Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Schools/Archive 26
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Archive 20 | ← | Archive 24 | Archive 25 | Archive 26 | Archive 27 | Archive 28 | Archive 29 |
Can we please go a little easier on Rhanbury? He appears to be doing his best with his very vague COI and Lyndaship, by laying into Johnbod, one of our most experienced and respected editors, has almost scared editors away from even wanting to contribute to this article. As long as they are not blatantly promotional, we do allow a certain leeway to school articles many (if not most) of which are actually created and edited by pupils and alumni. Thanks everyone. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 14:38, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
- I came into this debate rather late and support what User:Kudpung is saying- I however have worked in schools where the level of debate was equally vicious so understand where everyone was coming from. All players displayed a professionally high level of commitment; I can only see it as an accident that was waiting to happen. Go back to guidelines we issue on COI in Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools/Article guidelines-- Cntrl F-- COI or even conflict and there is nothing. All we have is Neutral point of view- which is written at a Janet and John level. People writing school articles are likely to speak in a different register. I suggest that this is a good opportunity to revisit our guidelines with that in mind and include a full section on COI and up our game. Rhanbury and Lyndaship could usefully get involved.--ClemRutter (talk) 19:36, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
- Thank you Clemrutter, I'm happy to help if I can. Clearer guidelines on COI and where to draw the line would certainly be helpful, but what I think is most needed is a mechanism by which conflicted editors can usefully contribute. Almost by definition, the most knowledgeable people about institutions will also be the most conflicted, and we want the knowledge. In the specific case here, Elizabeth Hossain now acts as the schools archivist and there is nobody on the planet more knowledgeable about the school's history. However, at the moment there is no way she can contribute, which seems to be throwing the baby (much relevant, accurate, well evidenced information) out with the bathwater (the possibility of bias). The officially recommended method of putting something on the talk page and requesting somebody else to insert it in the article is so unwieldy that I think in practice nobody would ever use it more than once or twice, and certainly none of my attempts to use it resulted in anything being added to the article. The agreement we had reached early on, i.e. to leave the COI flag up while I edited and then remove it after independent review nearly worked, and I think would have worked if nearly everything I wrote hadn't been deleted for unrelated reasons before a review happened. A further refinement would be to have some sort of specific tag for 'COI editor at work' which would display some slightly less forbidding language such as "This article is currently being edited by someone with a Conflict of Interest. In order to ensure that their work has not resulted in bias, it will be subject to independent review by senior editors, at which point this warning will be removed." Another possibility is to have some sort of workspace where the article can be revised out of public view and then put live or copied across entirely or in large chunks once agreed. Perhaps a sub-page off the talk page, like an archive, or the editors sandbox or something else I don't know about. Rhanbury (talk) 21:48, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
- I have just found WP:SP which seems to provide an explicit mechanism for the purpose of working on draft versions of a section or article, namely a sub-page off the talk page. The next question would be how two editors (one neutral, one COI) could most usefully collaborate. In my corporate life, whenever there was a complex document to work through, the stakeholders, as well as sharing drafts of the document, would get on a call (or conference call if more than two) to work through and discuss the difficult bits by voice. This was a very efficient way of working, resolving many issues much faster than exchange of emails would have done. Is there any way of arranging such a thing on Wikipedia? Rhanbury (talk) 03:12, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- Actually, further to that point ClemRutter, the other exactly analogous thing we need better guidance on, and a way of working with, is the information itself. The school website, prospectus, magazines, and press releases cannot be used because they are primary sources. Secondary sources such as the Girls Schools' Association cannot be used where they reproduce material sourced from the school, so are deemed to be proxy primary sources. A history book cannot be used because the school paid for its publication, so it is deemed a primary source, or at least a non-independent source. Memoirs by alumnae cannot be used for the same reason. Content from the Independent Schools Inspectorate cannot be used if it says good (or bad) things about the school because this is biased or non-encyclopaedic. Original historical documents such as trustees' minutes or the founder's will cannot be used because they are primary sources and would require original research to quote. National league tables are disallowed for some reason not yet explained to me, ditto sources like the Good Schools Guide and Tatler Schools Guide, possibly for a combination of the reasons above. Information about heads or alumnae beyond their names cannot be included because the article is about the school, not the people who worked or studied there. At no point in any of this does the quality, relevance, interest or accuracy of the actual information seem to be a relevant consideration. And at the end of this we are left with very little that can be used; just some national sporting or artistic prizes, mention of a building that won an architectural award, a list of former heads with no commentary and a list of alumnae that have full Wikipedia articles of their own, also without commentary. So in the same way that we have to provide some leeway on people COI to get anyone who is willing to contribute to school articles outside the most famous few schools in the world, then I think we have to soften the stance a bit on source COI (for want of a better word) in order to provide anything other than the blandest of articles. Rhanbury (talk) 03:19, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
- I would not dare to edit the schools article guidelines myself, but what I think would be helpful would be a section listing all the likely types of sources of information about a school, and the circumstances in which they can be used / types of information extracted from them that can be used / what sorts of caveats should be added to the text of an article when they are used (e.g. "The school prospectus lists the following facilities..."). Personally, I think requiring secondary sources for basic factual information such as the number of pupils or the governance structure or the curriculum offered is actually likely to result in poorer quality (or at least less up-to-date) information than using the primary sources, and is an example of a sensible principle being applied rigidly beyond the point of usefulness. Rhanbury (talk) 03:44, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
- I am extremely wary of a small group of editors trying to relax or make local exceptions to WP:COI; I don't see that educational topics are any less susceptible to harmful COI editors even those who have good intentions.
- But I agree that it's silly to insist on secondary sources for some information that is critical in articles about educational institutions. In the U.S., at least, most of the basic facts about institutions - enrollment, number of faculty, graduation rates, etc. - come from the institutions themselves. Yeah, you can find secondary and tertiary sources that also include that information but they've just copied it from the data provided by the institution and I'd imagine that it's rare that those sources do any sort of verification or additional work to ensure the data are accurate. So it's usually more honest and transparent for us to cite a primary source if that's the real origin of the data (not to mention that we reduce a potential source of error if we copy from the original source instead of copying from a copy). ElKevbo (talk) 17:29, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
- I would not dare to edit the schools article guidelines myself, but what I think would be helpful would be a section listing all the likely types of sources of information about a school, and the circumstances in which they can be used / types of information extracted from them that can be used / what sorts of caveats should be added to the text of an article when they are used (e.g. "The school prospectus lists the following facilities..."). Personally, I think requiring secondary sources for basic factual information such as the number of pupils or the governance structure or the curriculum offered is actually likely to result in poorer quality (or at least less up-to-date) information than using the primary sources, and is an example of a sensible principle being applied rigidly beyond the point of usefulness. Rhanbury (talk) 03:44, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
- Thank you Clemrutter, I'm happy to help if I can. Clearer guidelines on COI and where to draw the line would certainly be helpful, but what I think is most needed is a mechanism by which conflicted editors can usefully contribute. Almost by definition, the most knowledgeable people about institutions will also be the most conflicted, and we want the knowledge. In the specific case here, Elizabeth Hossain now acts as the schools archivist and there is nobody on the planet more knowledgeable about the school's history. However, at the moment there is no way she can contribute, which seems to be throwing the baby (much relevant, accurate, well evidenced information) out with the bathwater (the possibility of bias). The officially recommended method of putting something on the talk page and requesting somebody else to insert it in the article is so unwieldy that I think in practice nobody would ever use it more than once or twice, and certainly none of my attempts to use it resulted in anything being added to the article. The agreement we had reached early on, i.e. to leave the COI flag up while I edited and then remove it after independent review nearly worked, and I think would have worked if nearly everything I wrote hadn't been deleted for unrelated reasons before a review happened. A further refinement would be to have some sort of specific tag for 'COI editor at work' which would display some slightly less forbidding language such as "This article is currently being edited by someone with a Conflict of Interest. In order to ensure that their work has not resulted in bias, it will be subject to independent review by senior editors, at which point this warning will be removed." Another possibility is to have some sort of workspace where the article can be revised out of public view and then put live or copied across entirely or in large chunks once agreed. Perhaps a sub-page off the talk page, like an archive, or the editors sandbox or something else I don't know about. Rhanbury (talk) 21:48, 7 July 2018 (UTC)
ElKevbo, I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting changing COI guidelines one-off on this project, and if one editor is, it's because he is a SPA COI editor himself. As Kudpung hinted in the OP, it's been said that the most common initial edit to Wikipedia is either one's hometown or one's Alma mater. Extended, that means that if the physical constraints that cause COI were all that matter, we are all COI editors on at least two articles. COI isn't just a state of being, it's primarily an attitude. I encounter COI school article editors daily. Three things can happen:
- they were truly just ignorant and adapt, usually becoming good editors in the process.
- they resist, and continue to carry forth with their COI editing until they either quit or are forced to quit.
- they show their immaturity and turn to vandalism.
None of these situations require any change to either local or meta guidelines. Something we are encountering more frequently in US school articles are all the dismal PAID junk we've been seeing for several years on biography and commecial articles. As one might expect, it's more prevelant in private schools, but I've been seeing it on public schools too. This thread is painfully long because the editor it is about is prone to TLDR, and seems to have IDHTitis. See the three or more postings immediately above yours. John from Idegon (talk) 04:31, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- @ElKevbo: I agree with John from Idegon above that neither I nor anyone else is suggesting changing the COI guidelines which are sensible and proportionate. What I think ClemRutter was suggesting, and I am supporting, is expansion / clarification. Very specifically, WP:PSCOI explicitly states "Employees at cultural and academic institutions: We want experts editing Wikipedia articles. Merely being employed by an institution is not a conflict of interest." so presumably an ordinary classroom teacher is not necessarily conflicted. Everyone agrees that I am conflicted because I am married to the Head Mistress, so she must be conflicted too. But what about those in between? Would a head of department be conflicted? What about pupils, parents, alumni / alumnae or governors, none of which are mentioned explicitly in any guideline I have so far found? It isn't clear, and that lack of clarity has led to difficulties quite often, not just for me. Rhanbury (talk) 08:00, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- I think that particular line from WP:PSCOI is both factually incorrect and out of line with broader interpretations of WP:COI; I've opened a discussion about it at the Talk page and I strongly encourage everyone here to place little or no weight on it. It's a far better idea to assume that if there is a question about a potential conflict then we should behave as if a conflict might exist. ElKevbo (talk) 11:25, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- @John from Idegon:That's definitely "going easier" on me then? I'd certainly be able to 'Hear' you better if you addressed my substantive points/questions (especially about the inconsistent application of guidelines on use of sources across different school articles) here and on the LEH article talk page rather than just commenting that they are so long that you didn't read them, but whatever is in them is undoubtedly there because I am too stupid to understand/agree with what you say. Learning is more rapid with a good teacher as well as a good pupil and telling me how stupid I am is not helping my learning. You are a very experienced and powerful editor. So, are you willing to help by building me and/or the article up, or is removal (of me from Wikipedia, or content from the article) just too much more attractive? Yours, more in hope than expectation of a constructive reply, Rhanbury (talk) 05:24, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- Actually, even better, given that it is by now highly unlikely that you would wish to do anything to help me or anything I care about directly, would you consider contributing to more comprehensive and clear guidelines on the approach to editing, and use of sources in, school articles? You are undoubtedly expert enough to do this, and that would benefit the whole community, would help you promote your PoV into all new editors, and with luck would shut me up for ever. A triple win! Rhanbury (talk) 05:35, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- Where is this supposed ad hominem attack by John from Idegon you mention in your edit summary? He did not tell you that you were you stupid., as you claimed above., and his opinion that you have a tendency towards TLDR posts and IDHT is not an personal attack. Meters (talk) 05:48, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- The main thing to understand is that there are two distinct aspects to sources for Wikipedia articles. There are those that confer notability, which in the cases of HCGS (one of the oldest schools in the country), and MalCol (one of the most prestigious schools in the country) is in no doubt. Sufficient and significant independent sources are provided to demonstrate why these schools are unique in their own way. Then there are sources that support the details in the articles and in these cases, primary sources can be assumed to be reliable if they are verifiable from those sources, such as the schools' own websites, newsletters and prospectuses. Neither of my articles are promotional in any way (I'm not saying that anyone said they were) - one is a state school with direct central government funding and only accepts students from its catchment areas, the other is so prestigious that parents put their children on the waiting list before they are born ([citation needed]. and I'm sure there would be a source for that too if it were important enough to mention in the artilce - and it isn't). Oh, and yes, I have a COI: I was born and grew up in the Malvern area nearly 70 years ago. On one visit back to Europe, I spent several days rummaging through old papers in the attics of the mediaeval buildings of lne of the schools to find documents to support the article that the school itself did not know existed, as well as visiting the county and ecclesiastical archives. I also wrote and/or expanded all the articles in Category:Malvern, Worcestershire, including most of the other schools.
