Magazine rankings of schools are so unreliable, superficial, and flawed that we would be foolish to be unduly influenced by high rankings, low rankings or shifts up or down. Worth noting, however, in the case of West Windsor-Plainsboro HS South and the recent New Jersey Magazine rankings is the fact that the “drop” from No. 16 to No. 62 and the disparity between High School South’s ranking and the rankings of schools higher on the list are the results of South’s high student-teacher ratio and high average class size. According to the New Jersey Magazine statistics, only one school in the top 60 has more students per teacher overall or larger average class sizes.
South is accomplishing a great deal with fewer resources –– at least fewer teachers –– than almost any other school in the state. But with significant disadvantages in student-teacher ratios and class sizes, South will not improve and will not be able to continue to deliver the top-quality education it has delivered in the past. Nor will the students be able to sustain their superior record on standardized test scores and college admissions.
South students would benefit greatly from the level of resources that can make high quality education sustainable in the coming years: not more expensive technology that turns out to be of dubious value in the actual enhancement of student learning; not expensive, top-down professional development initiatives (e.g. teacher evaluation systems and elaborate lesson-planning programs), but teachers actually given the voice to say what they need in order to better serve their students; not just lip-service, but real focus, attention and necessary resources for teachers to do the work they need to do to educate the children of the WW-P community; and, most importantly, an overall student-teacher ratio and class sizes that are conducive to achieving true excellence in education.
Donald Gilpin
Princeton Junction
Gilpin has been a Language Arts teacher at South for 23 years.
