Magazine gives Alle-Kiski Valley’s high schools wildly varied grades; Pitt prof says stats don’t tell whole story

Five of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s high schools ranked in the top 25% of the best high schools in the state, according to a recent U.S. News & World Report, and three are ranked in the bottom quarter.

Freeport Area High School ranked among the Valley’s highest in the state at 104. There are 718 public high schools in the state.

Freeport’s Superintendent Ian Magness credits the ranking to the district’s teachers, staff and students.

“We are especially proud of this recognition, given that it is being achieved with far less resources than all of the other districts listed ahead of us, even after us,” Magness said. He also credited the resiliency of students and the impact of the district’s focus on social-emotional well-being and support. Other schools struggled with those rankings.

Three local high schools ranked in the bottom 25% of the report — Highlands, Leechburg Area and Valley.

“There are a lot of schools not at the top of the list that are good districts,” said Tom Ralston, an assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education and the director of the Forum for Western Pennsylvania Superintendents.

The rankings are worth checking out, he said, but they don’t tell the full story about the quality of education for any one school district or any one student.

Test scores aren’t everything

Many of Alle-Kiski Valley local high schools ranked in the top 50% of 718 high schools in Pennsylvania. The criteria for the rankings were based on Keystone Exams results in reading, math and science, as well as testing in Advanced Placement (AP) exams and graduation rates.

The school experience isn’t all about test scores, Ralston stressed.

“There are many things that go into the school experience other than an AP class,” he said. “I feel bad for the districts that are being highlighted in a negative way because there are a lot of circumstances outside of their control.”

Notably, the school’s resources are determined by an unlevel playing field for funding, specifically real estate taxes.

The lowest ranking high schools in the U.S. News & World Report annual review in the Alle-Kiski Valley ranked in the bottom quarter of high schools statewide.

A specific ranking was not given to districts that fell between the rankings of 507 to 676.

Leechburg Area Superintendent Tiffany Nix agreed with Ralston that the U.S. News & World Report rankings don’t reflect what is being accomplished by students at Leechburg Area.

Leechburg ranked low in test scores for mathematics but high for science.

“They can rank us using any formula that they want, but we are going to keep doing what we are doing for our students,” she said, “not for some news report from a company that knows nothing about our school.”

While Kiski Area School District is proud to be ranked 167, in the upper 25% of Pennsylvania high schools, “the ranking is only one component of the outstanding opportunities that our district offers,” said Kiski Area Superintendent Misty Slavic.

AP classes not necessarily the future

Nix noted the U.S. News rankings are based on many factors, including AP classes — something Leechburg does not offer. Instead, the school district offers college classes for students.

She said many Leechburg students enter college as sophomores because of the opportunity to take college classes in high school.

Freeport, which ranked second highest in the Alle-Kiski Valley behind Fox Chapel Area, doesn’t offer as many AP courses as other districts.

Like Leechburg, Freeport Area students opt for taking college-level classes in high school to receive some of the same college credits as they do via AP, Superintendent Ian Magness said.

“Rankings and recognition are nice, but ultimately we are more motivated simply by our kids each experiencing their own success,” he said.

The Advanced Placement courses tilt toward preparation for college and other tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SATs), Ralston pointed out.

“There’s a huge industry with for-profit businesses offering testing and SAT prep courses,” he said. “What we are thinking about is careers for our kids and the types of exposure, internships and job programs out there and a pipeline to them. It’s not necessarily college.”

School districts are partnering with community colleges, and Ralston expects more innovation in the future with school districts continuing to partner with colleges and others to create more learning opportunities.

The New Kensington-Arnold School District Superintendent Chris Sefcheck noted the importance of collaborative partnerships with businesses and other institutions as a part of the future. New Kensington has been adding resources, businesses and educational collaborations such as Penn State University’s Digital Foundry downtown.

“With the right resources to support an accelerated curriculum and collaborative partnerships to help spread the revitalization of our area, we believe that we will see an increase in all areas of our academics,” Sefcheck said.

Although fared poorly in U.S. News rankings, Sefcheck credited the school board, administration, teachers, and community members who served on a committee to develop a new and “aggressive” comprehensive plan for the district. The plan includes greater access to learning opportunities, accelerating learning through summer camps and after-school programs, and introducing additional resources to support the teaching and learning environment, he said.

School districts change to meet educational and other challenges, Ralston said.

“Are we innovating enough to meet the needs and challenges of today?” he asked, “which are different than they were 20 or 30 years ago.”