- On another note, the point that John makes about TL;DR is not without merit. None of us tend to read long posts in detail and there is no harm in pointing it out. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 07:19, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- As always, thank you for your intervention, Kudpung and I agree with everything you say. Apologies if I was being over sensitive. Even if true, the accusation of TL;DR is hardly a compliment, but I could have lived with that. WP:IDHT is an accusation that I have failed to heed a consensus that has been reached. Wherever such consensus has been clear (i.e. repeated by more than one other editor and not contradicted by any significant number) I have provably stuck to it, including that I am conflicted (because I am the husband of the Head Mistress) and that mention of alumnae requires that they have their own mainspace article. Outstanding queries on the use of sources have not to my eye reached a consensus, and edits I have made which I believe are exactly analogous to the ones you describe above have been reverted (e.g. using the school web site as a source for the number of pupils enrolled), so if the posts above on this page are IDHT, then I must be too stupid or ignorant to have seen it. That might possibly be true, even! And if so, could somebody please point me at the consensus / guideline, or write it into a guideline? Whichever is correct, that didn't feel particularly friendly either. I will now post a (short) specific example of lack of clarity in response to one of the comments above. Rhanbury (talk) 07:40, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- Incidentally, Kudpung, your comments above on the use of primary sources are exactly the sort of thing that I would like to see added to WP:WPSCH/AG which you are one of the owners of! And more examples covering more types and sources of information would be even better. Go on: I bet it would take you less time to do that, which thousands of people will see, than continue the discussion here, which very few will benefit from! Rhanbury (talk) 08:09, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- Rhanbury, thank you for your suggestions, but I don't own anything on Wikipedia - no one does! I don't consider there is any need to update WP:WPSCH/AG, we don't want to deviate from our normal Wikipedia conditions even if there may be some tolerance for school articles - it's not the kind of thing we want to encourage, and it comes across as unkind if we have to decline something. We have tens of thousands of school articles here with dozens arriving every day. It's actually quite a lot of work for the four of us coordinators that look after them besides our other voluntary maintence work.Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 08:30, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)Rhanbury, you've been doing this longer than I have. I shouldn't have to teach you how. I work sometimes in training areas of Wikipedia, notably the Teahouse and AfC, but I'm not going to waste my efforts on someone who doesn't listen. 3 separate editors have commented in your rambling, train of thought writing style, and you've made no effort at all to reign that in. Your replies (on the rare occasion that you limit your replies to one) average roughly three times the length of what you are replying to. There aren't deadlines here. Consider your responses. Write them out, so if you missed something you can add it without having to rereply. Then condense it. Support your statements with policy or source citations. Then recondense it again. Use bullet points if that will help. Use numbered lists if that will help. Write out a quote (templated properly) and respond sussinctly uf that will help. Don't know how to do these things? Find out. If you need help, go ask at Teahouse or the help desk. That's what they are for. Perhaps breaking off your concentration on the subject matter by learning some technical stuff will bring you back to it with a more open mind. You commented that myself in particular are not presenting arguments that are compelling to you. You're missing the point. You are the one wanting to change the article. I only have to raise a plausable objection. It is on you to convince me, and anyone else opposing you, that the article should be changed. Change requires consensus. If there is no consensus, there is no change. I don't need to convince you of anything. John from Idegon (talk) 08:42, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
- I'll take it on the chin about my over-verbose style. It is a definite fault, which I shall try to moderate in future by using the excellent advice from John from Idegon above. Regarding everything else, I'm going to take a break, turn off all my email alerts, and consider whether/how to productively re-engage some time in August or September. Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a lovely summer (or indeed winter if you are in the southern hemisphere). Rhanbury (talk) 06:03, 10 July 2018 (UTC)
- In that WP:WPSCH/AG it says "A school's own website is not an independent source, though can be an acceptable source for information sections involving no value judgments, such as school structure." So I would think stuff like enrollment numbers, facilities, curriculum, can be primary sourced. Stay away from percentage of honor students or whatever. The problem is if most of the article is primary sourced, then it runs into WP:PRIMARY "Do not base an entire article on primary sources, and be cautious about basing large passages on them". The county archives of primary sources could also be used. I just don't know about the non-published stuff in the attic, as that's not verifiable beyond WP:I-SAW-IT. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 20:44, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
Defunct educational institution question
For a defunct educational institution, should you go with the name it last used as its article title (before it was disestablished), or should you go with the name it originally/semi-originally used (when it was established)? I came across an article (Gay-Jay Montessori School) that I am looking to improve. It apparently had another name after its founding. I feel this should be the name of the article. (Also, according to https://aadl.org/node/267036 this, the original name of the school was "Gay-Jay Nursery School," but went on to become a Montessori school...) PseudoSkull (talk) 23:08, 3 July 2018 (UTC)
- Seems like the article was PROD'd. I'm not necessarily against that, as sources are almost non-existent. (Most of the sources I found in Google Books mentioned the school in a list, and I found one other, very luckily mind you, that gave anything close to a description of the school. The only other surviving "reliable" description of the school that was not in books was a 2004 newspaper obituary for the school's founder.) But, my question above still stands, and I still would like an answer so I can know for future reference. PseudoSkull (talk) 00:39, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- Why doesn't our standard practice apply here? ElKevbo (talk) 01:30, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- They do, ElKevbo. In this case there probably isn't enough sourcing to determine even that. PseudoSkull, if you looked to the school article guidelines, you'd see that is what they say. You'd also see that, barring some pretty potent references showing notability, virtually all schools that do not award graduation diplomas (in the US, high schools) are presumed not notable. On the other hand, virtually all high schools are notable. This falls more under a standard practice rather than a codified guideline (like GNG), but despite RfCs roughly every other year, it remains the standard practice, as amply illustrated by results at AfD. John from Idegon (talk) 01:56, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- Why doesn't our standard practice apply here? ElKevbo (talk) 01:30, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- @PseudoSkull and John from Idegon:, the general rule is:
- primary and middle schools are not considered notable. They will not be deleted but they will be redirected to the School District page (US), or to the locality (rest of the world). The redirect should include the template {{R from school}}. The problem is that most page patrollers are not aware of this, and they just PROD or send to AfD. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:06, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- Kudpung, I prodded it. It's a preschool. As WP:USCITY proscribes discussion of preschools, and the appropriate settlement article is an FA, a redirect seems quite pointless. John from Idegon (talk) 03:28, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- Yes, there's generally no need to have articles of any kind about preschools or kindergartens. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:39, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
- Some U.S. public school districts do have "preschool centers", but for private preschools they usually just get deleted. There are cases where a program may be written about in a scholarly book, but that doesn't happen often... WhisperToMe (talk) 18:34, 11 July 2018 (UTC)
- Yes, there's generally no need to have articles of any kind about preschools or kindergartens. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:39, 4 July 2018 (UTC)
Discussions of athletic programs in rural American schools
There is a question on whether rural American school articles should have discussions of their athletic programs like this content. I have provided three reasons why I am for inclusion of (or against the removal of) such content in rural American schools:
- A. Some rural American schools (especially in states like Louisiana and Texas!) put way too much emphasis on sports (think Friday Night Lights) - In some countries sports isn't a part of schools or not an important part unless it's a specialized school for athletes, but in many US schools it's a big deal, as explored by this article. As much as those of us who are academically inclined dislike it, this is the reality.
- B. There's little else about this school so far - the article now only states the school's name
- C. The info on the football team comes from a secondary source, and articles should be based on these (generally the local newspapers, though in this case it's a magazine about Louisiana high school sports)
IMO this is not a WP:WEIGHT issue since we're left with almost nothing when the content's removed. If there is secondary source coverage about any other aspect: academics, administrative turmoil, etc. I would be happy to add that (I may go on the Wikipedia:RX and ask people to search Louisiana newspapers for anything else about this school). Until/unless I find such info, sports is the sole significant aspect about this school.
Re: names of staff - Since rural American schools prize sports, football coaches will be talked about in the reliable sources. The coaches of high school sports should have their names posted since athletic programs place emphasis on their coaches. People underneath the coaches, perhaps not.
BTW I don't think it's beneficial to be especially choosy about article content (except in copyright cases i.e. school songs and of course unsourced/poorly-sourced stuff) when a school article just starts out, or is at a bare minimum length. The young students who we are trying to recruit on Wikipedia will have less of an incentive to stay if what they write is just deleted. Once the content is developed, then start being more selective, because we know what the secondary sources emphasize about the institution and therefore we know the WEIGHT.
WhisperToMe (talk) 18:48, 11 July 2018 (UTC)
- In my search for other secondary sources discussing Arcadia High School (Louisiana) I found an article about a famous player who is a football star (though he's coaching at a school of the same name in Arizona). In some of these rural schools (and some low income urban high schools) the famous alumni are athletes. They make a name for themselves at high schools, get picked up by universities (in the case of basketball and football), then go pro.
- Also I understand WP:NOTNEWS means "routine coverage" (so-and-so scored this on a football game on a weekend) doesn't belong here, but an appraisal of the overall health/vitality of a high school football program IMO is not routine coverage.
- WhisperToMe (talk) 18:59, 11 July 2018 (UTC)
- Forgive me for cutting in, but the example given is ludicrous. It is a one liner, that if we had seen it, say in France or Croatia would have been folded back into the article on the municipality, and we would slap a {{cn}} on it. If you wish to rescue the one-liner- you would start by adding some basic information- like the number on roll, a little history- (when it was founded -and under which government program). A little context like the subjects studied, ethnic mix, gender balance, and success rate- extra curricular activities. Details about funding, details about when it was built- the architect, and then you can start adding the flesh. These can be wikilinked and internationalised.
- What do you do about the block of text that has been rightfully zapped. Articles have a talk page, c&p it there, with the question. "What do other editors think?" Then you have placed the text on the database so it is not lost- and experienced editors can see if there is anything to save. I wouldn't comment unless a European opinion was sought. Other NA editors would though. A better way is to go to the talk page: do a section ==Posting a reference== and just post the url of the article.
- Being a rural school is no excuse- This as a start class rendition of a rural school John Kyrle High School and it needs a lot of work- it may give a few ideas of things that can be included. ClemRutter (talk) 00:23, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- I have to agree with ClemRutter. We are already granting a defacto exemption to many school articles that really do not make a claim to notability by not listing them for deletion. If someone challenges them then we either put the work into proving their notability or allow them to be deleted. Granting an exemption for such articles to contain otherwise denied material is a bad idea. If it's not appropriate material for school articles in general then it is not appropriate to allow it in stub articles that don't have anything else to say about the school either. If we can't find anything solid to say about the school we probably should not have an article at all..The same could be said for any other type of article. We don't pad stub articles with inappropriate material just because we can't find anything better to add. Meters (talk) 02:39, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- While I still haven't found info on the history on any of the archived official sites, in all probability there's a newspaper article or two about the school's planning/opening. The issue is that it's in all likelihood only within the microfilms of the Bienville Parish, Louisiana library, and it may not even be digitized. That means someone has to go to the library in person, find the article, and scan it. WhisperToMe (talk) 18:43, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- Google: School name appraisal. For example: Arcadia High School (Louisiana) appraisal.
- There are seven results.
- Facebook. Read it for background- but not suitable as a reference.
- USNews.com- 4 pages of statistics- excellent secondary source. With comparisons across the parish and state. There appears to be a lot of work that needs to be done to improve motivation there and some cooperation with Saline (different racial mix) could be beneficial. This site alone get the article to a 'C'
- http://lhsaa.org/schools/school-directory/arcadia- gives a independent none pov directory of sports facilities.
- www.bpsb.us/index.php/schools/ -The school board site- that lists all the policies that the school needs to observe- and minutes of the school board. Fascinating stuff- can be used as a secondary source in most circumstances.
