Despite the resignation of its former principal and an
otherwise tumultuous year in the public eye, the Preuss
School at UCSD remains the top high
school in California for the
second year in a row, according to a ranking compiled by Newsweek magazine.

Housed on the UCSD campus, the charter middle and high
school was named the sixth-best high school in the U.S.
by the magazine, climbing three spots from its ninth-place position in last
year’s survey. Rankings were determined by totaling the number of Advanced
Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge
tests taken in 2007 and dividing them by the number of graduating seniors.

While Newsweek editor Jay Mathews said that some educators
disputed the ranking system as overly simplistic, he argued that the list is
valuable for the purposes of encouraging schools to provide a challenging,
rigorous curriculum for their students.

The fact that all Preuss
School students take multiple AP
courses and their corresponding exams contributed to the school’s strong performance
within the ranking system, Principal Scott Barton said.

Co-chartered by UCSD and the San
Diego Unified School
District, the Preuss
School’s enrollment is primarily
made up of low-income and minority students. Potential students must submit a
comprehensive application to attend the school and are selected by lottery.

Although a 2004 study by UCSD’s Center for Research on
Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence found that Preuss School
students did not perform statistically better on standardized tests than
applicants rejected from the school, data released in February by the same
office demonstrated that the charter’s students have a higher AP-exam passing
rate than other high schools in San Diego.

According to the study, authored by UCSD professors Julian
Betts and Hugh “Bud” Mehan, Preuss School
seniors passed an average of two more AP exams than their peers in the 2005-06
school year.

Betts and Mehan, who serve on the Preuss School Board of
Directors, said the facts validate the school’s strategy of prioritizing AP
exams.

“By giving the students ample access to college-level
coursework, and, crucially, having them take an externally administered exam
approved by the College Board, the school gives its students an invaluable
foretaste of the level of rigor that universities will expect,” the study said.

Of the school’s 97 graduating seniors, 96 percent were
admitted to a four-year college or university and 89 percent accepted the offer
of admission, Barton said. About 25 percent of these students will be attending
a University of California
campus, with 8 percent electing to attend UCSD.

Major administrative changes at the school have been ongoing
since December, after UCSD’s Audit and Management Advisory Services released a
report criticizing the school’s leaders for lax procedural oversight. Auditors
found inaccurately recorded grades in 144 of the 190 transcripts they reviewed,
72 percent of which improved the affected students’ overall grade point
average.

Ex-Principal Doris Alvarez denied any knowledge of the grade
changes, but resigned her position shortly after the audit’s release. Barton
has been serving as acting principal since December, and was appointed
permanently on May 30 after a five-month search.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said Barton’s 27 years of teaching
and administrative experience qualified him to lead the school in the
post-audit transition period.

“We are entering a new era in the school’s history, and
Scott will provide exceptional leadership as we further strengthen management
processes and communication with key stakeholders,” Fox said in a statement.

Barton said that while the year has been challenging, he
always had faith that the student body would pull through academically.

“I was not worried that our student performance would suffer
because our students have taken rigorous college-prep courses that have
prepared them for college,” he said. “They have earned their way to college.”