This article in the El Paso Times tells us that EPISD’s Silva Health Magnet High School was recently ranked the best high school in El Paso county by Children at Risk, a Houston nonprofit. I thank the Times for pointing that out.
Actually Silva was ranked the 10th best high school in the state of Texas by Children at Risk. Now that is news. What is clear is that the students, parents, teachers and staff at Silva are doing a fine job.
Children at Risk explains their ranking methodology on their web site. Looking at it there are some things that we might quarrel with but at least their ranking method is consistent as it is applied across the state.
The article goes on to point out that Silva was the only high school in the county to receive an “A” rating. It reported that there were nine county high schools that received a “B”. Some received “C’s” and some got “D’s”.
Which ones?
Unfortunately the article did not tell us how each of our high schools ranked. One of the things a journalist should do is read his work from the point of view of the reader. This is the kind of thing that the public would like to know.
Did the article not cover the basics because of lack of space? Maybe an editor intervened. Maybe the reporter did not have time or did not think of printing the detailed results. Maybe the results would be inflammatory.
I don’t know why they left this out.
Brutus is now hot on this issue and will be publishing more detailed information soon. The numbers will tell us a lot.
Muckraker
elpasospeak 
Glad to see you writing about this. Yes, everyone at Silva is doing a wonderful job….most importantly, the students. The thing that no one ever talks about is that Silva Magnet is not open to anyone and everyone. The students must apply, as they do to the other magnet schools, and “get admitted.” So, Silva, which is actually the best and most exclusive of the magnet schools, “chooses” the cream of the crop, the best students they can find, and that, my friend, is the secret to their success! The effect is to “raise the curve” by not admitting those low performers, low achievers, at riskers, problemos, etc, etc. Everyone excels on the achievement tests, Silva comes out tops in the city, Silva gets the credit, and Silva gets national recognition. Am I mistaken? Ask any kid who’s been rejected. I’ll give more credit to those schools who can and do turn losers into winners. Those schools are the real performers!
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If every school had the luxury to reject certain students that could not excel and make the grade, the performance of those schools would naturally look better. OH, I forgot! That’s exactly what EPISD has been doing by “disappearing” students. We see how well that’s worked out, especially for the kids we gave up on.
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Exactly, Not Amused! Silva manages to disappear them by not admitting. The loss of those top performers also affects their home schools … negatively. Silve does even better than “private” or “semi-private” schools like Loretto or others because the privates accept those who can cough up the dinero, and unfortunately, getting the dinero from those well-to-do families, does not mean getting a top-notch kid!
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