- www.bpsb.us a page in the above site
- access denied
- a stray- probably no relevance
- There is a mass of material. There is some missing details. So now go back to the parish, go back to the school website and see what they tells us. I want to know about construction and history not particularly about Bonnie and Clyde.ClemRutter (talk) 20:18, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- While I still haven't found info on the history on any of the archived official sites, in all probability there's a newspaper article or two about the school's planning/opening. The issue is that it's in all likelihood only within the microfilms of the Bienville Parish, Louisiana library, and it may not even be digitized. That means someone has to go to the library in person, find the article, and scan it. WhisperToMe (talk) 18:43, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- I have to agree with ClemRutter. We are already granting a defacto exemption to many school articles that really do not make a claim to notability by not listing them for deletion. If someone challenges them then we either put the work into proving their notability or allow them to be deleted. Granting an exemption for such articles to contain otherwise denied material is a bad idea. If it's not appropriate material for school articles in general then it is not appropriate to allow it in stub articles that don't have anything else to say about the school either. If we can't find anything solid to say about the school we probably should not have an article at all..The same could be said for any other type of article. We don't pad stub articles with inappropriate material just because we can't find anything better to add. Meters (talk) 02:39, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
There are sports write-ups for the Hornets and Lady Hornets, like this one where both boys and girls basketball teams won state championships in 2016 [1] [2] [3] You can also search with the principal's name Jeffery Sampson and see what write-ups show up. Also Ruby Qualls has coached the girls basketball team for 44 years and won six state championships, such notability has made local news [4] [5] AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 20:37, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- By the way that football player was an alumni of Arcadia High School (Arizona) as it mentions the Titans as the mascot. But yes, something like that would be suitable for the Notable alumni / notable staff section of that article. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 20:40, 12 July 2018 (UTC)
- I agree the previous posts in regards to making exceptions. I've never been OK with the general idea about making exceptions for including content just for the sake of filling content. I've seen the same argument used for including non-notable alumni in lists for smaller colleges and just opens the door for all sorts of WP:FANCRUFT and other article bloat. It's OK if an article is small; we don't need to "fill space" or ignore policy and consistency just so an article has "stuff" in it, rural/small school or not. The challenge for some of these articles, though, is making sure the athletics section doesn't completely dominate the article and that what's in the athletic section is encyclopedic. Mentioning a non-notable article author from a regional, content-specific magazine and a non-notable football coach, along with WP:RECENT football season results isn't the way to go. Basics for a program are when it was founded, number of league titles it has won (but not listing each one), number of state playoff appearances, general mentions of any regional titles, and then state titles or high state finishes (like final four or runner-up). The resources ClemRutter has highlighted are a great place. Unfortumately, the school and district website is in pretty bad shape right now, but hardly a dearth of other resources to give the article some decent material. --JonRidinger (talk) 03:02, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School (Fremont, Ohio)
Any assistance that could be lent at Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School (Fremont, Ohio) would be appreciated. I've started a discussion at Talk:Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School (Fremont, Ohio)#League titles and individual state titles, but so far no participation from the other editor. There has been some back and forth dealing with league titles and individual state championships (i.e. not team titles), going back to May, but especially in the last few days. Thanks! --JonRidinger (talk) 19:44, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
Input needed at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Schools/Article guidelines/Archive 3#Conflict of Interest guidance
I think more discussion is needed on the new COI section added to school article guidelines. Doug Weller talk 11:36, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
For such a prestigious and expensive school, it's article has been allowed to become a rambling, pompous promotional piece, full of trivia. I have removed the fake claim to it being a FA. It needs some heavy pruning. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 13:39, 29 July 2018 (UTC)
There is a discussion of interest to this project at the above location. John from Idegon (talk) 22:18, 14 August 2018 (UTC)
The names of all the non notable students and sports coaches (those who do not have Wikipedia pages) should be removed. I don't have time to do this right now. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 06:35, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
- Kudpung, I just removed Ricky Coons from that list. Kyle Wilson has a link. Any others? AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 01:58, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
- My guess is it was actually the Athletics section which troubled Kudpung. I have trimmed that section. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 04:39, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
I have looked at the site, and it is written lke a promotional material for a feature local paper that is struggling to survive. It fails totally to observe out guidelines, WP:WPSCH and the examples are six to ten years out of date. The wayback references don't connect properly. There exist a link in External links wi8th infomation about the buildings that could be used, the school website (self published) gives links too. Any material more than three years old can be culled. I suggest all references that don't support the text are removed and any paragraph with out a reference is culled, then we give a hand and write the article correctly. ClemRutter (talk) 09:10, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
- I'll be completely honest, most of the content in this article I personally added when I was new to Wikipedia and wasn't familiar with the rules. Compared to other school pages, the athletics page does seem a little off. I will personally work to get it to meet the requirements myself. That will be my current project on Wikipedia. I'm open to suggestions on this though. I want to be careful as well to avoid a WP:COI because I am an alumni of this high school. So if someone else wants to do it because of the potential COI let me know.--Rockchalk717 19:58, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
- Well, there's a cup of coffee round at my place, any time you care to drop in. Don't get too worried about COI- if it is properly referenced we can cover that. It will be good to have a look at it again, and discuss any worries and ask for advice, but equally to point out to the community where we are getting it wrong. Do you realise that there are no photographs of the campus on commons and this side of the pond we haven't a clue on what is being taught to all the happy looking kids on the school website.ClemRutter (talk) 20:20, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
- Hey, Rockchalk717, I too would say go for it. If you need any help, feel free to drop me a note. I work more on schools on this side of the pond and I'll be happy to help. BTW, I think most everybody's first edit was to their alma mater. John from Idegon (talk) 20:36, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
- Well, there's a cup of coffee round at my place, any time you care to drop in. Don't get too worried about COI- if it is properly referenced we can cover that. It will be good to have a look at it again, and discuss any worries and ask for advice, but equally to point out to the community where we are getting it wrong. Do you realise that there are no photographs of the campus on commons and this side of the pond we haven't a clue on what is being taught to all the happy looking kids on the school website.ClemRutter (talk) 20:20, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
- Lol. My first edit actually was creating my uncle's Wikipedia page. But i will do that. But thank you. I will start working on that.--Rockchalk717 21:41, 15 August 2018 (UTC)
Lutheran West
Any assistance on the Lutheran West article would be appreciated, specfically regarding notable alumni. I have already posted an explanation on the user's talk page, along with edit summaries. --JonRidinger (talk) 15:43, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
- Based on some later edits and the creation of a troll account, some protection may be warranted for the article. --JonRidinger (talk) 16:19, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
- If any additional editors can chime in at Talk:Lutheran West#Notable alumni, it would be helpful and appreciated. Be sure to check the article's edit history too. --JonRidinger (talk) 00:48, 8 September 2018 (UTC)
- JonRidinger, I'm going to revert it back to before it started on the 4th and request full protection. I'm at a loss as to why you haven't taken him to ANEW. John from Idegon (talk) 09:24, 8 September 2018 (UTC)
- John from Idegon, thanks! It's mostly from trying to be patient (and the teacher in me), but also from lack of sufficient time. A lot of my replies are done in little bits of spare time or spread out over smaller bits of spare time. I definitely thought about more reporting, but getting all the diffs together was something that would take too much time, at least this week. That's on top of the troll account that was created using my name. --JonRidinger (talk) 18:39, 8 September 2018 (UTC)
- JonRidinger, I'm going to revert it back to before it started on the 4th and request full protection. I'm at a loss as to why you haven't taken him to ANEW. John from Idegon (talk) 09:24, 8 September 2018 (UTC)
Looks like this isn't over as the same names were added back and then another editor added one of the other names back. Sigh. --JonRidinger (talk) 01:06, 16 September 2018 (UTC)
- I hope it is now, as their have been some blocks handed out. John from Idegon (talk) 19:55, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
REQUEST EDITS Brentwood Academy Gross Vandalism
Discussion belongs on article talk page, not here. Sensationalism is not helpful. John from Idegon (talk) 19:55, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
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By way of COI disclosure, my name is Susan and I work with Brentwood Academy. I want to call this group's attention to gross violations of WP:VANDAL and WP:COPYVIO on the Brentwood Academy article. In the History section, the following sources are cited: O'Hara, Jim (July 22, 1972). "The 'Christian' schools are on the boom". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. B1 – via Newspapers.com. Jump up ^ Dyer, Jennifer Eaton (2007-04-12). The Core Beliefs of Southern Evangelicals: A Psycho-Social Investigation of the Evangelical Megachurch Phenomenon. etd.library.vanderbilt.edu (PhD). Vanderbilt University. p. 23. Retrieved 2018-01-02. Jump up ^ Cluman, Carl (January 21, 1980). "Bus plan brings application rush for private schools". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 59 – via Newspapers.com. These articles do not specifically pertain to Brentwood Academy and are generalized statements to make it appear as if the school is prejudiced or founded as a result of desegregation, a blatantly false representation. We believe that the Wikipedia page about our school is not the place to prosecute the case or promote the views of any party in this matter. All that we ask is that, to the degree that this topic is discussed in the context of our nearly fifty year history, that it is treated even-handedly. – Susan SusanS1969 (talk) 21:52, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
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The article Lycée Edgar-Quinet has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:
All three of these schools are currently red links. Lycée Edgard-Quinet (Paris) is the only one with links from other pages, and those only via Template:Lycées in Paris. There is nothing a disambiguation page can reasonably link to. Please create the articles before disambiguating them.
While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.
You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}}
notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.
Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}}
will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Cnilep (talk) 05:31, 28 September 2018 (UTC)
List of administrators in school articles
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
A few days ago, I came across an administration section of a school article (see this). I first noticed the last line of the lede saying "The current administration at Cox includes principal Michael D. Kelly". Seeing that it was redundant to the section immediately below it, I removed it. I was then curious and looked at the style guide for such articles, and found in particular the WP:WPSCH/AG#WNTI section. I saw "While naming the head teacher or principal is permitted, lists or detailed information ... administrative staff, school secretaries, current or former teachers etc. is usually inappropriate." After reading that, it seemed clear to me that such administration sections shouldn't be used. I then removed that section from the article, per that section. I started removing such sections from various school articles. I bumped into an editor who held a different opinion on the subject. We've had a discussion on the subject, but the discussion has petered out without any agreement. In that discussion, the other editor raised Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes. From there I see a couple of relevant passages; in WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE it notes "an article should remain complete with its summary infobox ignored" and in WP:INFOBOXREF it notes "editors should first consider including the fact in the body of the article".
I looked around for other evidence, and found five featured articles about schools (Amador Valley High School, Avery Coonley School, School for Creative and Performing Arts, The Judd School, Stuyvesant High School) none of which have administration sections on them. The other editor noted this is a WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS argument. I concur, but these are supposed to be examples of our best work. I looked at high school articles for 18 states (AL - LA), looking at schools beginning with "A" in those states; 227 articles in total. I could not find any articles where there was a section listing administration of the school.
