New 2008 rankings of the nation’s premier public high schools from U.S. News and World Report are likely to provide fresh insights for reform-minded educators nationwide. Serving as a who’s who of top high schools, this compilation honors those institutions that set the industry standard for academic excellence.
In its first-ever high school survey, U.S. News and World Report reviewed more than 18,000 American high schools, giving 100 schools gold medal honors. An additional 405 schools earned silver medals and 1,086 garnered bronze recognition. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia earned the number one spot with a class listing that “reads like a college course catalog.” Last year, a wildly impressive 158 out of 432 “TJ” seniors were National Merit semifinalists.
Although some high-performing public schools like “TJ” set admissions criteria, they must do more than just cull the best and brightest and keep them that way. In order to earn a place on U.S. News and World Report‘s list, schools had to do well by disadvantaged students too. Ranking methodology looked at overall student performance as well as achievement levels of disadvantaged pupils on state tests. If both groups were above the state average, researchers then determined a school’s college readiness index using Advanced Placement data.
Thus configured, rankings represent a diverse group of high performers: coveted spots on the gold and silver lists were given to 19 charter schools and 64 magnet schools as well as to scores of traditional public schools. Bronze medals were given to 42 charter schools and 41 magnet schools, along with numerous traditional schools. A number of open enrollment public schools also earned gold distinction.
U.S. News and World Report profiled one charter school that sets the standard for innovation and tenacity. Operating in a former auto parts dealership, MATCH Charter in Boston (number 99 on the list) takes students who are lagging far behind academically and shapes them into achievers: more than half of the seniors in AP Calculus pass the end of course exam. Academic tutors actually live on the school’s third floor — a no-holds-barred program characterized by the school’s executive director as “tutoring on steroids.”
Closer to home, no North Carolina high schools were golden, but six garnered silver medals: AC Reynolds in Buncombe County; Elkin High in Surry County; Murphy High in Cherokee County; Salisbury High in Rowan County; Statesville High in Iredell County; and Terry Sanford High in Cumberland County. An additional 28 North Carolina high schools earned bronze medals.
High schools in our state’s biggest counties — Wake and Charlotte-Mecklenburg — were conspicuously absent from the list. Particularly surprising was the fact that Raleigh Charter High, 20th in the nation on Newsweek‘s 2007 list of best schools, wasn’t even a bronze medalist. This is likely due to divergent methodologies — unlike the variables considered by U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek’s ranking was based on “the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 divided by the number of graduating seniors.”
What’s the take-away for educators and parents? While there’s no magic formula for high school efficacy, stand-out schools still offer valuable information about best practices in education. In top schools, innovation, academic rigor, community involvement, and public-private partnerships coalesce into programs that really work — for all students.
Equally promising is the practice of allowing parents to choose a school well-suited to their child’s needs. The multiple successful charter, magnet, and open enrollment schools on U.S. News and World Report‘s list are proof positive of the fact that students — and schools — thrive in the presence of educational freedom.
In the end, when it comes to educating adolescents and preparing them for life after high school, these schools clearly know their business. For a government education system that’s struggling mightily to keep pace with the demands of the global economy, that’s good news indeed.