Wash Post: Five habits of great students: Lessons from top-ranked STEM school

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Posted by Valerie Strauss on February 20, 2013 at 11:00 am

Many factors affect how well students do in school, but among them are how the students themselves approach their work and learning. Here are some of the habits of successful students at High Technology High School in Lincroft, New Jersey, which was ranked the #1 STEM high school in the nation by U.S. News last year (for those who think rankings have any value). This was written by Jonathan Olsen (@jonathanaolsen) and Sarah Mulhern Gross (@thereadingzone), who team-teach an integrated humanities program to ninth grade students at High Technology. Jonathan and Sarah are regular contributors to the New York Times Learning Network. Jon , the district’s curriculum coordinator, teachers world history; Sarah, a National Board Certified teacher, teaches English. They have both been honored as Teachers of the Year by their school.

Students apply from 52 school districts in Monmouth County to enroll in the school and are selected based on academic records and performance on an entrance exam. According to U.S. News, the school has a 9 percent minority rate and 2 percent of students are classified as “economically disadvantaged.”
By Jonathan Olsen and Sarah Mulhern Gross

When U.S. News ranked our high school as the best science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) high school in the nation, our students were recognized as being the smartest students in the nation in the four cornerstone subject areas recently lauded by President Obama in his State of the Union address. Regardless of your feelings about high school rankings, we know that our school is filled with some of the brightest kids we’ll ever come in contact with. Over the last two years, almost 30% of our graduating seniors attended Ivy League colleges, including the over a dozen alumni who are currently on Princeton’s campus. These numbers don’t include the many students accepted at prestigious schools like MIT, Stanford, and the University of California, Berkeley. With their high test scores, 100% college acceptance rate, and well-publicized #1 ranking comes a frequently asked question: Why are these students so smart?

It only takes a cursory glance to notice some of the traits that make them stand out. As our students finish their history quiz and pack up their pencil cases, they quietly settle into their seats and begin to read. Some take out novels, others large non-fiction tomes, and still others are paging through the newspaper. A student asks if he can work on a letter to Congress about genetically modified food instead of reading today. An upperclassman sneaks into the back of the room and silently picks through the classroom library shelves, wordlessly indicating that she is borrowing a book. A sophomore knocks on the door and asks if he can have a copy of the newspaper to bring to lunch. Nothing listed above is limited to gifted and talented students. They are habits that all students should be embracing and parents and schools need to foster at every grade level in order for the next generation to be successful.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/20/five-habits-of-great-students-lessons-from-top-ranked-stem-school/?tid=pm_local_pop

Selected pool of A-type students from middle class and rich homes. Not a surprise they do well.