THE TOP ACADEMIC
OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS - 2014
NOVEMBER 14, 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 specific report analyzes the March 2014 OGT, and this is the eighth year for this analysis.

What Was Included?

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

There were 1,008 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, 10.7% made the cut. Six 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 is shown 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 eight 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, St. Charles 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 Mathematics, Reading, Science, 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. (See below for more information about the rankings.)

Note that the table is long -- it contains detailed data for all of the 108 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
St Charles Preparatory HS Columbus Diocese	Franklin	150	116.5	100%	1	1	8	1	1	5
Walnut Hills High School Cincinnati City	Hamilton	389	115.4	99.2%	5	3	15	8	2	4
Ursuline Academy HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	171	115.2	98.8%	2	7	3	2	20	4
Seven Hills School OAIS - Seven Hills School	Hamilton	83	114.7	98.8%	7	25	22	3	6	3
Hathaway Brown HS OAIS - Hathaway Brown	Cuyahoga	86	114.7	100%	6	8	2	15	5	4
Columbus School for Girls OAIS - Columbus School For Girls	Franklin	54	114.6	98.1%	4	5	29	6	13	3
Columbus Academy OAIS - Columbus Academy	Franklin	90	114.5	97.8%	3	18	7	10	19	3
Ottawa Hills High School Ottawa Hills Local	Lucas	77	114.4	97.4%	10	15	11	9	11	2
Summit Country Day HS OAIS - Summit Country Day	Hamilton	84	114.2	97.6%	9	11	1	18	27	2
Laurel School Academy OAIS - Laurel	Cuyahoga	64	114.1	100%	8	31	6	32	4	3
Dublin Jerome High School Dublin City	Franklin	368	114.1	96.7%	19	17	32	5	7	2
Toledo Early College High School Toledo City	Lucas	36	113.7	97.2%	13	6	42	42	8	2
Hawken School OAIS - Hawken School	Geauga	104	113.7	100%	11	14	20	11	44	0
Chagrin Falls High School Chagrin Falls Exempted Village	Cuyahoga	165	113.6	97.6%	15	12	25	14	25	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
John Hay Early College High School Cleveland Municipal SD	Cuyahoga	76	113.6	98.7%	17	2	23	65	12	1
Madeira High School Madeira City	Hamilton	111	113.5	94.6%	22	22	30	22	16	0
Oakwood High School Oakwood City	Montgomery	170	113.4	95.9%	21	24	12	16	31	0
Upper Arlington High School Upper Arlington City	Franklin	439	113.3	94.8%	29	16	60	33	9	1
Montessori HS at University Circle Montessori HS	Cuyahoga	34	113.2	100%	12	74	5	26	21	1
Solon High School Solon City	Cuyahoga	450	113.2	94.4%	18	27	87	16	15	0
Akron Early College High School Akron City	Summit	80	113.1	95.0%	46	19	16	69	3	1
Hudson High School Hudson City	Summit	395	113.1	95.2%	23	39	26	30	17	0
Bishop Rosecrans HS Columbus Diocese	Muskingum	30	112.9	96.7%	41	23	34	4	75	1
Old Fort High School Old Fort Local	Sandusky	22	112.8	90.9%	24	47	14	61	14	0
Cincinnati Country Day HS OAIS - Cincinnati Country Day	Hamilton	67	112.8	98.5%	16	40	39	26	32	0
Minster High School Minster Local	Auglaize	65	112.7	95.4%	39	29	96	13	29	0
St Xavier HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	403	112.7	97.0%	25	34	65	20	45	0
Wyoming High School Wyoming City	Hamilton	167	112.6	97.0%	33	26	45	41	30	0
Bishop Watterson HS Columbus Diocese	Franklin	226	112.6	97.3%	36	82	13	34	18	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Lake Ridge Academy OAIS - Lake Ridge Academy	Lorain	42	112.4	95.2%	31	52	88	25	22	0
Rocky River High School Rocky River City	Cuyahoga	205	112.3	94.1%	53	32	34	39	54	0
Magnificat HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	187	112.3	97.3%	14	92	27	37	55	0
Dublin Coffman High School Dublin City	Franklin	491	112.3	94.9%	43	30	93	36	28	0
Aurora High School Aurora City	Portage	250	112.1	95.2%	50	36	77	40	47	0
Bellbrook High School Sugarcreek Local School District	Greene	213	112.1	95.3%	67	57	59	24	23	0
Miami Valley School OAIS - Miami Valley	Montgomery	39	112.1	97.4%	54	10	100	21	86	1
Indian Hill High School Indian Hill Exempted Village	Hamilton	151	112.0	92.7%	38	37	66	44	56	0
Miller City High School Miller City-New Cleveland Local	Putnam	34	112.0	97.1%	59	9	129	53	35	1
William Mason High School Mason City	Warren	860	112.0	92.1%	60	32	85	50	24	0
