'America's Most Challenging High Schools:' Cinnaminson High School Isn't Ranked, But What Does It Mean?

Is Cinnaminson High School challenging students sufficiently? A list released by the Washington Post this week suggests that answer is no.

But a closer look at the list raises questions about how the ranking of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” was reached.

Cinnaminson was not ranked on the list of of 2,300 schools it defined as challenging, but the list is based on one metric: How many of a school’s students took an Advanced Placement or other college-level test last year, compared with the number of students who graduated from that high school last year.

The other tests considered are the International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests, according to the Washington Post article.

To make the list, a school had to have a score of 1.000 or better. To achieve that score, the school had to have as many college-level tests given last year as the number of students who graduated. Magnet schools were not included on the list.

So, if there were 300 graduates last year at a particular school, there would need to be 300 AP tests taken by students at that school to make the list.

The Post defends the rankings as ”a modest standard,” saying, “A school can reach that level if only half of its students take one AP, IB or AICE test in their junior year and one in their senior year.”

So students taking multiple AP tests helps a school’s ratio.

Students must pay to take an Advanced Placement test. The fee is $91 per test, though there are some fee reductions available for students who qualify based on financial need.

According to the 2014 U.S. News & World Report report on the Best High Schools in New Jersey, 29 percent of Cinnaminson High School students took AP tests in 2012-13, with a passing rate of 68 percent. The average number of exams taken per taker was 2.5, with a passing rate of 76 percent.

The benefit of taking an AP test is that students who do score 3 or better are able to receive college credit at many colleges and universities, allowing them to spend tuition dollars on other courses. A perfect score is 5.0.

The Post touts the importance of taking the test for everyone:

“AP, IB and AICE are important because they give average students a chance to experience the trauma of heavy college reading lists and long, analytical college examinations. Research has found that even low-performing students who got a 2 on an AP test did significantly better in college than similar students who did not take AP.”

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