I'd like some feedback on whether school articles should have sections such as I found at this location, or if noting the principal in the infobox without such a section is the accepted standard. Thank you, --Hammersoft (talk) 14:34, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- My feeling has been (and continues to be) that an administrator section is inappropriate as laid out in WP:WPSCH/AG#WNTI but that listing the principal in the infobox and/or article text where context makes sense is appropriate. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 15:51, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is not a directory, it is not a list of trivia, it is not the yellow pages. Lists of lower-level administrators are unnecessary, unencyclopedic, changes frequently (so wind up frequently out-of-date) and are a favorite target of vandals. They should be on the school website, not the encyclopedia.Jacona (talk) 16:23, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- If there's a significant section for lists of principals/headmasters or where it is relevant to the history of the school, then it may be appropriate to list the principal there, otherwise I agree the infobox is where it belongs. Principal doesn't need to be listed in the lead paragraph. As for Administration, I agree it shouldn't have such lists of staff per WP:WPSCH/AG. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 17:34, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- Between Angus and Jacona, they made my point. A historic list of principals - appropriate, if sourced. A list of everyone that works in the office - nope. Since the primary editors of most school articles are the students, and well, they're kids, the lessened opportunity for vandalism is important. John from Idegon (talk) 17:49, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- I don't have anything to add except that I agree with the above. Doug Weller talk 18:41, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- I also agree except I'll go further and state that contextless lists of previous principals (or, in my typical domain of interest, college and university presidents) is not helpful for readers and should also be omitted from articles or at the very least be placed in sections or lists that default to being collapsed. ElKevbo (talk) 19:30, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
- I would add that based on unscientific personal observation, such lists of administration are rare on the English Wikipedia with the exception of articles pertaining to the state of New Jersey, and historic lists of principals are even more rare with the exception of the Buffalo, New York area.Jacona (talk) 13:49, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- I concur. I did find a few outside of New Jersey (examples; [6][7][8], but not many. It is far more common with New Jersey articles due to the editor who is placing them being interested in New Jersey related subjects. --Hammersoft (talk) 16:34, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- I would add that based on unscientific personal observation, such lists of administration are rare on the English Wikipedia with the exception of articles pertaining to the state of New Jersey, and historic lists of principals are even more rare with the exception of the Buffalo, New York area.Jacona (talk) 13:49, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- Fixed hyperlink in above. It appears there is a consensus here that sections on administrators is not appropriate. Less clear in historic lists of principals, but IMO, EK's point has merit (perhaps the presence of notable individuals would be a good decision point). Related, as a personal preference, I dislike information in the lede that needs frequent updating, such as attendance and staff names. John from Idegon (talk) 18:57, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- I'm happy to wait for a week to see if this discussion goes differently than it has so far. I'd like to resume the removal of these sections, but there's no deadline. I agree that having information that frequently changes in the lede is perhaps problematic. Enrollment changes every year at schools, and principals frequently change as well. --Hammersoft (talk) 19:16, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- What lists of administrators in school district articles? Should they be treated exactly the same as schools? If not, how should we approach lists of administrators in the district articles? Jacona (talk) 16:15, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
- For example, in this edit to a district article, Hammersoft removed the list on a district article, but the above discussion refers to lists of this stuff in the actual school articles, not to the district articles. Do we need to have additional discussion? Jacona (talk) 16:23, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
- My feeling is the same rationale for removal applies. The difference would be akin to applying article standards to a regular studio album as opposed to a compilation album. I twice invited @Alansohn: to this conversation. Though he has declined participation here, which certainly is his right to do so, he and I have continued to have a discussion on this issue at his talk page. He strongly stands against removal. Given the standards at WP:WPSCHOOLS/AG#WNTI and the discussion here (which saw no support for keeping the sections), it seems clear they should be removed. I believe the next step is WP:DRN, though I am not taking that step yet as I'm giving him one more opportunity to answer whether he will revert such removals or not. Regardless, at this juncture, I think it ill advised for myself or anyone to resume removals. --Hammersoft (talk) 16:35, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
- For what it's worth, here's my 2cents on this. Since school districts generally are administered by elected officials, I think the guidance WP:USCITY provides might well also apply here. The board would be encyclopedic, the administrators below the superintendent, not. John from Idegon (talk) 17:51, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
- My feeling is the same rationale for removal applies. The difference would be akin to applying article standards to a regular studio album as opposed to a compilation album. I twice invited @Alansohn: to this conversation. Though he has declined participation here, which certainly is his right to do so, he and I have continued to have a discussion on this issue at his talk page. He strongly stands against removal. Given the standards at WP:WPSCHOOLS/AG#WNTI and the discussion here (which saw no support for keeping the sections), it seems clear they should be removed. I believe the next step is WP:DRN, though I am not taking that step yet as I'm giving him one more opportunity to answer whether he will revert such removals or not. Regardless, at this juncture, I think it ill advised for myself or anyone to resume removals. --Hammersoft (talk) 16:35, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
An updated map of Beaver County, Pennsylvania school districts is needed
- Several years ago, Monaca School District and Center Area School District consolidated to form Central Valley School District. However, this map, used on all of the county school district articles plus Beaver County, Pennsylvania continues to show the separate districts. Alerting User:Ruhrfisch as he uploaded these map files originally. Graphics are not exactly my specialty, so looking for anybody who is able and willing to update this map. This file is located on Commons and a replacement could be uploaded to the same filename, eliminating the need to update links article by article. Thanks. Safiel (talk) 01:07, 2 September 2018 (UTC)
- @Safiel: The Wikimedia Commons has a graphics lab that can help: Commons:Commons:Graphics lab WhisperToMe (talk) 08:24, 28 October 2018 (UTC)
Glossaries for educational terms in languages other than English
NYU Steinhardt posted a list of glossaries for educational terms in languages other than English:
This may help if you're making an article on ENwiki on a school in a non-English speaking country, or if you're making an article about a school in an English-speaking country on a Wikipedia in another language
https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/resources/glossaries
WhisperToMe (talk) 08:31, 28 October 2018 (UTC)
Featured quality source review RFC
Editors in this WikiProject may be interested in the featured quality source review RFC that has been ongoing. It would change the featured article candidate process (FAC) so that source reviews would need to occur prior to any other reviews for FAC. Your comments are appreciated. --IznoRepeat (talk) 21:35, 11 November 2018 (UTC)
There is a discussion regarding a recent event taking place at the page above that may be of interest to members of this project. Your participation is appreciated. John from Idegon (talk) 19:53, 13 November 2018 (UTC)
Peer review for Darwin High School
G'day all, the Darwin High School article has been nominated for a peer review. If anyone has a moment to take a look and offer some advice to the article's creator, or edit the article, that would be most helpful. The review can be found here: Wikipedia:Peer review/Darwin High School/archive1 Thanks! Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 07:43, 22 November 2018 (UTC)
Infoboxes and maps
There is an ongoing discussion on how to merge the UK schools infobox into a unified schools infobox, as a result some of us have being looking long and hard at the way info real estate is used. Many folk are happy with using pushpin maps- fine if that works for them. However I am not. These maps can swamp the infobox- and are often added because they are available and add little to the article- but also they are a dead end and, clicked on, they don't expand.
I was reminded of the {{OSM Location map}} template when Steven (Editor) added one to the Nottingham Academy Infobox in the |module=
field. It looks very good to me. I have tried adding it to NUAST and John Kyrle High School and it seems very flexible- and also works in a default sense if the coordinates are just repeated as at John Masefield High School. What do you think? I would like to advice new schools editors to use this technique. Am I missing something? --ClemRutter (talk) 11:19, 26 November 2018 (UTC)
Request for comments: What administrators to list on school articles
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Note: If someone has a better idea for what categories this RfC should be in, or a better place for this RfC to be hosted, please let me know. Thanks.
There has been debate recently about which administrators should be included on school and school district articles. While WP:WPSCH/AG#WNTI indicates we should not be including anything other than the principal/head teacher, that is an essay as @Alansohn: has noted. There was a discussion on this talk page on this subject above, but the respondents would have been only those interested in this project. I am therefore seeking wider input via this RfC.
Question: Should school and school district articles include any administrators other than principal/head teacher/headmaster/superintendent even if we have one or more sources to support administrators below the top administrator?
Examples: (1) With only the principal; Dublin High School (California) and (2) With others below the principal; Bayonne High School (infobox and Bayonne_High_School#Administration)
Thank you, --Hammersoft (talk) 16:40, 24 October 2018 (UTC)
- No unless there are other administrators that are particularly noteworthy or important for readers to know about to understand the school e.g., long-standing and demonstrably influential, well-known and independently notable. ElKevbo (talk) 10:58, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- No unless there are some who meet our criteria for notability, and they should have their own article. Doug Weller talk 14:11, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- I firmly disagree with the they should have their own article suggestion; "[t]he notability guideline does not determine the content of articles". ElKevbo (talk) 17:53, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- No' per Doug. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 17:10, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- Yes Companies, even movies, have articles that include the name of key leaders, many of whom are not notable. This arbitrary standard ignores the simple fact that 99.9% of the principals of schools -- the one, and only one, person who could ever be listed, under any circumstances -- are not notable. Furthermore, it ignores the hundreds of articles for school districts, which have state-mandated dual leadership (see Sussex-Wantage Regional School District#Administration) or those where a single scool district has both a Superintendent *AND* a principal (see Haworth Public Schools). This Procustean effort to arbitrarily list only one non-notable principal is unnecessary and counterproductive. This is WP:RULECREEP at its worst. Alansohn (talk) 17:25, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- I can't speak for others but my opinion is in no way based on any understanding or use of notability; that policy is crystal clear that it does not govern the content of articles but only the topics of articles. I think that the instances that you mention - dual-leadership or superintendent and a principal - fit reasonably well into this recommendation to only list the most senior leaders. If it doesn't, I would appreciate suggestions on how to fix it!
- As I understand it, the intent behind this discussion is to see if we can reasonably limit administrators in these articles to the most senior and prevent the inclusion of lists of administrators that are not encyclopedic or helpful for most readers. (If anyone cares, I favor - and we generally practice this - limiting college and university articles to only including the president and provost; this is a very close parallel to this discussion and I think that our practices there, at least for U.S. articles, is fairly consistent.) ElKevbo (talk) 17:51, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- In the instance where the district only has one school and they are both part of the same article, then of course the superintendent and principal can be listed. There is also no obligation for that individual to have a Wikipedia article or a redirect or have to prove individual notability. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 20:47, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- No Retain only principals / headmasters(headmistress) for high schools. Much as we'd like to know the VPs, the heads of the main departments, and the guidance counselors, that can be accessed from the staff on the website. If there are notable staff members with Wikipedia articles, they can go in the notable faculty sections. Same with superintendents, as shown in Los Angeles Unified School District, which does not list who's on their board. The corporations also don't list every VP or board member but a few Key people. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 20:45, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
- My general answer is No: Generally speaking, for school districts, mention the superintendent and members of the school board. For senior high schools/sixth-form colleges/secondary schools generally the headmaster/principal only. One concern of mine is that garden variety admins get shuffled all the time, and therefore it becomes difficult to maintain the information. If somebody is recorded in a secondary source as becoming acting principal/acting superintendent it should be okay to name him/her. If somebody is recorded making a comment on school culture/school operations in a secondary source, it should be okay to name him/her. WhisperToMe (talk) 13:29, 28 October 2018 (UTC)
- NoToo trivial, impractical to maintain, especially given that such lists of staff are readily available (and maintained on a per-site basis) at a school or district's website, which is nearly always linked on the Wikipedia article. OhNoitsJamie Talk 20:40, 29 October 2018 (UTC)
- No I wanted to wait at least a week to comment myself. I don't believe that anyone other than the principal or superintendent should be listed. Positions beneath these have little significance beyond the school/district itself, and are hardly notable. Similarly, I don't see a need to list the members of the school board, even if they are elected. Such local officials are generally considered not notable, per WP:NPOL, and I fail to see why we should include such non-notable individuals. Listing the lead person of a school or school district is quite sufficient. Of note: I am seeing editors continuing to add and remove these sorts of positions. Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment#Suggestions_for_responding instructs us to avoid making such edits until the RfC concludes. It would be helpful if people would refrain from making such edits until this RfC concludes. Thank you. --Hammersoft (talk) 00:41, 4 November 2018 (UTC)
- No, with exceptions in cases that reliable sources indicate another administrator is particularly notable by going beyond routine mention of them. Seraphimblade Talk to me 17:18, 10 November 2018 (UTC)
- In general, No. The inclusion of lists of administration is trivia, and the type of material you would expect to find in a directory, and there is no end to it. Obviously, there are situations where others are noteworthy and even notable, but just because they exist is no reason to include them in an encyclopedia article. These lists just clutters up the article, often with information that is outdated and often attracts vandalism. Articles full of this kind of fluff don't appear encyclopedic, and start looking more and more like the school webpage. That's not our purpose.Jacona (talk) 01:18, 11 November 2018 (UTC)
- In general, No. But there are a few points to be noticed.
- The language divide. In British English, an administrator is the school secretary usually ancillary staff with no professional qualifications (usually). What you appear to be talking about in the examples is the SMT (senior managemet team)
- Educational structures are fluid. Any ruling made here must have the caveat- that exceptions will exist and any user choosing to make a contrary edit must give an explicit reason in the edit summary- any editor choosing to delete this usage must locate the edit summary and present a counter argument.
- In the current UK educational climate- all academy schools in a MAT will have a local headteacher (who chilren and parents will call the head) and an executative headteacher (who the teachers will identify as the ultimate source of power), both of whom must be listed (POV:complex bordering on evil).
- In the case of the UK private boarding school school system, which still exists, the concept of Head of House is relevant, and there is an arguable case for retention. Hogwarts#Houses does a good job of explaining their role! ClemRutter (talk) 09:30, 11 November 2018 (UTC)
- No, with attention to the exceptions helpfully provided above by ClemRutter, as well as other country-specific differences in school administrative officials. Keeping in mind the international nature of this encyclopedia, are there other differences in Australia, India, China, Japan, or other countries? How should these differences be presented in WP:WPSCH/AG#WNTI? Cheers! — Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 17:42, 11 November 2018 (UTC)
Almondbury Community School Suggestion
Please take a look at the article where the details about the school itself have been submerged under a current and newsworthy incident. I have flagged it as having been given undue weight and set up a talk page discussion. Fiddle Faddle 14:42, 30 November 2018 (UTC)
- I agree that content related to the incident needs to be removed from this article about the school, per WP:UNDUE. As a newsworthy incident, perhaps the content could be moved either to Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_Kingdom#Selected_cases or perhaps more appropriately to Water_torture#Other_forms. It's not about the school, it's about hate and torture. Sadly, Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 18:50, 30 November 2018 (UTC)
- Done I have transferred the text to Almondbury Community School bullying incident- please now join in and improve the article on the school. I will do a little myself but everything is needed. ClemRutter (talk) 19:47, 30 November 2018 (UTC)
Categorizing schools in cities which are mostly in one county but have a minority in another county
Please see Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Categories#Categorizing_schools_of_cities_in_multiple_counties,_but_in_which_one_county_has_the_lions_share_of_the_schools, which is an inquiry on categorizing schools in cities which are mostly in one county but have a minority in another county.
Thanks, WhisperToMe (talk) 00:33, 8 January 2019 (UTC)
Consistent Poor Quality Editing in Secondary Education (High schools)
It seems to me that the vast majority of secondary school wikipedia articles are of very poor quality. Often, the lead is quite good, and the info box is informative, but students of these schools feel that they can get away with adding unnecessary/uncited/false/misleading information to the article on their high school. I think there should be a proposal to semi-protect the vast majority of them. This is because most of the edits that are done on these pages that are unproductive are usually from unregistered IP addresses or newly created accounts, created for the very purpose of vandalizing their school page.
In short, most high schools/secondary schools naturally attract mass amounts of vandalism from their student body, and thus, there should be more semi-protected articles, perhaps through some mass process to do so.
Some examples of poor quality articles due to unregistered IP edits adding unnecessary information/information that isn't cited: Liberal_Arts_and_Science_Academy Way too much detail on uncited classes. Many factually incorrect parts made by ip adresses Troy High School (California) This does not take a neutral tone Lubbock High School Look particularly at the first revision on March 5th Seven Lakes High School Besides being written like an advertisement (a byproduct on many school pages of most of the edits being from the student body wanting to promote their school over others), see edits on September 6th and July 18th by unregistered Ips, as well as many others before that. Acton-Boxborough Regional High School Actually a very quality article for a school I think. Of right lenght. But look at the edit war in the history. Carmel High School (Indiana) Besides being written like an advertisement (like many articles), there is yet again an intense amount of vandalism (see edit history).
