Moorestown Takes 'A' Rating in HS Ranking Report 'In Stride'

Moorestown High School got a favorable rating in a recent Inside Jersey magazine (NJ.com) report ranking high schools across the state, but the school board president said the district can't—and won't—put too much stock in it.

The magazine used a "proprietary formula" that compared test scores—SATs and High School Proficiency Assessments (HSPA)—over a four-year period, from 2008 to 2012, and analyzed not just the scores themselves, but how the schools' scores improved or didn't improve over that period.

Inside Jersey used a letter grade system—much like students receive—to rate the schools. According to the formula, an "A" school has "above average scores, below average growth," while a "B" school has "above average scores, above average growth."

Based on Inside Jersey's rating system, Moorestown received an "A." Moorestown's SAT scores (1707) are the highest in the county, according to the report, and its HSPA scores improved by 3.5 percent between 2008-12.

It's nice, Board of Education President Don Mishler said, to get that validation. But school ratings and rankings are a dime a dozen these days.

"We take them all in stride," he said. "Almost all of them use different data ... and so you can't get overly excited or overly upset at any of them."

What do you think of the ratings? Tell us in the comments below.