laurel	Cuyahoga	66	112.9	97.0%	8	26	27	31	20	1
Toledo Early College High School Toledo City	Lucas	41	112.9	95.1%	21	9	35	55	14	1
Madeira High School Madeira City	Hamilton	108	112.8	97.2%	34	12	70	10	33	1
Wyoming High School Wyoming City	Hamilton	173	112.6	92.5%	25	27	12	38	27	0
Ottawa Hills High School Ottawa Hills Local	Lucas	68	112.4	95.6%	45	30	14	28	30	0
Upper Arlington High School Upper Arlington City	Franklin	435	112.4	93.1%	27	25	37	44	12	0
Hudson High School Hudson City	Summit	379	112.3	93.9%	30	29	28	44	26	0
Oakwood High School Oakwood City	Montgomery	156	112.2	94.9%	26	31	51	26	40	0
Hawken School OAIS - Hawken School	Geauga	104	112.2	96.2%	16	18	29	37	71	0
Aurora High School Aurora City	Portage	267	112.1	94.8%	33	21	49	46	38	0
Bishop Watterson HS Columbus Diocese	Franklin	223	112.0	95.1%	39	50	41	39	18	0
Dublin Jerome High School Dublin City	Franklin	314	112.0	96.8%	36	37	47	19	50	0
St Ignatius HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	351	112.0	96.0%	22	23	34	53	47	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Montessori HS at University Circle Montessori HS	Cuyahoga	16	111.8	93.8%	162	5	42	42	36	1
Cincinnati Country Day HS OAIS - Cincinnati Country Day	Hamilton	62	111.7	96.8%	37	45	71	7	116	1
Turpin High School Forest Hills Local	Hamilton	279	111.5	93.2%	65	53	80	27	31	0
Akron Early College High School Akron City	Summit	89	111.5	96.6%	128	40	59	66	6	1
Sycamore High School Sycamore Community City	Hamilton	454	111.4	93.4%	45	62	99	34	39	0
St Vincent St Mary HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Summit	172	111.4	94.8%	78	46	44	70	16	0
Western Reserve Academy OAIS - Western Reserve Academy	Summit	93	111.3	94.6%	35	10	126	79	89	1
Granville Christian Academy Granville Christian Academy	Licking	20	111.3	95.0%	59	87	18	32	55	0
Independence High School Independence Local	Cuyahoga	113	111.3	92.9%	49	90	45	60	29	0
William Mason High School Mason City	Warren	790	111.2	91.0%	53	43	124	62	27	0
Minster High School Minster Local	Auglaize	74	111.2	91.9%	152	19	39	136	11	0
Granville High School Granville Exempted Village	Licking	227	111.1	94.7%	50	32	93	43	75	0
Archbishop Alter HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Montgomery	158	111.1	94.9%	107	72	60	22	44	0
St Ursula Academy Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	157	111.0	97.5%	19	69	25	73	136	0
Avon Lake High School Avon Lake City	Lorain	288	111.0	92.0%	71	49	86	35	57	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Mother of Mercy HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	121	111.0	96.7%	44	41	24	36	185	0
Brecksville-Broadview Heights High Schoo Brecksville-Broadview Heights City	Cuyahoga	353	110.9	91.2%	41	77	78	74	51	0
Norwalk Catholic School Toledo Diocese	Huron	55	110.8	94.5%	115	42	69	54	53	0
Coldwater High School Coldwater Exempted Village	Mercer	106	110.8	90.6%	183	8	182	33	62	1
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Cuyahoga Valley Christian Acad	Summit	143	110.8	94.4%	42	91	46	59	68	0
New Albany High School New Albany-Plain Local	Franklin	320	110.8	94.1%	61	47	54	65	82	0
Olentangy High School Olentangy Local	Delaware	303	110.6	91.4%	77	82	122	89	21	0
Notre Dame Academy Toledo Diocese	Lucas	142	110.5	94.4%	28	68	8	146	150	1
Monclova Christian Academy Monclova Christian Academy	Lucas	12	110.5	91.7%	131	38	313	6	86	1
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Geauga	169	110.5	94.1%	40	152	21	52	122	0
St Joseph Central HS Steubenville Diocese	Lawrence	10	110.4	100%	139	88	274	18	23	0
Springboro High School Springboro Community City	Warren	378	110.4	93.4%	89	58	145	48	64	0
Olentangy Liberty High School Olentangy Local	Delaware	400	110.4	91.3%	65	75	95	76	73	0
Fairfield Christian Academy Fairfield Christian Academy El	Fairfield	58	110.4	94.8%	74	56	92	67	78	0
Bexley High School Bexley City	Franklin	146	110.3	92.5%	99	73	168	88	34	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
West Geauga High School West Geauga Local	Geauga	228	110.2	93.0%	91	63	110	87	63	0
Kenston High School Kenston Local	Geauga	242	110.2	91.7%	70	80	77	47	143	0