Beaumont School Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	81	112.0	96.3%	20	103	4	71	34	1
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy OAIS - Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy	Hamilton	124	112.0	96.0%	72	21	91	29	57	0
Mariemont High School Mariemont City	Hamilton	126	111.9	93.7%	32	62	33	69	33	0
Russia High School Russia Local	Shelby	44	111.9	93.2%	70	4	167	47	41	1
Olentangy High School Olentangy Local	Delaware	380	111.8	92.1%	65	65	73	38	26	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Sycamore High School Sycamore Community City	Hamilton	395	111.8	93.9%	49	42	111	43	38	0
Botkins High School Botkins Local	Shelby	45	111.7	93.3%	52	45	17	99	43	0
Delaware Christian HS Delaware Christian	Delaware	26	111.7	100%	30	71	9	51	115	1
Olentangy Liberty High School Olentangy Local	Delaware	468	111.6	95.1%	66	67	57	35	60	0
Dayton Regional STEM School		65	111.4	92.3%	75	50	80	12	105	0
Independence High School Independence Local	Cuyahoga	77	111.3	92.2%	60	105	37	52	58	0
Kalida High School Kalida Local	Putnam	56	111.3	96.4%	88	38	101	59	50	0
New Albany High School New Albany-Plain Local	Franklin	314	111.3	92.7%	44	53	68	60	70	0
Turpin High School Forest Hills Local	Hamilton	298	111.3	94.0%	84	66	56	53	49	0
Brecksville-Broadview Heights High Schoo Brecksville-Broadview Heights City	Cuyahoga	357	111.2	92.4%	86	60	55	56	63	0
Notre Dame Academy Toledo Diocese	Lucas	141	111.2	95.7%	28	77	10	94	116	1
St Ursula Academy Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	172	111.2	94.2%	26	86	19	81	103	0
Western Reserve Academy OAIS - Western Reserve Academy	Summit	90	111.1	93.3%	74	20	78	46	171	0
Maumee Valley Country Day HS OAIS - Maumee Valley Country Day	Lucas	47	111.0	91.5%	73	13	43	87	144	0
Village Academy OAIS - Learning Unlimited-Village Academy	Delaware	36	110.9	94.4%	35	48	82	121	71	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Kenston High School Kenston Local	Geauga	254	110.8	94.1%	81	59	95	63	74	0
St Ignatius HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	371	110.8	92.2%	58	69	69	103	62	0
Wellington School OAIS - Wellington School	Franklin	46	110.8	93.5%	62	56	44	88	97	0
Kirtland High School Kirtland Local	Lake	85	110.7	90.6%	42	68	89	109	81	0
Walsh Jesuit HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Summit	261	110.7	93.9%	69	123	114	31	79	0
Canfield High School Canfield Local	Mahoning	208	110.4	92.3%	108	72	131	67	59	0
Centerville High School Centerville City	Montgomery	695	110.4	90.6%	87	88	120	62	68	0
Bishop Hartley HS Columbus Diocese	Franklin	181	110.4	91.2%	47	157	58	74	83	0
Versailles High School Versailles Exempted Village	Darke	103	110.3	93.2%	149	35	63	95	105	0
Archbishop Alter HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Montgomery	168	110.3	91.7%	68	158	36	126	48	0
Lowellville High School Lowellville Local	Mahoning	52	110.2	96.2%	63	76	90	104	96	0
Mount Notre Dame HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	190	110.2	91.1%	37	224	31	78	107	0
Granville High School Granville Exempted Village	Licking	210	110.1	93.3%	77	64	133	86	120	0
St Edward HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	240	110.1	92.9%	102	78	103	48	150	0
Mosdos Ohr Hatorah HS	Cuyahoga	15	110.1	93.3%	56	113	184	105	53	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Grandview Heights High School Grandview Heights City	Franklin	75	109.9	90.7%	153	101	119	55	102	0
Archbishop Hoban HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Summit	211	109.9	91.5%	55	153	50	66	189	0
St Ursula Academy Toledo Diocese	Lucas	133	109.9	91.0%	96	145	41	133	66	0
St John's Jesuit HS Toledo Diocese	Lucas	92	109.9	92.4%	114	100	212	49	80	0
Pettisville High School Pettisville Local	Fulton	44	109.8	93.2%	163	51	74	45	244	0
Avon Lake High School Avon Lake City	Lorain	271	109.6	90.8%	115	79	136	67	142	0
West Geauga High School West Geauga Local	Geauga	196	109.6	90.8%	113	118	162	80	81	0
John Hay School of Science & Medicine Cleveland Municipal SD	Cuyahoga	88	109.6	97.7%	157	63	138	166	52	0
Olmsted Falls High School Olmsted Falls City	Cuyahoga	288	109.5	90.6%	102	87	121	122	118	0
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin HS Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Geauga	186	109.5	92.5%	48	110	81	137	187	0
Lutheran West HS Cleveland Lutheran Hs Assoc	Cuyahoga	109	109.3	92.7%	101	210	72	98	94	0
