VOA慢速英语2017--美国最好的高中是哪间?

What Are the Best US High Schools? It Depends

Sometimes, deciding the best is difficult.

For example, deciding the 10 best public high schools – out of 24,000 – in America.

Two publications put together lists of the top 10. But the website Niche¹.com and the magazine U.S. News and World Report could agree on only one.

Both named Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology of Fairfax County, Virginia. Many people call it just “Thomas Jefferson.”

Niche ranked Thomas Jefferson number four. U.S. News put Thomas Jefferson at six.

But the two publications could not agree on their other top nine high schools.

Chicago has it?

In Niche.com’s latest ratings³, three of the top public high schools are located in Chicago, Illinois, America’s third most populated city.

The Chicago schools are Walter Payton College Prep, rated Number 1; Northside College Preparatory High School, Number 2; and Young Magnet High School, Number 6.

The top ratings for Chicago schools come at a time when violence among young people remains⁴ a problem. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel welcomed the good news for his city.

“I am so proud of the great work by principals, teachers and students in these high schools,” Emanuel said.

Or do charter⁵ schools?

In contrast, U.S. News and World Report gave its top ratings to charter schools. Charter schools receive public money, but operate independently of many local and state education rules.

Three charter schools in Arizona took the highest positions at U.S. News and World Report. They are all operated by a private company called BASIS Education Group LLC. BASIS also operates charter schools in Texas, Louisiana and Washington D.C.

The BASIS school in Scottsdale, Arizona was rated Number 1 nationally, followed by BASIS Tucson North and BASIS Oro Valley.

Another BASIS Arizona charter, BASIS Peoria, was ranked Number 5.

U.S. News said it made a change in its ratings this year, giving more weight to high schools where students take and pass college-level courses and exams. Preparing high school students for college-level classes and tests is a major part of BASIS’ education plan for its students.

Robert Morse worked on the best high school rating² system. He said that U.S. News wanted to give credit to schools that “that make an effort to challenge their students.”

How should parents look at school ratings?

Laura Owen is director of the American University School of Education’s Center for Postsecondary Readiness and Success. She said that all schools want to be rated highly.

But just because a school is ranked highly does not mean it is the best school for every child, Owen said. Parents have to decide which schools offer the academics and support that will help their children learn and reach their potential.

Elise Hauptman has two children at Stevenson High School in Illinois, the number-three rated public high school according to Niche.com.

She said Stevenson does something many schools fail to do: make changes to meet the needs of current students.

“They were among the first in the area to delay the start time of the school day, acknowledging⁶ sleep studies done on teens,” Hauptman said. “The day starts half an hour later, but both of my kids said it makes a huge difference.”

She also points to the school’s willingness to meet the needs of a variety of students -- not just those with the highest grades. Their efforts include adding new subjects, such as “writing for college,” and starting a new club to deal with drug and alcohol abuse.

How did the publications rank the best high schools?

When considering rankings, U.S. News said it looks at whether a school’s students do better than expected on reading and math tests. U.S. News also says that it looks at how “disadvantaged students,” including black and Hispanic students, perform on tests.

Niche says it bases its ratings on students’ performance on standardized⁷ tests, racial and economic diversity of the school population, and comments from a school’s students and their parents.

Six of the ten top high schools rated by Niche.com select their students. That means they can choose the brightest middle and junior high school students for their schools.

But the BASIS schools in Arizona that scored so high in the U.S. News and World Report's ratings do not have admission requirements. School officials say they hold a lottery⁸ when they have more students than they can accept.

Kristen Jordison is Head of School at BASIS Scottsdale, which was ranked Number 1 in the latest U.S. News and World Report survey.

She said the school is successful because it has excellent teachers and demands a lot of students, including college-level assignments.

“Our students and teachers work very hard,” Jordison said.

Teachers and fellow students work with children individually who are struggling with classes, Jordison said.

Audrey Amrein-Beardsley is a professor at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

She said that BASIS schools in Arizona are open to everyone. But by not offering transportation and free lunch programs, the schools can be difficult for low-income parents to send their children to, Amrein-Beardsley said. The result is that BASIS schools take in fewer minority students and fewer students from poor families than regular public schools, she said.

Joe Thomas is president of the Arizona Education Association, a union that represents the state’s public school teachers.

Thomas said that every school, public or private, will lose students each year. But he said that BASIS schools lose a lot more students than other schools because not all students are ready to take college-level classes.

I'm Bruce Alpert.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

proud - n. very happy and pleased because of something that was done

principal - n. the leader of a school

challenge - v. to test the ability, skill, or strength of someone

potential - n. a quality that something has that can be developed to make it better

diversity - n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group

lottery - n. a system used to decide who will get or be given something by choosing names or numbers by chance

1 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

2 rating   

n.级别，等级，额定值，责骂，收视率

参考例句：

• It is a ship with a rating of 500,000 tons.这是一艘五十万吨级的船。
• The opinion polls gave the president a high rating.民意测验显示人民对总统的支持率很高。

3 ratings   

n.等级( rating的名词复数 )；收视率；表示电影分级的数字（或字母）；（海军）水兵

参考例句：

• He won high ratings [marks] in all his examinations. 他所有的考试都获得高分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The boat was operated by two naval ratings in dress whites. 船由两个穿着白色礼服的水兵驾驶。 来自辞典例句

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 charter   

n.特许状，执照，宪章；v.特许，发给特许执照

参考例句：

• This new law amounts to a tax evader's charter.这项新法律简直成了为逃税者开的许可证。
• We will charter a steamer to convey the goods.我们将租一艘船运送这批货物。

6 acknowledging   

v.承认( acknowledge的现在分词 )；鸣谢；对…打招呼；告知已收到

参考例句：

• That would be acknowledging the Railroad's ownership right away-forfeiting their rights for good. 这一来不是就等于干脆承认铁路公司的所有权-永久放弃他们自己的主权吗？ 来自辞典例句
• It is a great relief to allow us ourselves the luxury of acknowledging our human frailties. 让我们自己享受承认人类的弱点的快乐是一大慰藉。 来自辞典例句

7 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

8 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。