Many other schools showed substantial improvement, with Cranford High and Mainland Regional High in Linwood moving into our top 75 ranking for the first time. To improve the quality of teaching, starting this fall each teacher must take 100 hours of professional development courses over the next five years. We spoke to more than a dozen principals and superintendents of schools that moved up dramatically in our ranking, and they credited many successful tactics, particularly the addition of AP courses. But they also listed initiatives such as encouraging students to take part in academic competitions, in-creasing class time, and demanding that teachers, as one superintendent put it, go to school after school. Glen Ridge High School in Essex County rose from 32nd to 4th place in our ranking, for which superintendent Judith Conk credits extra instruction time and the latest learning tools.
Every classroom has an Internet connection, and students maintain their own Web site.
Atlantic County's Mainland Regional rose from 85th to 66th place. Starting in 1995, says superintendent Edwin Coyle, Mainland adopted a five-year plan to add more AP courses, increased its demands in math and science, and developed a strong writing program. Despite its location in a relatively poor region of Gloucester County, Woodbury Junior-Senior High School managed to climb from 141st to 90th place in the ranking. Ocean Township High School in Monmouth County, which moved up from 99th to 63rd place on our list, added more AP courses in physics, environmental science, and other subjects. A renovated library and computer center remain open until 5 pm, allowing students extra study time, says principal John Lyfco.