Posted by AFT Intern Danielle

Here’s a closer look at two high schools on Newsweek’s list of the 1000 Top U.S. High Schools and their relation to AYP.  Let’s take Fairfax High and West Potomac High, two schools in the Fairfax County public school district in Virginia. 

The two schools are comparable geographically, in the number of students enrolled, and by Newsweek’s ranking; Fairfax High was ranked #211 and West Potomac High was ranked #295.  And yet, Fairfax High made AYP and West Potomac High did not.  One difference between the schools is in their demographics. West Potomac High has twice the number of economically disadvantaged students and twice as many black and Hispanic students. 

AYP is supposed to be a measure of school quality, NOT a measure income.  This begs an important question: Just what is AYP measuring?  Is Fairfax High teaching its students more, or do the students of West Potomac High learn the same amount but come in at a disadvantage their freshman year because of their economic backgrounds and just never fully catch up?  These are just two schools from the list.  It’s possible that comparing other schools in similar circumstances would yield different results. Either way, it’s still not clear whether or not AYP is working.