These are just a few examples of the many over-vandalized, written like advertisements, way-to-specific, secondary school pages that I found by just randomly searching up high schools. I suggest that it be discussed to semi-protect a large number of them to prevent poor quality editing from their student body intended to simply promote their school. Thanks!
Sam-2727 (talk) 21:50, 27 December 2018 (UTC)
- I have read the articles you have cited- and see the problems you have raised. On the whole they are examples of start class articles that need a lot of work. They fall far short of Baltimore City College On the whole they appear to have been edited by young editors who have a close connection to the subject- we want to encourage them, and putting protection on a large number of articles is useless unless you have a strategy, and a timeline for protection removal. The advice you gave to an IP, on the first article was good.
- When approaching an start class article that is lovingly adopted by an IP my first approach is tolerance, suggesting they take the issue to the talk page- or work up their ideas in page/sandbox. Say you are following policy and WP:MOS, and then will be removing unsourced material (or material taken from a primary source). A little restructuring of the sections also works wonders. I rarely edit US specific articles but the articles do need to be written with appropriate wikilinks in such a way that international readers can understand.
- Ping me into talkpage discussions if you think that may help.ClemRutter (talk) 09:32, 28 December 2018 (UTC)
- Sam-2727, it is true that a lot of inexperienced users add junk. One thing I'm afraid of with semi-protection is that it will simply kill motivation to join Wikipedia. We want people of that age to become new editors, so we have to allow them to get their feet wet. Semi-protecting all articles on HSes will just make them move on. Instead, why not easily display a list of school article-related guidelines when they click the edit button, guidelines that they're not aware of? WhisperToMe (talk) 16:22, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
Help requested at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School
Two editors - me and an unregistered editor - are having a dispute at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School. Can some others please weigh in? Thanks! ElKevbo (talk) 08:12, 12 January 2019 (UTC)
- @ElKevbo: Thank you for calling in extra eyes. I've jumped in at the editor level there. Not only did I add my two cents at the talk page, but I also added back one section to the article in a manner consistent with other high schools' articles. —C.Fred (talk) 14:50, 12 January 2019 (UTC)
Infobox school cleanup
To any editors who may be interested:
Following the completion of the Infobox UK school merge with Infobox school, an "after-merge ideas" section (now renamed to "Infobox cleanup" after revamping the entire section) was produced during the merge discussion process that took place on the Infobox school talk page with improvements to the infobox, such as merging and removing parameters. This is basically a full cleanup of the infobox and I'm asking any editors who may be interested to please join in the discussion. There's already parameters listed which you'll just need to comment on if you agree or not to help build consensus, and if there's anything you have you can just add to the relevant subsection. A perfect opportunity to get things addressed and there will be a bot run once the discussion has finished that will go through all the transclusions.
Thank you Steven (Editor) (talk) 21:15, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
Problem vocational pages
While working on the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School article, I found quite a few articles on various flavors of vocational education that lack sources or have other deficiencies. Some may be PROD or AfD candidates, and others may be merged into a more comprehensive article. All have been tagged and need attention!
- Vocational-technical school - no sources
- Technical school - USA focus, no sources
- Vocational education in Mauritius - no sources
- General National Vocational Qualification - no sources
- Vocational Certificate of Education - no sources
- Professional technical school (focus on Russian education) - no sources
- Vocational school - needs additional citations
- Vocational education - needs additional sources
- Dual education system - needs additional citations
- TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) - like essay; not encyclopedic style
- Vocational education in the United States - like essay; not encyclopedic style
- Vocational education in India - multiple issues: needs additional citations, orphan, needs more wikilinks, list form
Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 02:26, 17 January 2019 (UTC)
eyes needed on Covington Catholic High School
Very high edit level due to recent (18 January 2019) high-profile incident involving school students. About half of the article is now devoted to this one incident. We've also had inappropriate attempts to add unrelated material in about a former student's alleged crimes (see Talk:Covington Catholic High School#Deletion of Walker charges.) Meters (talk) 02:02, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- Thanks, Meters. I'd say even the talk page discussion is a BLP violation. Maybe Kudpung should take a look. John from Idegon (talk) 02:27, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- Meters.This is totally inappropriate for a school article. I have removed the diff from the talk page and requested an oversight. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:46, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- I have put this on my watchlist- and parked this reference on the talk page. Bekiempis, Victoria (21 January 2019). "New video sheds more light on students' confrontation with Native American". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2019.. The article is calm at the moment.ClemRutter (talk) 10:32, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
- This seems to have resolved itself by moving details of the incident onto a separate page and leaving a synopsis and link. This was the approach used in the UK Almondbury Community School bullying incident. Perhaps we should document this in our help files. ClemRutter (talk) 22:10, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
- I have put this on my watchlist- and parked this reference on the talk page. Bekiempis, Victoria (21 January 2019). "New video sheds more light on students' confrontation with Native American". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2019.. The article is calm at the moment.ClemRutter (talk) 10:32, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
- Meters.This is totally inappropriate for a school article. I have removed the diff from the talk page and requested an oversight. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:46, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
Add pagenotice with project guidelines (guidelines on how to make a school or school system/school district article) for all pages in the WikiProject?
Hi, guys! At Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)#Display_a_link_to_WikiProject/topic_specific_guidelines_when_editing_an_article? I inquired on having pagenotices automatically added to every page within a particular WikiProject so the project guidelines can be easily accessed by new editors.
Turns out this is already possible, but this kind of thing would have to be approved by consensus. I know that we have reached decisions on many aspects (don't usually list administrators below principal, no lyrics of school songs, etc.) but many new editors don't know about this stuff. Having a pagenotice on every school article will help new editors learn about our guidelines easily, and it'll cut down on administrative work.
WhisperToMe (talk) 12:54, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
Tentative Support
We seem to be the leading Wikiproject and will be used as an example. This is basically a good idea but there may be some yet unforseen consequences.
We have several interesting problems here.
- Our visiting editors often know one school- the one they are at, or just left and need to be feted and welcomed to pointed, to Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools/Article guidelines or a simplified version. To be blunt they need to be encouraged, and guided not threatened!
- Some editors are obvious working for the school on its PR. They are valuable because of their knowledge, access to images- but need to stick closely to a NPOV, make a COI declaration. Similarly I would like to see something similar for pupils and ex-pupils.
- Many schools articles rely on primary sources- or cut and pastes from the website. In fact we could put together a short to-do list on the lines of: check the coordinates, check there are no copyvios, anything missing from the infobox, what does the school teach?
- Some visiting editors have a historical, geographic interest, or a architectural interest and could be reminded that the primary focus of a school is education.
- Most editors don't realise we have an international readership, and some terms need to be explained.
I think the next stage would be to design a mockup of the message.
--ClemRutter (talk) 14:06, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
- Point one is exactly what would like for the guideline to do! As for the message, it could be something along the lines of:
- "Dear reader/editor, thank you for editing this article! We really appreciate your help in expanding this article and/or adding new information to it! Please keep these guidelines in mind:
- Please write in a neutral tone! We understand you may be proud of your school, but try to keep that in check.
- Please write stuff in your own words! Laws prevent us from using exact copy-pastes of websites.
- Please only list the superintendent and school board members (for school districts/school systems/academy trusts/local education authorities), and the principal/head teacher (for individual schools), as it's hard to keep track of changes of the others!
- Please don't post the lyrics of school songs as they're protected by copyright
- Thank you, and happy editing! :) "
- It's just a start, but hopefully we can run with it :)
- WhisperToMe (talk) 16:27, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
- Lets keep the discussion of the principle separate from the eventual contents. I 'd like to see a few other opinions before I chime in on that. ClemRutter (talk) 16:50, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
- Yes, please! I, for example, support the broad idea but not that specific wording (it's way too long!). ElKevbo (talk) 22:36, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
- Lets keep the discussion of the principle separate from the eventual contents. I 'd like to see a few other opinions before I chime in on that. ClemRutter (talk) 16:50, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
- Hi again! Please take a look at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)#Display_a_link_to_WikiProject/topic_specific_guidelines_when_editing_an_article?. Since I outlined exactly why this proposal would be useful for the project, I was told I can discuss the proposal on the page. WhisperToMe (talk) 04:56, 16 January 2019 (UTC)
Mockup of the message: suggestions
- We have the template above for guidance.
- We have WhisperToMe suggestion. I agree with ElKevbo it is far too long. I will add, this message is not a welcome message it is an edit aid, it is negative not encouraging, repeats general guide lines but does not give links to the relevant help pages- WP:WPSCH/AG.. So other suggestions are welcome. Time short at the moment- more later ClemRutter (talk) 09:32, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
Notability of List of elementary schools in town, city, or higher
I'm trying to figure out what to do with Draft:List of Schools in Pasig. As it stands there's a large list of elementary schools; should those be listed, or should only secondary schools and higher be listed? AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 19:24, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- As I understand it that is fine. We run notability checks on articles not the content of article. Some advice says that if a primary school is not notable content should be moved to the district page. To me, if this floods the district page- the list of schools should be floated into a separate list page which will be wlinked- forward and back. ClemRutter (talk) 10:39, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
- My worry with such lists is that they are sometimes use to promote small private schools. Doug Weller talk 11:19, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
RFC in progress
There is a Request for Comment on Talk:Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel. I would appreciate is someone can take part in the discussion. Puzzledvegetable (talk) 16:45, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
- @Puzzledvegetable: Is there a reason you didn't just try removing the section and seeing if that edit stuck? Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 16:47, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
- It just seemed extreme to remove an entire section without first hearing what users have to say. I would have posted to the talk page without an RFC, but no one visits it. If you think I should remove the section, I'll go ahead and do it. Puzzledvegetable (talk) 16:51, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
Many articles about (minor?) sports conferences
There appear to be several dozen articles in Category:Virginia High School League, all about various sports conferences. Are these really notable? – Uanfala (talk) 02:44, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
- I am skeptical. I can find lots of coverage of these conferences - lots of coverage of the results that is. I can find almost no RS around the conferences themselves. There might be a good redirect target but I agree that the sampling I looked at would struggle with GNG. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 02:52, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
need help finding sources
See discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Architecture#Need help finding resources. Basically, I went to a school that was originally built based on some rather wacky ideas about classroom design and since the experiment basically failed before the internet was a thing I can't find any resources about it. Beeblebrox (talk) 02:03, 31 January 2019 (UTC)
Guidance for short description
I've just learned about Wikipedia:Short description, which includes the statements "Eventually all articles should have a short description template" and "WikiProjects may find it useful to suggest standard formats which may be applicable to categories of articles." Before I dive in to learning more myself...Has this project set any guidance or had any discussions about short descriptions yet? If not, does anyone have some experience with this template or a desire to be bold and develop some suggestions? --Hebisddave (talk) 14:51, 22 February 2019 (UTC)
- I imagined that most short descriptions would be pulled across from the wikidata description. The advice note says the target length should be 40 characters- well- school names are often over 30 so that doesn't leave much room. For example Covington Catholic High School (30) Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey(29) Stationers' Crown Woods Academy(31) to take 3 from my contributions list.
- Looking at them:
- Covington Catholic has a wikidata description all-male Catholic high school in Park Hills, Kentucky, United States which does not include the school name- says it is single sex and then its location in excessive detail- high school is of course ambiguous. And no mention that it is private.
- Sheppey School has no wikidata description- but looking at the wikidata page (Q16896051) we get minimal data- but enough to write a CovCath model description: a public secondary school, with academy status, in Minster on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, United Kingdom
- My preference is to enter this as wikidata but I am holding back till a few more comments have been made here.
- Again Crown Woods (Q16896551) is short of a description. a public secondary school, with academy status, in Eltham, London Borough of Greenwich, United Kingdom may do here: so I have edited Wikidata to include it
- Moving to the UK private sector, King's School, Canterbury (Q3360332) has a description:co-educational independent school in the English city of Canterbury in Kent, while King's School, Rochester (Q6411092) didn't.
- So lets have a few more ideas and keep a close eye on the possibilities. The wikidata link can be found hiding in the Tools section on the left panel.ClemRutter (talk) 20:15, 22 February 2019 (UTC)
- It's currently true that wikidata descriptions are used as a fallback. The plan is for the wikidata fallback to be disabled once 2 million English Wikipedia articles have short descriptions; currently there are about 730,000. (quick edit: oh, I see now that you are saying that existing wikidata could be used to automatically add short descriptions to Wikipedia articles. Yes, that makes sense, too.)
- It seems possible that short descriptions could be auto-generated for many school and school district articles. On the short description WikiProject's talk page, there are discussions of using lede paragraph or existing structured data to auto-generate short descriptions. For example: "public school district in Dallas, Texas" could be auto-generated from the Dallas Independent School District infobox's existing parameters; or "public secondary school in Dallas, Texas" from the infobox of North Dallas High School. --Hebisddave (talk) 18:03, 25 February 2019 (UTC)
Disambiguation standards?
