U.S.News & World Report Names America's Best High Schools
Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, VA, Tops List
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S.News & World Report, the nation'sleading source of news analysis and service journalism, today released itsfirst-ever list of America's Best High Schools, available atwww.usnews.com/highschools and on newsstands as of December 3 (magazine issuedate December 10, 2007). Based on an in-depth methodology, which factors intest scores as well as other data, this list is the most comprehensive of itskind. The nearly 1,600 high schools that met key criteria fall into threecategories of distinction: gold, silver, and bronze, with Thomas JeffersonHigh School in Alexandria, VA, topping the list.
"To ensure that U.S. News truly captures and recognizes the nation's besthigh schools, we teamed with analysts from School Evaluation Services todevelop an innovative methodology that allowed us to analyze how well highschools serve all students, not just those that perform at the top of theirclass," said Brian Kelly, editor, U.S.News & World Report. "For the list to bemeaningful, it was critically important for the methodology to factor inpoverty and economic status, including disadvantaged students, averagestudents, and college-bound students to measure how well the school servedtheir specific body of students."
The methodology was developed by School Evaluation Services incollaboration with Andrew Rotherham, co-founder of Education Sector and writerof Eduwonk.com. According to the methodology, a best high school is one thatsucceeds at the following:
1) Attains performance levels that exceed statistical expectations given
the school's relative level of student poverty, as measured by state
accountability test scores for all the school's students in the core
subjects of reading and math;
2) Achieves proficiency rates on state tests for their least advantaged
student groups (e.g., black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged
students) that exceed state averages; and
3) Prepares its students for college, as measured by student participation
in and performance on Advanced Placement (AP) tests, which are
administered by the College Board.
Using this methodology, more than 18,500 high schools in 40 states* wereanalyzed for inclusion in the 2008 edition. Highlights of analytical findingsinclude:
-- 505 high schools met all three of these demanding criteria (gold and
silver categories).
-- 21 percent of these top-performing schools are located in large cities.
-- 20 percent of these top-performing schools receive Title I assistance.
-- 4 percent of these top-performing schools are charter schools.
-- 80 percent of these top-performing schools have open or lottery-based
admission processes, meaning that they do not selectively admit
students based on merit or ability.
"The America's Best High Schools list provides an opportunity to celebrateand recognize high schools that are serving all students well," said WilliamCox, executive managing director, Standard & Poor's. School EvaluationServices is a K-12 education data research and analysis business developed byStandard & Poor's in 2001. "There are more than 500 gold and silver schools onthe list that were able to exceed expectations across all student groups. Itis our hope that other high schools will be able to learn from and emulatetheir successes."
The 100 top-performing high schools were given a distinction of "gold" andare listed numerically. The remaining 405 schools meeting all three criteriahave been designated "silver" high schools.
Additionally, 1,086 high schools were identified that merit honorablemention for their performance on state tests. These bronze high schools metthe first two criteria of this methodology, but did not meet the college-readiness criteria based on AP tests. While AP is by far the most widely usedcollege-level program in the country, there are schools that focus onproviding students with access to alternative college-level programs.
For a complete list of America's Best High Schools, visitwww.usnews.com/highschools. To learn more about a specific school or tocompare schools side-by-side, visit www.schoolmatters.com.
* Note: The following 10 states and the District of Columbia did not havesufficient data available for analysis: AL, AK, MS, MT, NE, ND, OK, SD, UT,and WY.
About U.S.News & World Report
Founded in 1933, the weekly national news magazine U.S.News & World Reportis devoted to investigative journalism and reporting, and to analyzingnational and international affairs, politics, business, health, science,technology and social trends. Through its annual rankings of America's BestColleges, America's Best Graduate Schools, America's Best Hospitals, America'sBest Health Plans and its News You Can Use(R) brand, U.S. News has earned areputation as the leading provider of service news and information thatimproves the quality of life of its readers. Available online atwww.usnews.com, the U.S. News website extends that brand promise and deliversthe best, most accurate information on the Web, organized in a way that isaccessible and easy to use.
About School Evaluation Services
Since 2001, School Evaluation Services has served as an independent,analytical resource for parents of school-aged children, state and nationalpolicymakers, and educators. Today, it provides parents with the largesteasily searchable collection of education data ever assembled onwww.schoolmatters.com.SOURCE U.S.News & World ReportGabrielle Zucker Acevedo of Kwittken & Company, +1-646-747-7143,gzucker@kwitco.com, for U.S.News & World Report; or Susan Shafer of SchoolEvaluation Services, +1-212-438-2193, susan_shafer@sandp.com
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