Vicky Addison proudly announced over her school intercom Thursday morning that John S. Davidson Fine Arts School had once again been ranked in the nation's top 100 public high schools.
"We're really glad about that," the Davidson principal later said of the recognition in US News & World Report 's annual rankings. "We work really hard."
It was the third consecutive year that the Augusta magnet school made the mark, being the only one from Georgia in the Top 100. The report ranks Davidson at No. 100 out of nearly 22,000 public high schools from 48 states and the District of Columbia. Nebraska and Oklahoma schools did not provide enough data to be considered.
In 2007, Davidson ranked No. 84 and in 2008 the school was 89th, "so we're hanging in there," Ms. Addison said.
In recent years, the number of schools considered for the ranking has increased.
Ms. Addison said that going forward her school will place even greater emphasis on students taking advanced placement courses.
Currently, students must apply and write an essay to be accepted for such curriculum that can result in college credit.
"Next year, we are planning to have all of our juniors and seniors taking advanced placement English," Ms. Addison said. "We're going to step out on the limb, but not without good preparation."
The latest rankings were determined using reading and math scores for low-income students compared with statistical expectations, the proficiency of "least advantaged groups" and the participation and the preparation of students for college as measured by student participation and performance on advance-placement or International Baccalaureate exams.
The following area schools also were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals in the rankings: John S. Davidson Fine Arts School -- Gold Medal, Top 100 School; A.R. Johnson Health Science & Engineering Magnet High School -- Silver Medal; Burke County High School -- Bronze Medal; Washington--Wilkes High School -- Bronze Medal; and Screven County High School -- Bronze Medal.
A gold medal means the school is among the top 100 schools meeting all three criteria. A silver medal means the school also met all three criteria, but was outside the top 100 schools. Bronze medals were awarded to schools meeting the first two criteria, but not the third.
Overall, Georgia ranks 20th in the country according to the program, with 29 of 380 high schools receiving a bronze medal or better. South Carolina came in at No. 33, with 22 of 200 high schools awarded a medal.
Because the rankings are based on submitted data, only 288 of the 380 Georgia high schools and 137 of the 200 South Carolina high schools were eligible for consideration.
Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 828-3851 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
THE RANKING
DAVIDSON FINE ARTS SCHOOL GOLD MEDAL
Poverty-adjusted performance: 1.62
Disadvantaged student performance gap: 26.3
College readiness index: 63.0
Minority enrollment: 45.9 percent
Disadvantaged student enrollment: Not available
THE DEFINITIONS
Poverty-Adjusted performance: A measure of the "distance" from statistically expected performance, using the relationship between poverty and the state performance index. Only values of 1 or greater meet the criteria for selection.
DISADVANTAGED STUDENT PERFORMANCE GAP: The differential between a school's disadvantaged students' proficiency rate and the state average for similarly disadvantaged students.
COLLEGE READINESS INDEX: A measure of the degree to which students master some college-level material (a weighted average based 25 percent on the AP or IB participation and 75 percent on the quality-adjusted AP or IB participation rates).
OTHER SCHOOL RANKINGS
A. R. Johnson Health Science & Engineering Magnet High School - Silver Medal
Poverty-Adjusted Performance 2.34
Disadvantaged Student Performance Gap 25.8
College Readiness Index 38.6
Minority Enrollment 77.6%
Disadvantaged Student Enrollment Not available
Burke County High School - Bronze Medal
Poverty-Adjusted Performance 1.35
Disadvantaged Student Performance Gap 11.4
College Readiness Index 20.0
Minority Enrollment 33.5%
Disadvantaged Student Enrollment Not available
Screven County High School - Bronze Medal
Poverty-Adjusted Performance 1.23
Disadvantaged Student Performance Gap 5.3
College Readiness Index Not applicable
Minority Enrollment 54.8%
Disadvantaged Student Enrollment Not available
Washington-Wilkes High School - Bronze Medal
Poverty-Adjusted Performance 1.24
Disadvantaged Student Performance Gap 7.5
College Readiness Index Not applicable
Minority Enrollment 58.8%
Disadvantaged Student Enrollment Not available
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
Back 