Canfield High School Canfield Local	Mahoning	233	110.2	91.4%	86	132	127	81	37	0
Tree of Life-Northridge Branch Tree of Life	Franklin	57	110.2	94.7%	47	54	85	50	202	0
Magnificat HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	179	110.2	93.3%	29	137	26	145	103	0
Marion Local High School Marion Local	Mercer	77	110.1	92.2%	79	24	10	106	268	1
St Edward HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	202	110.0	92.1%	87	48	56	84	178	0
Walsh Jesuit HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Summit	247	110.0	95.1%	62	142	91	80	76	0
Holgate High School Holgate Local	Henry	30	109.9	96.7%	100	60	89	92	126	0
Christian Academy Schools Christian Academy	Shelby	12	109.8	91.7%	131	39	79	163	86	0
Wellington School OAIS - Wellington School	Franklin	48	109.7	95.8%	64	71	97	127	149	0
Revere High School Revere Local	Summit	227	109.7	91.6%	68	127	117	93	96	0
Bellbrook High School Sugarcreek Local School District	Greene	221	109.7	91.4%	147	81	102	98	88	0
Westlake High School Westlake City	Cuyahoga	339	109.7	91.2%	101	101	147	64	94	0
Mount Notre Dame HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	143	109.7	90.9%	82	140	66	134	77	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Anderson High School Forest Hills Local	Hamilton	303	109.7	90.8%	98	76	143	105	92	0
John Hay School of Science & Medicine Cleveland Municipal SD	Cuyahoga	89	109.7	97.8%	182	150	166	51	32	0
Troy Christian HS Troy Christian	Miami	42	109.6	92.9%	111	133	42	109	102	0
Wadsworth High School Wadsworth City	Medina	382	109.6	91.4%	152	89	138	61	95	0
New Knoxville High School New Knoxville Local	Auglaize	33	109.5	97.0%	135	197	131	16	131	0
Moeller HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	226	109.4	91.6%	93	135	115	110	93	0
McNicholas HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	160	109.3	90.6%	92	162	90	102	119	0
Bishop Fenwick HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Warren	160	109.3	95.0%	102	148	32	107	165	0
Anthony Wayne High School Anthony Wayne Local	Lucas	361	109.1	91.1%	156	97	187	118	85	0
Stephen T Badin HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Butler	117	109.1	93.2%	155	177	223	49	74	0
Pettisville High School Pettisville Local	Fulton	49	109.1	91.8%	137	174	118	41	177	0
Kirtland High School Kirtland Local	Lake	108	109.0	91.7%	134	136	158	111	100	0
Perrysburg High School Perrysburg Exempted Village	Wood	320	108.9	90.9%	120	169	147	77	151	0
Whitney Young School Cleveland Municipal SD	Cuyahoga	33	108.9	93.9%	123	85	141	176	137	0
Padua Franciscan HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	183	108.9	91.3%	110	233	67	173	69	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Tippecanoe High School Tipp City Exempted Village	Miami	210	108.8	91.0%	113	93	181	160	139	0
Bloomfield High School Bloomfield-Mespo Local	Trumbull	20	108.7	95.0%	60	155	103	185	172	0
St John's Jesuit HS Toledo Diocese	Lucas	190	108.6	93.7%	176	119	174	137	115	0
Lutheran West HS Cleveland Lutheran Hs Assoc	Cuyahoga	113	108.6	91.2%	151	124	114	196	118	0
Arlington Local High School Arlington Local	Hancock	44	108.6	93.2%	278	129	449	85	14	0
William V Fisher Catholic HS Columbus Diocese	Fairfield	60	108.6	93.3%	75	204	103	111	210	0
Fairlawn High School Fairlawn Local	Shelby	45	108.3	93.3%	216	131	224	116	134	0
Fairbanks High School Fairbanks Local	Union	73	108.2	91.8%	204	187	136	158	113	0
Central Catholic HS Tuscarawas Co Columbus Catholic	Tuscarawas	33	108.2	90.9%	150	57	169	133	340	0
Lima Central Catholic HS Toledo Diocese	Allen	80	108.0	92.5%	175	188	125	190	165	0
Continental Local High School Continental Local	Putnam	42	107.9	92.9%	260	115	229	114	175	0
Fort Jennings High School Jennings Local	Putnam	33	107.1	90.9%	390	95	237	131	242	0
Fort Recovery High School Fort Recovery Local	Mercer	65	107.1	90.8%	325	125	375	103	206	0
Trinity HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	91	106.7	91.2%	189	326	183	289	133	0
Woodmore High School Woodmore Local	Sandusky	70	105.0	92.9%	311	348	264	321	287	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

