A Culture of Accomplishment

Last week the State of Illinois came out with the School Report Cards for 2005, looking at standardized test scores for the schools. As I looked at the list of the top 50 high schools in Illinois, I noticed a serious correlation between the top test scores and the top schools in football and marching band. It turns out that four of the top seven public high school marching bands in the State Championship are in the top 50 high schools:

School            Band Rank   PSAE Rank
Naperville North       2         13
Lincoln-Way Central    5         37
Morton                 7         23
Wheaton-Warrenville
South                  8         33

Other schools in the top 25 for PSAE scores also have very competitive bands; among them are Adlai E Stevenson, Prospect, Naperville Central, William Fremd, and John Hersey.

I also noticed that of the seven public high schools in the state football finals, five are in the top 50 test scores and four are in the top 20.

   
School            Finals Seed  PSAE Rank
Wheaton-Warrenville
South                  1          33	
Adlai E Stevenson      1           6
Maine South            3          17
Hinsdale Central       5           5
Barrington             6          17

Lincoln-Way East, which tied with Naperville North for second in the state band tournament, also has a #1 seeded football team. And if we look at 8A schools in eliminated in earlier stages of the state football playoffs, we see another slew of top 25 PSAE ranked schools: Naperville North, Naperville Central, Glenbrook South, Neuqua Valley, William Fremd, New Trier, Maine South and Lyons Township. In fact, 14 of the 30 public high schools in the Class 8A football playoffs are in the top 25 schools for the PSAE.

In each category, football and marching band, one or more of the top schools is a Catholic school, which do not take the PSAE.

My conclusion? Schools build a culture of accomplishment. In schools where students achieve in one area, they tend to achieve in all areas. Yes, it is about parental involvement, and having parents with enough leisure time (which implies enough income) to devote the time necessary to support their children. But that's not all of it. These schools motivate students, make clear their high expectations, and students rise up to meet the challenges. If you want to see committed, disciplined, focused kids that are our real future, they are on the football fields of the state in the fall, tossing the pigskin, playing a horn or twirling a flag. And for anyone who thinks that kids today have no discipline, just come to any marching band field tournament to see iron discipline, teamwork, massive preparation and sheer talent.

Posted by trygstad | Category: Academia | 02:50 PM