GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

It’s not news to report that statistics can be deceptive. But when a new set of test scores come out, it’s worth repeating nonetheless.

Teachers College sociologist Aaron Pallas tackles the subject in the Community section of GothamSchools today, by taking a closer look at two middle schools that the Post has recently highlighted for exceptional performance and finding that both schools admit their students selectively. He writes:

Due to their selective admissions, IS 187 and, to a lesser extent, IS 364 were born on third base.  The New York Post thinks they hit a triple.

Some schools might have hit something closer to a home run. Manhattan’s citywide Anderson School, for instance, admitted every single one of its students in grades 3-8 on the basis of their scores on an IQ test and in-person interview. Not a single student at Anderson failed the math test, and in fact it was the only school citywide with a clean 100 percent of all students in a single grade scoring at the very highest level, in the sixth grade.

Not all successful schools handpick their students. (more…)