I recently created Freedom High School (Freedom, Wisconsin) and after viewing the disambig page am curious about whether the disambig should be specific to the town, or more general to the state since there only appears to be one Freedom HS in Wisconsin. Please ping me with a response as I am not watching this page. Etzedek24 (I'll talk at ya) (Check my track record) 13:15, 14 March 2019 (UTC)
- @Etzedek24:, my understanding is the disambiguation should be as brief as possible, so the city only needs to be used if there is another school of the same name in the same state. Basically, since you'd have to type the entire article name and then use piping every time you want to add it as a link, you want it to be the least amount of characters necessary. --JonRidinger (talk) 15:57, 14 March 2019 (UTC)
Oswestry School: an outside view is needed here, please
There is a determined editor on this page who seems to me to be going wrong on Wikipedia policy, but perhaps I am out of date. After insisting on removing a list of the headmasters, he or she is now removing citations, claiming they are not needed. Could someone from here, preferably an Admin, please spare the time to visit Talk:Oswestry School and say something in the sections at the bottom? Many thanks, Moonraker (talk) 22:51, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
- His edits appear fine to me. We don't add lists of non notable people to school articles. Unless sources are needed for attendance, there is no need to add sources to the list of notable alumni. Further, the only thing a reference to Ebay can source is that an item was auctioned on Ebay. There is no need for any copy in the notable list beside the Wikilinked name and a brief description of the person's primary notability. If it isn't obvious (and is sourced), a bit on the person's connection is permissible if needed; it seldom is. John from Idegon (talk) 01:31, 2 April 2019 (UTC)
Problems with Columbia International College
There's a new editor who is making the article a bit of a mess. I should have told her about the guidelines and will when I finish this. She's been adding copyright material and too much detail so that it looks more like a brochure. For instance, the table at Columbia International College#Residences copying the table here so that we know which halls have internet, etc.
Really weirdly, there's this: "Columbia International College currently has six single-gender residence buildings: three for males and three for females. The male residences include Oak Hall, Pine Hall<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ris|first=M. M.|last2=Deitrich|first2=R. A.|last3=Von Wartburg|first3=J. P.|date=1975-10-15|title=Inhibition of aldehyde reductase isoenzymes in human and rat brain|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18|journal=Biochemical Pharmacology|volume=24|issue=20|pages=1865–1869|issn=0006-2952|pmid=18}}</ref>," A 1975 peer reviewed article which obviously doesn't mention the school, which in any case wasn't built until 1978. Thanks Doug Weller talk 09:11, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
- On a hunch I thought I'd look to see where else that source is used. See User:Mehak Bhojwani who hasn't edited for four months but wrote an article on a cafe on his user page using that and similar sources unrelated to the cafe. And User:Sfox23/sandbox, an article about the president of Ethiopia using only peer reviewed scientific articles such as the one above. Doug Weller talk 09:20, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
- I would be inclined to cull most of the material with a message that the txt can be retrievd fromk the history when you have read Wikipedia policies, and you can provide a WP:RS. As it stands it is pure advertising, probably a copyvio. The user has mastered tables which will be a good skill to have in future, but most will have been a cut and paste job so will not have been too onerous to do. ClemRutter (talk) 09:35, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
- I cut a bunch more. Marchjuly, could you please check the images for compliance with NFCC? Thanks. John from Idegon (talk) 01:45, 2 April 2019 (UTC)
- I would be inclined to cull most of the material with a message that the txt can be retrievd fromk the history when you have read Wikipedia policies, and you can provide a WP:RS. As it stands it is pure advertising, probably a copyvio. The user has mastered tables which will be a good skill to have in future, but most will have been a cut and paste job so will not have been too onerous to do. ClemRutter (talk) 09:35, 1 April 2019 (UTC)
A new newsletter directory is out!
A new Newsletter directory has been created to replace the old, out-of-date one. If your WikiProject and its taskforces have newsletters (even inactive ones), or if you know of a missing newsletter (including from sister projects like WikiSpecies), please include it in the directory! The template can be a bit tricky, so if you need help, just post the newsletter on the template's talk page and someone will add it for you.
- – Sent on behalf of Headbomb. 03:11, 11 April 2019 (UTC)
Looking for eyes on possibly defunct private college
Computer Systems Institute is (or was?) a small, private for profit college. It lost its Title IV funding in 2016 for fraudulent student aid applications. It lost its accreditation in 2017. It's no longer listed by NCES. I suspect it is no longer active. Its web page content is still there but may be abandoned (the menu feature is dead, for example). Most of the article sourcing was to the college's own webpage. Thoughts?
- Comment: This and Marinello Schools of Beauty probably gain notability by the fact they have lost their accreditation. As the reason for CSI loss of creditation was the offence of inflating the evidence of success published on the very website that we are using as our principal reference is of interest. It does mean that we have an 'government' opinion on the reliability of a source. Probably rewrite and keep.--ClemRutter (talk) 07:42, 8 May 2019 (UTC)
There is an 'undue' section on Sex Abuse. All the events are several decades old, some of the people are dead, naming the perps is counter-BLP, one of the indictments had nothing to do with the school at the time. I'm pretty sure we don't do 'scandal' sections in school articles, but I've not been very active now for a year so I can't remember. Could John, or Clem have a look at it please so that it can be removed if that's what we usually do. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 21:30, 8 June 2019 (UTC) Done
- Should the Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools/Article guidelines be tweaked to give more guidance on the subject? I am thinking particularly of 4.3 What not to include, expanding the reference to BLP, and General Tips. Editors on schools articles are often newbies, and need clear advice. On the topic above they are often passionate with good reason, and will be looking at publicising the content rather than building an encyclopedia.--ClemRutter (talk) 08:19, 9 June 2019 (UTC)
- John, and Clem, your edits have been reverted and I have restored the clean version per our AG. The IP (an obviously non logged in user) is making threats of 'calling in [his] cavalry'. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 12:04, 9 June 2019 (UTC)
Lenana School needs cleanup
I don't have time at the moment. I'll keep it on my watchlist and if no one else has time do it myself. Doug Weller talk 12:22, 10 June 2019 (UTC)
Notice of discussions of possible interest to members of this project
There are discussions currently at both Talk:Stratford Academy and Talk:First Presbyterian Day School on how to present the school's respective histories of segregation. Your participation is invited. John from Idegon (talk) 17:51, 4 July 2019 (UTC)
List of Old Etonians born in ? century
Currently, the alumni list for Eton College is sorted by birthdate. However this is problematic for the following reasons:
- It does not account for people with unknown birthdates (living or deceased)
- It makes it hard to distinguish notability; and even presents opportunities like this.
I would like them to be sorted by what they're notable for and then by alphabetical surname, like with this.
These are the articles in question:
- List of Old Etonians born before the 18th century
- List of Old Etonians born in the 18th century
- List of Old Etonians born in the 19th century
- List of Old Etonians born in the 20th century
FoxyGrampa75 (talk) 17:31, 23 June 2019 (UTC)
Update: Moved here. FoxyGrampa75 (talk) 18:52, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
- An interesting problem- but it has been considered before. Have a look at the examples on Wikipedia:WikiProject Schools#Featured lists and you will see three ways of handling alumni of schools. I can't honestly say that fixed lists are the right way to go- there are advantages to both the Etonian and the Harrovian ordering. The structure to use in this case is a sortable table, where you can choose to sort on name or date or notability; that is no big deal for a coder.
- Take a look at List of Old Guildfordians (Royal Grammar School, Guildford) and you will see a sortable table that is easy to code it is nearly there. The templates are
{{AlumniimgStartUK}}{{Alumniimg}}{{AlumniEnd}}
. At the moment they don't sort on notability, if you with to proceed with project- go ahead and the template can be modified after the data is trandfered to include that sort.
- Does anyone have any further comments? Should WPSCH/H be modded to recommend one form of list. Should we construct a further template system that is lighter on the eye. ClemRutter (talk) 20:25, 4 July 2019 (UTC)
A notice on Japanese users: be sure to have patience with their (lack of) sourcing
Hi, folks! I started some stubs of Japanese high schools (particularly private, single-sex ones) to encourage Japanese Wikipedia users to try some editing here on ENwiki.
Note that the Japanese Wikipedia does not have the sourcing culture that we have on ENwiki. If some Japanese users start adding unsourced passages/info, please have some patience and just point them to examples of well-sourced articles on ENwiki. You may wish to involve Japan WikiProject editors too in case this happens.
Thanks, WhisperToMe (talk) 21:54, 4 July 2019 (UTC)
List of Toronto District School Board elementary schools was originally made in April 2017 and redirected in October 2017. A couple of days ago its creator, Mattximus, restored the list - originally with just one school on it but now with 13 schools (all beginning with the letter A). I came across it while doing NPP and was the second editor reverted when attempting to restore the redirect. I have not found corresponding elementary lists for other large school districts - though obviously for smaller districts we do often include all the schools on the district page something not feasible for these larger school districts. If this list were close to complete it wouldn't necessarily bother me - we can have lists where every entry is not notable - but the combination of lack of parallel I could find and incomplete status made me turn here as there might be precedent I was unaware of and/or people who would be willing to help make the list more complete (which is Mattximus' goal). Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 19:49, 8 July 2019 (UTC)
- I think draftifying it might be a good choice. If he's only done through the A's, you could leave him a note telling him that it's WP:INDISCRIMINATE and not to put it back in mainspace until he is done. John from Idegon (talk) 20:33, 8 July 2019 (UTC)
- @Barkeep49: Draftify. If the author wants this list in mainspace, they should complete it with all 400 elementary schools, and remove the red links - elementary schools do not get articles. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 00:15, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
- Kudpung, I had considered doing both as a first action and also after being reverted. However I decided not to because I like to be conservative as a NPP - I had restored the redirect and except in blatant cases (e.g. vandalism or reversing an AfD decision) I try to not make two consecutive review decisions especially given the pleas for improvement as I take the mandate to not be BITEY seriously. The fact that you and John both suggest draftifying is good enough for me to do so. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 00:43, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
Nomenclature of Australian schools
A discussion on the Nomenclature of Australian schools is located at WP:AWNB#Nomenclature of Australian schools. Please feel free to provide input on that page. Many thanks Rangasyd (talk) 13:56, 8 August 2019 (UTC)
Proposal to repurpose Template:Infobox school district
You are invited to join the discussion at Template talk:Infobox school district#Proposal to repurpose Infobox school district . Steven (Editor) (talk) 21:00, 18 August 2019 (UTC)
Adding automatic short description to Infobox school
There is a discussion about adding automatic short descriptions to Infobox school at Template talk:Infobox school#Automatic short descriptions which may concern the project. --Trialpears (talk) 11:22, 25 August 2019 (UTC)
An article related to this project, Woodridge High School Football, has been nominated for deletion. Project members are invited to participate in the discussion. --JonRidinger (talk) 20:33, 16 June 2019 (UTC)
- Interestingly enough, I just came across List of Rio Rancho Rams football seasons, created at roughly the same time as the deleted article mentioned, but not nearly as well sourced. I removed about 20k's worth of unsourced statistics and PROD'd it. I'm posting this to propose that those who regularly patrol school articles routinely check the "what links here" tab to see if there are still more. Pinging JonRidinger, Meters, Kudpung, Steven (Editor). If I missed any regulars, I apologize. John from Idegon (talk) 21:18, 25 August 2019 (UTC)
- Sorry. On a break and not watching. Meters (talk) 19:09, 4 September 2019 (UTC)
Call for portal maintainers
Are there any editors from this WikiProject willing to maintain Portal:Schools? The Portals guideline requires that portals be maintained, and as a result numerous portals have been recently been deleted via MfD largely becasue of lack of maintenance. Let me know either way, and thanks, UnitedStatesian (talk) 06:53, 28 August 2019 (UTC)
- Schools is a major Wikiproject. The portal is maintained and updated as often as needs be. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 01:32, 24 September 2019 (UTC)
Alumni: section content
No photos in alumni sections: Although this discussion closed by John from Idegon with a secondary consensus not to include this in WP:WPSCH/AG, due to constant abuse I have boldly added a line in the AG to reflect the strong consensus for the RfC which reinforced the standing practice. Any editors complaining in the future about removal of images can be referred to this section of the AG. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 02:18, 24 September 2019 (UTC)
Discussion at Talk:List of schools of the Dallas Independent School District#Value of the list, in general
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:List of schools of the Dallas Independent School District#Value of the list, in general. -- Marchjuly (talk) 03:03, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
In particular please see the above for a discussion on how lists of American primary and secondary schools belonging to a particular school districts should be structured. There are questions on whether the lists should include all primary and secondary schools or just notable schools. WhisperToMe (talk) 23:20, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
Checklist for updating a defunct school?
