Newsweek Magazine just published its annual ranking of U.S. high schools. Sorry to take the wind out of the winners’ sails, but this feature attracts more critics every year. Some dissenters decry the very notion of ranking schools as overly simplistic, and many view this particular version as flawed for its simplistic, easily manipulated and ethically compromised criteria.

The rankings are based on a single factor, according to Newsweek: “…the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors.” The rankings don’t consider the results of those tests, just the number of tests taken.

This year, superintendents from 38 high-income school districts in five states sent Newsweek a joint letter announcing their boycott of the rankings.

“In reality, it is impossible to know which high schools are ‘the
best’ in the nation,” the letter stated. “Determining whether different schools do or don't
offer a high quality of education requires a look at many different
measures, including students' overall academic accomplishments and
their subsequent performance in college, and taking into consideration the unique
needs of their communities.

“Students and school communities deserve better than simplistic and
misleading school rankings, and that is why the signers of this letter
will not respond to your request for our A.P. or I.B. test data. We
respectfully insist that you omit our schools from your rankings, no
matter how well we score, even if you already have our data, or obtain
it in some other way.”

Also of no small relevance is the fact that the top California school on the list at No. 6, the Preuss charter high school in San Diego, is embroiled in a cheating scandal that has triggered investigations, audits and resignations.

The ethical quandary about the rankings kicks in because the criteria obviously push more students to take the AP and other tests. Newsweek’s parent company, the Washington Post Co., also owns the powerhouse Kaplan Test Prep, and pushing more testing presumably builds up demand for Kaplan’s business. Of course this may all be done in complete innocence, but it presents the appearance of conflict of interest, as they say.

For the record, the San Francisco public schools listed in the rankings are: Lowell High school, No. 54; Mission High School, No. 323; George Washington High School, No. 862; and Balboa High School, No. 1146. (Such rankings don't include private schools, since they aren't required to -- and don't -- provide the data.)

The 38 superintendents who announced the boycott later agreed that they can’t actually withhold public information, but are not dropping their objections to the rankings. Their full letter is below. (Jay Mathews lets the criticism roll off him.)

To the Editor,

The signers of this letter are school superintendents representing
a cross section of districts, including some of the finest public
schools in the nation. Many of our high schools have received top
rankings in your annual edition of "Americas Best High Schools," as
well as in numerous other publications. Others might never appear in
such rankings, despite great achievements, because of challenges
beyond the reach of your superficial approach to measuring quality.

Although some of our schools may seem to be the fortunate
beneficiaries of your articles, we all believe that all schools,
communities -- and your readers -- are poorly served by Newsweek's
persistent efforts to use a single statistic, the number of students
who sit for A.P. or I.B. exams, to rank schools.

The inventor of this flawed methodology, Jay Mathews, has insisted
that it is meaningful because A.P. or I.B. participation is the sole
available nation-wide measure of whether students take a rigorous
program of study. He is right that there are few consistent measures
of school quality, state-to-state, but that does not justify
inappropriate use of the data that is available.

In reality, it is impossible to know which high schools are "the
best" in the nation. Determining whether different schools do or don't
offer a high quality of education requires a look at many different
measures, including students' overall academic accomplishments and
their subsequent performance in college, and taking into consideration the unique
needs of their communities.

Students and school communities deserve better than simplistic and
misleading school rankings, and that is why the signers of this letter
will not respond to your request for our A.P.. or I.B. test data. We
respectfully insist that you omit our schools from your rankings, no
matter how well we score, even if you already have our data, or obtain
it in some other way.

Sincerely,

School Districts - Superintendents:

New York Schools:
Ardsley UFSD – Jason Friedman
Bedford CSD – Debra Jackson
Blind Brook-Rye Public Schools – Ronald D. Valenti
Brewster CSD – Jane Sandbank
Bronxville UFSD – David Quattrone
Byram Hills CSD – John Chambers
Chappaqua CSD – David Fleishman
Dobbs Ferry UFSD – Debra Kaplan
Greenburgh/North Castle UFSD – Robert Maher
Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools - Les Omotani
Katonah-Lewisboro UFSD – Robert Roelle
Mamaroneck UFSD – Paul Fried
Mt. Pleasant-Cottage School, UFSD – Norman Freimark
North Shore Schools – Ed Melnick
Ossining UFSD - Phyllis Glassman
Rye Neck UFSD – Peter Mustich
Scarsdale UFSD – Mike McGill
Spackenkill UFSD - Lois Colletta
Tuckahoe UFSD – Mike Yazurlo
Valhalla UFSD- Diane Ramos-Kelly

New Jersey Schools:
Montclair Schools - Frank Alvarez
Montgomery Schools - Sam Stewart
Tenafly Schools – Morton Sherman
Verona Public Schools – Earl Kim

Connecticut Schools:
Darien Schools – Don Fiftal
Simsbury Schools – Diane Ullman
Stonington Public Schools – Michael L. McKee
Wilton Public Schools - Gary Richards

Illinois Schools:
Decatur Public School District #61 – Gloria J. Davis
Deerfield/Highland Park Township HS District 113 – George V. Fornero
Evanston Township High School – Eric Witherspoon
Glenbrook High School District 225 - Dave Hales
Lincoln-Way High School District 210 – Lawrence A. Wylie
New Trier High School District 203 – Linda Yonke
Oak Park and River Forest High School - Attila J. Weninger

Massachusetts Schools:
Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools - Jere Hochman
Masconomet Regional School District - Claire Sheff Kohn
Wayland Schools – Gary Burton

Cc: The Editors of Time and US News and World Report