St Joseph Academy Cleveland Catholic Diocese	Cuyahoga	168	109.3	90.5%	45	201	86	131	145	0
Bishop Fenwick HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Warren	140	109.2	95.0%	158	106	125	57	169	0
Moeller HS Cincinnati Archdiocese	Hamilton	232	109.2	90.5%	141	146	130	106	71	0
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Cuyahoga Valley Christian Acad	Summit	146	109.2	92.5%	90	136	99	140	126	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Bluffton High School Bluffton Exempted Village	Allen	81	109.1	91.4%	145	168	132	73	110	0
Maplewood High School Maplewood Local	Trumbull	64	109.1	90.6%	155	93	118	148	108	0
Dalton High School Dalton Local	Wayne	76	109.0	92.1%	148	121	53	85	221	0
Andrews Osborne Academy	Lake	38	109.0	92.1%	201	28	250	117	158	0
Madison Christian School Franklin	Franklin	45	109.0	93.3%	169	237	70	158	37	0
Perrysburg High School Perrysburg Exempted Village	Wood	346	108.9	92.5%	120	120	124	123	151	0
St Francis De Sales HS Columbus Diocese	Franklin	218	108.6	91.3%	162	154	61	118	202	0
Crestview High School Crestview Local	Van Wert	59	108.3	93.2%	214	91	272	153	111	0
Poland Seminary High School Poland Local	Mahoning	183	108.3	91.8%	107	104	243	163	196	0
Vanlue High School Vanlue Local	Hancock	19	108.3	94.7%	160	139	97	169	181	0
Tree of Life-Northridge Branch Tree of Life	Franklin	44	108.1	90.9%	161	241	92	97	212	0
Ottoville High School Ottoville Local	Putnam	24	108.0	95.8%	192	148	235	125	176	0
Eastwood I High School Eastwood Local	Wood	112	107.8	91.1%	138	275	139	129	190	0
Bloomfield High School Bloomfield-Mespo Local	Trumbull	14	107.7	92.9%	261	43	258	202	229	0
Fort Loramie Junior-Senior High School Fort Loramie Local	Shelby	80	107.7	91.3%	333	111	415	79	133	0
HIGH SCHOOL / DISTRICT	COUNTY	# STU.	PIS	PASS 5%	STATEWIDE RANKINGS					# TOP 10
					READING	MATH	WRITING	SCIENCE	SOCIAL STUDIES
Xenia Christian HS Xenia Christian	Greene	32	107.5	90.6%	131	252	165	92	328	0
New Knoxville High School New Knoxville Local	Auglaize	31	106.8	93.5%	212	286	330	157	175	0
New London High School New London Local	Huron	75	106.6	93.3%	340	256	177	205	179	0
Franklin Monroe High School Franklin Monroe Local	Darke	67	106.0	91.0%	288	230	408	204	237	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. Gilmour Academy and University School) but not this year because not all of their performance data was included. The ODE also 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 Worthington Kilbourne and Thomas Worthington. As with most schools within the same school system, the results are similar.

Looking at a comparison within a school, Worthington Kilbourne excels in Mathematics, and Social Studies. Thomas Worthington is stronger in Reading.

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

Additional Graphs Provide a New Perspective

Viewing five year trend charts is the best way to evaluate schools because it makes it possible to see which schools are already outstanding and which schools are very good and trending higher (i.e. Maplewood, St. Francis DeSales, Wyoming, Dublin Coffman, Sycamore, Toledo Notre Dame Academy, Walsh Jesuit, and Canfield). This year, five year trend charts are provided within this document for the Performance Index Scores, % Students Who Passed All Five Tests, and the Number of Students Who Took the Test each year. Normally, this amount of information has not been shared in this document series, but an exception was made this year. By adding these graphs, this likely makes this report the most valuable and succinct document to compare Ohio's best schools.

Click on the following link to view the graphs for all of these schools. Click on the next link to return to normal viewing.

Note that these graphs only reflect those students who took the test as 10th graders.

As you review the fluctuations in the number of students who take the test each year, keep in mind what you have read in Malcolm Gladwell's book, David and Goliath, about class sizes.

 

 

 

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 eight 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.

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

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.

 

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