I recently have updated Al-Hijrah School which closed last August. After entering the new information and citations, and revising verb tenses as appropriate, I checked for incoming links, and also
- removed it from two navigation templates (Schools in Birmingham, and Islamic Primary and Secondary Schools in Birmingham)
- removed the templates from the article
- removed the article from List of schools in Birmingham and Bordesley Green, where it was listed as a school in the area
- removed categories that no longer applied, and added Category: Defunct schools in England
- checked "what links here" and followed all remaining links to update info as needed
I'd appreciate other eyes on this article to verify I haven't missed something. Do we have guidelines or a checklist to use when a school closes? Cheers! — Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 03:36, 24 October 2019 (UTC)
- Hi Grand'mere Eugene. It looks fine to me. No, we don't have a check list, but you have carried out is indeed one! Thank you for doing it. BTW, I lived in Birmingham for 6 years. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 11:50, 24 October 2019 (UTC)
Request for information on WP1.0 web tool
Hello and greetings from the maintainers of the WP 1.0 Bot! As you may or may not know, we are currently involved in an overhaul of the bot, in order to make it more modern and maintainable. As part of this process, we will be rewriting the web tool that is part of the project. You might have noticed this tool if you click through the links on the project assessment summary tables.
We'd like to collect information on how the current tool is used by....you! How do you yourself and the other maintainers of your project use the web tool? Which of its features do you need? How frequently do you use these features? And what features is the tool missing that would be useful to you? We have collected all of these questions at this Google form where you can leave your response. Walkerma (talk) 04:24, 27 October 2019 (UTC)
Deletions - Help needed at AfD
The deletionists are having one of their famous purges of school articles - there are currently no less than 30 entries at AfD. While I admit that some of them are indeed candidates for deletion, the nominators are often blissfully ignorant of policies and guidelines and we need some help here - I can't do it all alone. See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Schools/Article_alerts for the list.
Bear in mind that some are nothing but spam for small private or cram schools, while primary (elementary) and middle middle schools are normally blanked and redirected to the school district article (US) or to the town (rest of the world) per policy. WP:SCHOOLOUTCOMES provides an overview and a link to a RfC which closed with a vague closure more like 'no consensus, thus the status quo prevails' but deletionists on the rampage interpret that to mean school articles should now be deleted as often as possible. The closers nevertheless stated that AfD should not be flooded with indiscriminate cases.. FYI: John from Idegon, ClemRutter, Tedder. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 06:47, 24 October 2019 (UTC)
- John from Idegon, ClemRutter, Tedder. I've had a go at the AfDs myself. Some I've voted on, some I've closed as 'keep' and some I've closed as 'delete'. Due to my COI as coord of schools, I've stayed away from anywhere the consensus was not 100% clear or where members of WP:WPSCH were on opposite sides. We do need to invite editors to perhaps be more selective rather than flooding the AfD process - if they are convinced the articles should be deleted, there is always PROD and many of these articles would probably have been deleted that way. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 09:56, 3 November 2019 (UTC)
School naming; application of WP:COMMONNAME
Seeking input on contested name change at Talk:John_Dwyer_Technology_Academy; whether or not moving to "John T. Dwyer Technology Academy violates WP:COMMONNAME. OhNoitsJamie Talk 14:01, 4 November 2019 (UTC)
This article has been subject to persistent promotional edits for over a decade by SPA and school staff. We should continue to revert any edits that are an attempt to promote this school or enhance the SEO of the Wikipedia article. Thank you for your vigilance. If the long term abuse continues, please let us know so that the article can be fully protected.. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 02:59, 8 November 2019 (UTC)
- I suspect we may have another issue there- the images. I have put them in a new Commons cat, and I am suspiscious the mast ate .png, and the exif data ĺooks as if most were scans not as the source suggests. --ClemRutter (talk) 15:27, 8 November 2019 (UTC)
- I've requested speedy deletion on two of the images -the science centre one which is on the facilities page of the school's website and the campus one which is on the school's LinkedIn page. Unable to find the other ones so they may be ok but unsure Steven (Editor) (talk) 20:16, 8 November 2019 (UTC)
- At first glance I had the impression that some of those photos were CGI. But they appear to be genuine even if they have gone through some massive digital reprocessing. I have discovered more subtle attempts at promotion in the text today (see edit summaries). I'm sorely tempted to put this school under some kind of long-term protection. One school/county employee was blocked a few years ago but may have resurfaced under a new account. Data is too old to do any CU. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 07:34, 10 November 2019 (UTC)
- I've requested speedy deletion on two of the images -the science centre one which is on the facilities page of the school's website and the campus one which is on the school's LinkedIn page. Unable to find the other ones so they may be ok but unsure Steven (Editor) (talk) 20:16, 8 November 2019 (UTC)
Does anyone have an idea why this article is excusively UK-centric? Three tier educatiion is the standard model in many countries. Can this article be expanded or at least moved to UK three-tier education or something appropriate. (ClemRutter?) See also:
- https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-03-16/debates/16031635000002/Three-TierEducation
- https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/17304700.fresh-concerns-for-future-of-three-tier-school-system-in-worcestershire/
- http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20099/school_admissions/674/tier_systems_and_year_groups
- https://schoolsweek.co.uk/middle-schools-defend-themselves-as-councils-ditch-three-tier-model/
- https://edexec.co.uk/changes-to-three-tier-education-system-creates-uncertainty/
Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 10:07, 10 November 2019 (UTC)
- No idea- but look at the work we have just started to do at Primary education. Secondary Education. You need to have access to a University Department of Education library to even do justice to Middle schools in England! If anyone is prepared to put in the time, please. ClemRutter (talk) 13:59, 10 November 2019 (UTC)
Xavier College
We've often discussed what is relevant content for school articles. While corporal punishment is nowadays generally a thing of the past, some of us, like Clem and I, can probably relate to life in privileged schools in the UK 60 years ago (remember the UK movie If ?). While corporal punishment is nowadays generally a thing of the past, sexual abuse should always be a serious issue . However, times change and hugely historical events may not be appropriate for a Wikipedia article more than half a century later. See Xavier_College#Historical_sexual_abuse_allegations and talk. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 06:56, 24 November 2019 (UTC)
- I have looked at the entry. What is reported in detail was not sexual abuse. The reference is from 2013 and yet uses the future tense to describe the imminent handing over of a document. It is reporting without scrutiny one witness statement. I agree that there should be a section but the text should be unsensational, all we need to know was the school was investigated. That is all the reference supports. I will remove the allegation of a threat of physical violence. --ClemRutter (talk) 11:58, 24 November 2019 (UTC)
- I'm very wary of removing negative information from a school or university article only because "it's old;" that can too easily be abused to whitewash an article. In this specific case, however, the sourcing is so poor that the material cannot be left in the article in the state in which it was when this section was opened. ElKevbo (talk) 22:08, 24 November 2019 (UTC)
Requested move: Sacred Heart Preparatory (Atherton, California) to Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton
A request for comments has been posted on the Sacred Heart Preparatory talk page. Please add your thoughts, if you can. Ottoump (talk) 04:57, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
Any Hungarian readers?
Are there any Hungarian readers who can search for sources for Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/International Christian School of Budapest? It appears notable to me based on just what I found with a quick search in English.. Meters (talk) 21:26, 15 November 2019 (UTC)
- @Meters:, this school seems to have an English name, and teaches in English. It's not clear to me that you will find better sources in Hungarian than in English. You can try these searches, though:
- To find out what's out there in Hungary (that is, on "hu" top-level domain websites), you can execute this search: "International Christian School of Budapest" site:hu. All of the results will be based in Hungary, even if they are in English, as is likely.
- To find out what's available in Hungarian, or at least, in any language that references the Hungarian name of the school (which appears to be rarely used; even Hungarian sites mostly use the English name) you can execute this search: "Budapesti Nemzetközi Keresztyén Iskola".
- I'm not sure that a Hungarian speaker will be of much help, at least, until you find some sources in Hungarian, and need help understanding them, more than Google translate can provide you. But if you have performed the steps above, have found some sources, have checked Google translate, and still need help, then you can do this sequence:
- go to the categories User hu-N, User hu-5, and User hu-4, and find a bunch of users on those pages
- of those users, find a dozen or so that have recent contributions (click "User contributions" in left sidebar of their user page) from the last few days, or at most a week or two ago.
- raise a discussion at Talk:International Christian School of Budapest, asking as specific a question as you can about the kind of help you need, and listing the urls of pages you are curious about
- At the end of that post, {{ping}} a dozen or so of the recent users you found in step 2 to that discussion
- I'd recommend against just asking Hungarian speakers to do your research for you, though; you should find the sources first yourself, check the contents of the pages with Google translate to see if there's anything there that looks promising, and if there is, then ask your question. I hope this helps! Mathglot (talk) 05:50, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
A quick glance using the search 'International schools in Budapest list' shows that there are 14 international schools. The comparison sites written for the American ex-pat community give a variety of links to follow. Google its name and there are 12.3 million links. The sites advertising for chaplains and teachers give detailed descriptions. They stress everything is done in English as that is the students only common language.ClemRutter (talk) 09:29, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
BETT 2020
Here is a link to the BETT show in London. IT teachers always went there to keep abreast of new kit, but were amazed at the range of exhibitors across the field of management and classroom practice. It is free to all- I described myself as Volunteer Schools Coordinator, and my institution as WMUK Wikipedia London. If you can it is an interesting day out. "Bett 2020 Visitor Registration". Bett Show 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2019. ---ClemRutter (talk) 21:38, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
Content dispute at Skowhegan, Maine
The input of editors regarding a content dispute at Skowhegan, Maine would be appreciated. Two editors have added the same lengthy text about a controversy involving Skowhegan High School and the Maine School Administrative District 54. Please see Talk:Skowhegan, Maine#Mascot issue. Thank you. Magnolia677 (talk) 20:52, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
- Skowhegan Area High School is red link, and there is no [[[Skowhegan, Maine#Skowhegan Area High School]] section. Until they have been written we have a case of WP:UNDUE and the whole thing is off-focus. ClemRutter (talk) 21:58, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
School Shields
Dear WikiProject Schools, I recently left this request on the talk page of infobox school. I'd love for any of the members here to weigh in. Thanks - Chip🐺 • #TeamTrees🌳 01:24, 14 December 2019 (UTC)
Content at West Boca Raton Community High School
An editor at West Boca Raton Community High School keeps adding long unsourced paragraphs about academies at this school, and doesn't seem to get our policies, per his response at User talk:Gilesg. - Donald Albury 18:16, 20 December 2019 (UTC)
- Hello Donald Albury, I have done a huge cleanup in the article including infobox, adding references, NCES, logo etc. — all explained in edit summary. Article is now on my watchlist so I'll be monitoring this. Thanks, Steven (Editor) (talk) 22:18, 20 December 2019 (UTC)
- Thank you. I am not as familiar with standards for school articles as I should be, so I am cautious in editing them. - Donald Albury 03:31, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
I really can't decide to make a BOLD edit, so I'll ask here:
Does the article in the title belong in our project? I'd really like to hear others opinions. Maybe y'all will help me clarify my thoughts. John from Idegon (talk) 09:54, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
- Nope. Removed. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 10:14, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
- I agree with Kudpung กุดผึ้ง. My stance on mass murderers in general is that we should never publicize them; making them famous only glorifies them in the eyes of future homicidal miscreants. That their targets in this case were at a high school is irrelevant to criteria for the school category. — Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 20:14, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
Is there a problem with the status of our Articles Guideline section?
Please join the discussion at WT:WPSCH/AG. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 02:01, 29 December 2019 (UTC)
Discussion at Talk:UST Growling Tigers
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:UST Growling Tigers. — Marchjuly (talk) 23:31, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
- I’m adding a link to this discussion to WT:WPSCH because some of the team rosters seem to be for high school sports teams which are affiliated in some way to the university in question. Perhaps high schools in the Philippines are more directly connected to specific universities (at least with respect to athletics) than they are in some other countries? Anyway, it might be helpful to get some input on how Wikipedia generally deals with high school athletic team rosters in articles about high schools/high school athletic teams. — Marchjuly (talk) 23:32, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
I'm currently doing a major revision and expansion on Kennedy High School in Richmond, California. I welcome input in the discussion page and suggestions. Thanks! JacDT (talk) 17:57, 11 January 2020 (UTC)
- @JacDT: It appears in this discussion you have a conflict of interest. Please read the policy, make an appropriate declaration on your own talk page, and follow the COI procedures for any further edits. Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 00:44, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
- Hello. Thanks for your input. I did declare it on the talk page there, which is why I asked for an outside editor to comment on that link. Can you direct me to a link that outlines how to declare on on my editor's page?
