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.

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.

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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	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:

• 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 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.

 

 

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