This web site provides the best set of tools to allow education professionals and enthusiasts to compare high school academic performance. This year, the reports have gotten even better by enabling users to view side-by-side school comparisons and by including the state rankings for each school in all of the various subjects.

Listed to the right is a side-by-side comparison of Performance Index Scores for two schools in the same district that are 1.4 miles apart. It is not apparent that Hilliard Davidson performed substantially better on the test than Hilliard Darby by looking at the graphs, but from a ranking perspective, it did considerably better.

Looking closer at the rankings in the second table, Hilliard Davidson performed substantially better on all subject tests except for Reading. As an analyst, I would like to better understand how the rankings in Reading can be the same (214 vs. 215), but Social Studies can be so different (98 vs. 262), especially since Social Studies does not include complicated concepts.

The same table for Lakota East and Lakota West is shown on the right. Again, these are two similar schools in the same school district. Lakota West is a bit stronger in Math and Science, and Lakota East is better in Reading, Social Studies, and Writing.

The reason why these tables are so compelling is because the students taking the tests are the same. Theoretically, the rankings should be very similar across all subjects within the same school. Also be aware that the individual reports for each school contain the ranking information from last year's test so a year-by-year comparison is available.

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

Delays, Delays, and More Delays...

The data used to create this report is normally released by the end of October. That normally means that I have November, December, and January to crunch through the academic data before the busiest time of the year for me arrives, which is the boys high school tennis season. This year, due to the data rigging scandal, the data was released on April 16, during the middle of the boys tennis season. This was even further complicated because this is the first year that my tennis web site coverage was expanded from the central Ohio area, which includes 70 teams, to include northeast and southwest Ohio for a total of 190 teams.

Normally additional research would be included with this report, but that will follow after the boys tennis season.

This report is normally released in an Adobe Acrobat pdf, but pdf's do not provide the flexibility that html provides. Using html enables better linking, better viewing on mobile devices, and it enabled me to create the report faster. There are also fewer user technical problems associated with html.

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:

• Hard-working students who are willing to spend multiple hours on homework every night and who are challenging and competing against their fellow classmates. (And remember, unlike sporting events, every student in the 10th grade participates and every student matters.)
• Caring parents who are giving their children an opportunity to work on their assignments and making the sacrifices to help their children by transporting them to better schools outside of their neighborhood; by paying tuition or higher property taxes (or both) to allow their children to go to a better school; and/or by moving to a community that places a greater emphasis on education
• Outstanding teachers who teach well and who can motivate their students
• Administrations who set high expectations for the students, teachers, and parents
• Outstanding elementary and middle school teachers who have established a solid foundation for the students
• Active volunteers who help with those activities that the teacher / administrative staff do not have the expertise and/or time to perform
• Supporting communities that place a high value on education and by ensuring that there is a tradition of academic excellence

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 six 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 for the last three 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.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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