Actually, I looked through your excellent editor's page. Can I use the format you used on your page? if that is sufficient, I will get it up right away. Thanks for your input. JacDT (talk) 01:22, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
- JacDT, you are welcome to copy the format, and please list any and all pages for which you may have a conflict of interest. Grand'mere Eugene (talk) 01:31, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
- Done! Thank you for letting draw on yours. I've been searching through Wikipedia, looking for information like that, so it helped a great deal. JacDT (talk) 02:11, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
- Also, as you are interested in expanding this school article JacDT, please ensure you have read the school article guidelines which describes how the content of school articles should be organized, what can be and shouldn't be included etc. It may be a good idea to have a look at some of the Featured/Good school articles, especially US ones in this case. The IMDb reference needs to go per WP:UGC, I'll be doing some cleanup to the article shortly Steven (Editor) (talk) 02:34, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
- Done! Thank you for letting draw on yours. I've been searching through Wikipedia, looking for information like that, so it helped a great deal. JacDT (talk) 02:11, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
- Steven, thanks. I will take out the IMDb reference. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. JacDT (talk) 02:39, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
Bearian standards
Bearian has written a useful essay giving his 7 out of ten approach for assessing school notability.--ClemRutter (talk) 10:14, 11 January 2020 (UTC)
- Agreed. I wouldn't put quite as much weight on alumni, but it appears he wrote that 12 years ago, and the community viewpoint now seems to me to be much closer to WP:INHERIT than it was in the oughts. John from Idegon (talk) 02:57, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
Quality-importance-and the appraisal processs
Listen with Mother always used to start with the line. Are you sitting comfortably, now I'll begin. We still have 2000 plus unassessed articles but it is not that I want to start on.
Importance
I hopped over to the assessment table and it really is bottom heavy 55% of all Bs, are of low importance, with Cs it is 70%, with Starts 77% and as for Stubs 97%. Why? This is hardly the bell curve we aspire. Should we change our criteria for importance- should we make it less woolley. We could start with the premise that for a child- their school is of top importance. I certainly know that for a politician many schools have a disproportionate effect on house prices, and your chances of getting re-elected. The need to understand the school affects its importance- take Parrs Wood High School assessed as low importance, and start class. Low is not how I would describe a top state school in Didsbury, the alma mater of Lisa Nandy an aspirant future prime minister, and getting your child into Parrs Wood would be a reason to stay in Manchester- while the school I worked at would be a reason to leave, but that was of top importance being subject of DES Building bulletin 49 sbn 11 270345 3
I am looking for a measurable attribute that could be used by a wikinewbie, or a bot to balance out the list. I do UK state schools, and acknowledge that I have very little time for the childminding facilities for the sprogs of the wealthy, until that school starts impacting on the lives of the average Wikipedian- but I am not fighting that cause here and now. What could we do to make more Mid rated schools and fewer Low. A simple change is to make all schools having a capacity of over 1800/1500/1200, automatically mid. This proposal is one to start a discussion- not to die in a ditch for. The second related change is to remove as will the majority of high/secondary schools from the low criteria and replace it with as will many small high/secondary schools. In the mid criteria add Most of high/secondary schools with over 1200/1500/1800 pupils will go here , unless they have both come to national attention and are supported by WP:RS references from more than one source.
Quality
Before we start to search for a wikiinewbiefriendly method of assessing quality I distinguish been core information, peripheral information and trivia and dross. We also have to consider referencing particularly the difference between a secondary source, and primary source and a reliable primary source. I maintain that any self published material is a primary source and therefore unreliable. But if the information comes from the sections of the school website that the governing body is obliged to publish by law- should that be allowed. These are not opinions or povs but information like when the last inspection was.. number of students on free meals. Look at another scenario, by the school do we mean the local governing body, or the sponsoring trust which is legally separate. (OK in most cases they are not independent) If the controlling trust obliges the headteacher to write a statement, which is quoted by the trust to Ofsted and published verbatim in a Ofsted document- is that primary, secondary, or still primary.
Similarly, if Schoolsweek newjournal, does an exposé on a school. Routinely the school is asked to comment- is the comment we have between quotes a secondary reference, or a primary reference again. I would like to say, Documents published in a manner where they are verifiable and open to legal scrutiny are primary sources, but are admissible as references for items of fact, but not for opinions. Documents published for marketing purposes including prospectuses are primary sources but are not admissible
I don't think this is really a change, it is just codifying existing practice. St George's Academy is our Low Importance GA. If I was being picky I could question 100 or so of the 163 references as in house , and may be 40 more which come from the local paper!
However I do approve on how the article has focuses on core information- and only gives the peripheral stuff limited mention and focuses on the important information. Looking at where we go wrong WP:SCH/AG doesn't distinguish, this could be remedied by tagging the core information, and warning on which information should be downplayed. The GA should be >60% core, <30& peripheral and <10% trivia- this could be said.
All of the above is for discussion- and hopefully will encourage other editors to BOLDly join in, just please don't stay silent.ClemRutter (talk) 23:36, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
- I'm not sure really, Clem. I coord the Wikiproject WP:WORCS, for example, which I created, and rated all its articles, but rating for importance is generally up to the project to decide, so you get an article such as Talk:Hanley Castle High School where I have rated it differently for the two Wikiprojects that cover it. Low importance for us here would be normal high schools in non English L1 countries. Mid would be a school like Malvern College, whereas Eton College get a High from Berkshire, but a Top from us, possibly because its the most famous school in the world and needs careful attention , but it's still only a B class, not a GA or a FA.
- On the quality scale, things are a little easier to assess. A stub is a stub is a stub. I would rate as start class a page that has at least 3 reasonably populated sections. The rest is pretty much as the table at WP:WPSCH/A. I tend not to rate high an article that is full of fluff and puff or long lists of clubs, marching bands, and top-heavy sections on sport/athletics. The latter is my personal bias coming from a country where traditional lessons and GCE results were more important than getting mud on your knees on the sports field. Indeed, I used to scive off those double periods of 'games' on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and hide away in the warm boiler room and read something interesting or revise for exams. I did actually swim for the school but in those days it was not a common sport and not many schools other than the posh ones had a pool. Things have changed - all that was 60 years ago! Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 09:53, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
Any chance I could get some help with massive MEATPUPPETRY at the above article? I just want them to talk. John from Idegon (talk) 02:14, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
- Monitoring, Steven (Editor) (talk) 02:48, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
- Posted WP:RPP#Olentangy Orange High School as well since that might slow things down a bit to allow proper discussion to take place. -- Marchjuly (talk) 03:02, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
Serial AfD affecting all Pakistan articles
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Society Public School, Lahore
I have placed a comment on this page regarding the level of evidence tat is needed before boilerplating a AfD nomination. I have looked back at one of the policy pages and find the advice contradictory. It is almost as someone has taken an existing document, and added 'and schools' to certain sentences without checking pack on what other changes were needed in order to retain sense. I would have hoped that someone further up the wikipecking order would have checked it. --ClemRutter (talk) 12:28, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
- I believe Störm has nominated AfD's for a very significant number of schools/educational establishments particularly over the past few months(http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&offset=&limit=500&target=St%C3%B6rm&namespace=4&tagfilter=&newOnly=1&start=2019-11-01&end=). A large number of these articles are quite poor and per the change at WP:WPSCH as the result of the
RFC in 2017 [clarification needed]RFC in 2017 are no longer to be regarded as sufficiently notable for article, however per my understanding of WP:SCHOOLOUTCOMES the usual outcome should not be delete but a redirect (with history and possibilities) to an appropriate article in the Institutions/By Region section of Template:Education in Pakistan. This does not seem to be happening. Looking at the Delsort list this is not happening for other places as well. (Djm-leighpark)/Bigdelboy (talk) 20:56, 5 January 2020 (UTC)- (Corrected link to RFC in 2017 requiring clarification above) (Bigdelboy) Djm-leighpark (talk) 21:14, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
- To keep the discussion together, here is a copy of what I wrote on the Lahore page.
- Keep: I have looked at the nomination again. It says Fails WP:GNG, WP:NORG, WP:SIGCOV- which is a merely a WP:POV as no evidence is given of how it fails. How does it fail WP:GNG? How much effort was made to research this opinion? Was any attempt made to discover the school reference code, and use that to enter the Ministry of Education listings- either on- line or by visiting the government offices and view their archives. A respectable journalist would do so. Has any attempt been made to view the Urdu media, where press reports would be found.
- With WP:SIGCOV- a school that is functioning well does not generate media attention; it has taken a years of serious misdemeanours for certain Catholic schools to gain SIGCOV.
- It takes about 45 seconds to boilerplate a nomination, a couple of hours to disprove a negative. This process needs to be reviewed. ClemRutter (talk) 12:16, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
- I have no doubt that Störm is acting in good faith and many of oneliners deserve to be deleted; it is our procedures and practices I am questioning. The AfE process was intended to allow a reasoned nomination, and adequate time so a large number of editors could research the issue and express an opinion, which would then be judged by revered senior editor (admin). This isn't happening.
- Störm's nominations lack reasons and evidence of adequate research. Certainly none in Urdu. They come in batches- in the form of a Denial of service attack.
- Too few editors make any comments- as it takes so long to research the nature of the allegation, and longer to evaluate and counter it, particularly as the entries we are looking at should be removed- I believe too that policy says they should be merged with a parent article no deleted, and I do believe that the nominator should have researched the issue well enough to suggest the best article.
- The closing admin should give a reason, based principally on the nomination. It would be helpful if we had no more than 5 AfDs on schools open concurrently, and have a full week to consider them.
- Maybe we need to have another go at formulating better instructions that we were left with in the 2017 AFC
ClemRutter (talk) 23:03, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
- Having corrected that link to the RFC in 2017 I note it explicitly says Editors should not flood AFD with indiscriminate or excessive nominations. ... the or excessive being key here and I think that has happened here. If I had unlimited resource and energy I would back work some of this. (bigdelboy) Djm-leighpark (talk) 21:20, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
WikiProject Universities
It has been requested that the title of a related project, Wikipedia:WikiProject Universities, be changed to Wikipedia:WikiProject Universities and colleges. If you are interested, please see the relevant discussion. TSventon (talk) 14:03, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
How to list presidents with disjoint terms
Consider List of presidents of the College of the Holy Cross, where Ciampi was first president #4, but was president again after #5 and then again after another few intermediate presidents' terms. Should Ciampi have separate entries for each term, or some alternate note to indicate the position of a repeated person? Should that repeated person's later entry have its own ordinal number in the list (Ciampi was #4 and also #6 and also...), or should it be some other bullet style? DMacks (talk) 23:09, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
- I think it depends upon the formatting/layout of the list. When the list is primarily in chronological order by date or term, like List of presidents of the United States, you can list the same person multiple times if they didn't serve consecutive terms. If, however, the list is formatted primarily by name, then it doesn't really make much sense to list the same person more than once.The Holy Cross seems to be trying to do a combination of both which is generally not a good thing and might make things a bit hard to follow. For example, Anthony F. Ciampi is the fourth name on the list, so the natural assumption being made by most readers is that he's was the 4th president of the college; at the same time, he was also the 6th president and the 8th president, which doesn't really follow the numbering used by the list. So, if you're not really interested in listing the presidents chronologically by date or term, then a simple bullet list without any numbering would suffice; on the other hand, if there's important encyclopedic information provided by listing the entries chronologically, then list numbering used should be consistent with the chronological order of the entries, which mean multiple entries for the same person.One other thing about that list is that it might be better formatted as a simple table since it not only might make it easier to read, but it would make it possible to add free images from Commons as they become available. In addition, the list also probably needs to be cleaned up a bit per MOS:DOCTOR and
WP:JOBTITLESMOS:HONORIFIC. -- Marchjuly (talk) 00:47, 21 January 2020 (UTC); [Note: Post edited by Marchjuly to replace link to JOBTITLES with a link to HONORIFICS. -- 04:25, 21 January 2020 (UTC)]- I completely agree with MJ. Further, I don't see a need for an unsourced list of largely nn people. John from Idegon (talk) 03:32, 21 January 2020 (UTC)
Retirement
I have retired as lead coord of this project. 10 years is long enough. Maybe some of the regulars could get together and nudge the project into shape, starting perhaps with a newsletter, and pruning some deadwood from the vast list of members. I will hang around as an emeritus for a while so don't hesitate to ask what I have on my mental 'to do' list and never got round to. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 02:48, 7 February 2020 (UTC)
Reminder
Please join the discussion at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Universities#Requested_move_18_January_2020 before the discussion is closed. The outcome could affect the way the WP:WPSCH project works and may incur some changes that will need to be made. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:58, 7 February 2020 (UTC)
Bank Street College of Education article structure
Bank Street College of Education is an article with a practical tie to the active discussion about the boundary between WP:UNI and WP:WPSCH. That's because Bank Street is both a grad school and K–8 school. I have started a discussion on the Bank Street talk page, which I invite you to join. At heart is the question, "When the subject of an article falls under both WP:UNI and WP:WPSCH, how should the article be structured?" My proposal is to use a structure that shares sections that both wikiprojects recommend (History, Campus, External links, etc.) but then divide much of the rest of the article into two major sections – one "mini article" about the grad school and another about the children's school. Each of those sections could then follow the respective wikiproject's guidelines. I welcome your input and hope to find consensus. Thank you. -- DanielKlotz (talk · contribs) 18:45, 8 February 2020 (UTC)