When it comes to success in , a good high school can be a powerful launching pad.
But the Nation’s Report Card, formally known as the , found that as few as 25% of 12th-grade students in 2015 were proficient in math and just 22% in science.
Parents searching for top public schools in their area that can put their teens on the right path can turn to the 2019 U.S. 草莓传媒 rankings, out today. U.S. 草莓传媒 ranked 17,245 public high schools, out of a review of more than 23,000 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; the number of ranked schools is up from more than 2,700 last year. The new rankings, developed in conjunction with nonprofit research firm RTI International, are based on a revamped methodology that weighs six indicators of school quality for the 2016-2017 school year:
— College readiness, based on the proportions of 12th-grade students who took and passed Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate exams.
— College curriculum breadth, based on proportions of 12th-grade students who took and passed AP and/or IB exams in multiple content areas.
— Math and reading proficiency, based on student performance on state-required tests.
— Math and reading performance, based on whether performance on state assessments exceeded expectations given the school’s proportion of underserved students.
— Underserved student performance, based on how black, Hispanic and low-income students performed on state assessments compared with those who are not underserved in the state.
— Graduation rates, based on the proportion of students who entered ninth grade in 2012-2013 and graduated four years later.
The highest-ranked schools are those whose students excelled on state tests and performed beyond expectations; participated in and passed a variety of college-level exams; and graduated in high proportions. U.S. 草莓传媒 assigned numerical ranks to schools performing in the top 75%. Schools performing below the 25th percentile are listed alphabetically with a ranking range.
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Claiming the top spot in the national rankings is in South Carolina. AMHS, part of the Charleston County School District, had a 100% graduation rate and earned a college readiness score of 100.
The other nine schools ranked in the top 10, in order, are: Maine School of Science and Mathematics, BASIS Scottsdale in Arizona, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, Central Magnet School in Tennessee, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology in Georgia, Haas Hall Academy in Arkansas, International Academy of Macomb in Michigan, Payton College Preparatory High School in Illinois and Signature School in Indiana.
Of these 10 schools, most scored 100 on and at or near 100% for graduation rates. The lowest score for college readiness among these top 10 high schools is almost 94. Similarly, the lowest graduation rate reported is slightly below 94%. By contrast, the national graduation rate is slightly above 84%, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
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U.S. 草莓传媒 also ranked the top and separately, based on how these schools performed in the national rankings. Magnets are public schools with a thematic curriculum often tied to the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math; fine arts; career and technical education; or other areas of study. Students are typically admitted to magnet schools through a lottery system. Charter schools are also public , though independently operated, which means greater autonomy over curriculum and exemption from some state laws and regulations.
The No. 1 school in the overall rankings, Academic Magnet High School, is also the top magnet school. For charters, the top school is , which came in at No. 3 in the overall rankings.
Among all schools ranked nationally, 10.2% are charters and 5% are magnets.
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U.S. 草莓传媒 also assigned a separate for 250 high schools whose students excelled on AP science and math tests. To be eligible, schools had to appear in the top 1,000 of the overall national rankings.
The top STEM school for 2019 is in New Jersey, which ranked at No. 39 overall. Of the top 10 schools in the overall rankings, only two also made the top 10 in the STEM rankings: BASIS Scottsdale at No. 2 and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia at No. 4.
In looking at how states performed in the overall national rankings, no state had two schools ranked in the top 10. But had 13 schools in the top 100, and and had 12 each.
The top-ranked school in California is at No. 14. Florida’s top-ranked school, came in at No. 15. led the rankings in New York at No. 11.
A broader look beyond the top 100, however, shows as the winner when compared with other states. Nearly 49% of the Bay State’s eligible schools were in the top 25% of the Best High School rankings, followed by at almost 44%, California at 40% and at slightly below 40%.
See the of the Best High Schools.
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