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TOP 10 ENVY:  The Risks of Independent School Rankings
By Joseph T. Cox

When I meet with prospective independent school parents at admissions meetings, I tell them, “Relax, you can’t make a mistake.” And I mean it. So many great independent and parochial schools exist in our area, and the local public schools are some of the best in the country. If parents keep their children’s interests first, the school selection process does not have to be as stressful as it seems to be. School rankings do not help the process because they ignore the unique needs of individual students. Independent schools shy away from these kinds of rankings because we genuinely believe, as psychologist Michael Thompson reminds us that, “there are no great schools, just great fits.” In our competitive and status conscious culture, rankings obscure the fact that the best school is the one that is best for your child—all you have to do is find the one that’s the perfect fit for your young Einstein.

You need to make your own evaluation of the quality of the faculty, the quality of the student body, and the quality of the teaching. Don’t be seduced by “best of” lists that some magazines, newspapers, and news programs use to boost their own ratings, because lists do not take into account your child and his or her unique needs. The “best” school—public, parochial, or independent—is the one that meets the needs of each particular child.

When you look at an independent school, pay close attention to its mission statement. In unique mission and vision statements, each independent school will define its academic objectives, the kind of program and campus culture the school provides, and the qualities that will help a student to succeed at the school. Independent schools are all different, and the schools are financially self-sufficient, depending on tuition payments and active fund raising from their alumni and parent communities.

Some independent schools are highly competitive by design; others intentionally create a more nurturing atmosphere. Some focus on the arts, while others focus on mathematics and science and others on outdoor education. Different schools offer programs for different types of students: bright students with learning differences; the gifted; students of average ability; and children who face particular challenges. I think we would all agree that we want a school that knows our children and challenges them to be the finest students they can be. Parents know their children best, and they can determine the educational environment that will help them be all they can be better than a published ranking. Rankings, no matter how objective they try to be, do not address the details of the personal partnerships between parent and teacher and teacher and student that best guarantee academic success.

Allow me to suggest the following process in selecting an independent school:

1. Search out a good directory of schools.

2. Narrow your search to affordable schools (make sure to ask about their financial aid policies), offering the programs you value in your transportation area.

3. Visit the top four or five schools on your list. Reflect on how well your child will do in each school. (Remember, more than one school probably can do a great job for your child.)

4. Look for teacher competence, a safe environment, financial stability, sensitive administrators, and good governance.

5. After you and your child visit several schools, discuss what you saw and decide what you think is best for your child; and there, for the very best reason, is your number one school.

Independent schools are to be judged through their rigorous accreditation processes, according to what they individually set out to accomplish. Ranking such wonderfully different schools against one another misrepresents the institutions, misleads consumer-minded parents about the factors that should be considered in the complex process of choosing a school, but, most importantly, can hurt children. Rankings may give parents what might look like a time-saving device, but they drastically undervalue the time and analysis needed to match child needs with school opportunities.

Even worse, such wide spread publications can develop a “herd” mentality among parents who would otherwise make excellent individual decisions. Not only are the area’s independent schools wonderful educational opportunities for our children but, they are also critical to the region’s economic success. Rankings create a false sense of good and bad schools, possibly undermining the important work that all independent schools do. Choosing a school based on what neighbors or business partners think is the best school can lead to poor results for your child. No magazine formula can match the careful judgment of parents in this important decision. Don’t give in to “Top 10 envy.”

Joseph T. Cox, Ph.D is the headmaster of the Haverford School.