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. News Best High Schools rankings, out today. U.S. News ranked 17,245 public high schools, out of a review of more than 23,000 in all 50 states and D.C. When it comes to success in college, a good high school can be a powerful launching pad. But the Nation’s Report Card, formally known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 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. News Best High Schools rankings, out today. U.S. News 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. News assigned numerical ranks to schools performing in the top 75%. Schools performing below the 25th percentile are listed alphabetically with a ranking range. [See: 2019 Best High Schools National Rankings.] Claiming the top spot in the national rankings is Academic Magnet High School 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 college readiness 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. [See: Top 20 Best High Schools.] U.S. News also ranked the top magnet schools and charter schools 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 BASIS Scottsdale, which came in at No. 3 in the overall rankings. Among all schools ranked nationally, 10.2% are charters and 5% are magnets. [Read: Consider Different Types of Public High Schools for Your Child.] U.S. News also assigned a separate STEM ranking 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 High Technology High School 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 California had 13 schools in the top 100, and Florida and New York had 12 each. The top-ranked school in California is Whitney High School at No. 14. Florida’s top-ranked school, Pine View School, came in at No. 15. Townsend Harris High School led the rankings in New York at No. 11. A broader look beyond the top 100, however, shows Massachusetts 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 Maryland at almost 44%, California at 40% and Connecticut at slightly below 40%. See the complete rankings of the Best High Schools. More from U.S. News See the Full 2019 Best High Schools Rankings Explore the Best Charter Schools View the Best Magnet Schools U.S. News Releases 2019 Best High Schools Rankings originally appeared on usnews.com<doc-sep>The latest U.S. News ranking named the Math and Science Academy of Woodbury as the best school in the state. GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — U.S. News has released their list of top high schools for 2019. According to the report, data from more than 23,000 public high schools was analyzed to create the list. 17,245 schools were ranked based on six factors that looked at performance on state assessments and college preparedness. In Minnesota, the Math and Science Academy in Woodbury was ranked as the top school. In the national rankings, Math and Science Academy ranked number 133. Other top ranked schools in Minnesota include Nova Classical Academy in Saint Paul and Eastview Senior High in Apple Valley. Top 10 Minnesota High Schools: In Wisconsin, Cedarburg High was ranked as the top school in the state. About 30 minutes from Milwaukee, Cedarburg High landed at number 121 in the national rankings. Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, South Carolina was ranked as the top high school in the nation. The school has a 100 percent graduation rate and scores 100 for college readiness based on U.S. News data.<doc-sep>One of the country’s most recognized school rankings was released Tuesday, and New Jersey again has some of the top public schools on the list. The state claimed 24 of the top 500 public high schools in the annual U.S. News Best High Schools list, including seven of the top 100 spots. High Technology High School, a public academy in Lincroft with selective enrollment, was rated the best in New Jersey and 39th nationwide. The rankings are based on a variety of standardized test scores, as well as graduation rate, and include a 10 percent weight for the performance of African American, Hispanic and low-income students. In New Jersey, specialized schools with selective enrollment typically earn the highest ranking, often followed by traditional high schools in wealthier suburban areas (standardized test scores largely correlate to family income). Check out the list of New Jersey schools that made the top 500 below. See the full rankings, which include more than 10,000 school nationwide here. 24. Summit Senior High School Location: Summit, Union County National ranking: 493 23. Mountain Lakes High School Location: Mountain Lakes, Morris County National ranking: 489 22. Glen Ridge High School Location: Glen Ridge, Essex County National ranking: 483 21. Infinity Institute Location: Jersey City, Hudson County National ranking: 465 20. Academy of Allied Health and Science Location: Neptune City, Monmouth County National ranking: 439 19. Ridge High School Location: Basking Ridge, Somerset County National ranking: 432 18. Millburn High School Location: Millburn, Essex County National ranking: 429 17. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North Location: Plainsboro, Middlesex County National ranking: 428 16. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Location: West Windsor, Mercer County National ranking: 389 15. North Star Academy Charter School of Newark Location: Newark, Essex County National ranking: 371 14. Chatham High School Location: Chatham, Morris County National ranking: 351 13. Academy for Allied Health Sciences Location: Scotch Plains, Union County National ranking: 341 12. Princeton High School Location: Princeton, Mercer County National ranking: 332 11. Marine Academy of Science and Technology Location: Highlands, Monmouth County National ranking: 314 10. Elizabeth High School Location: Elizabeth, Union County National ranking: 313 9. Academy for Information Technology Location: Scotch Plains, Union County National ranking: 149 8. Union County Magnet High School Location: Scotch Plains, Union County National ranking: 103 7. Bergen County Technical High School Teterboro Location: Teterboro, Bergen County National ranking: 95 6. Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health Location: Woodbridge, Middlesex County National ranking: 75 5. Biotechnology High School Location: Freehold Township, Monmouth County National ranking: 68 4. Dr. Ronald E. McNair High School Location: Jersey City, Hudson County National ranking: 67 3. Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies Location: Edison, Middlesex County National ranking: 61 2. Bergen County Academies Location: Hackensack, Bergen County National ranking: 53 1. High Technology High School Location: Lincroft, Monmouth County National ranking: 39 Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.<doc-sep>Three Tucson-area high schools managed to maintain their top national rankings, being named among the top 50 public high schools in the country for 2019. But a new methodology that considers schools as a whole and not on test scores alone caused the campuses to fall several spots. Basis Oro Valley and Basis Tucson North dropped from third- and fourth-best in the nation on the 2018 U.S. News & World Report list to 32nd and 34th, respectively, this year. Tucson Unified’s University High School dropped from 27th last year to 40th this year. The next-closest school, Catalina Foothills, rose to 626th, up from 670th last year. Given the more comprehensive methodology on which the rankings are based, Basis.ed CEO Peter Bezanson says the change in ratings does not come as a surprise. “Previously, they had focused exclusively on college readiness, and because Basis charter schools are focused intensely on preparing our student to academically excel. ... We naturally rose to the tops of those rankings,” Bezanson said. “So it was natural that since we didn’t change our focus, and they changed their focus ... it makes sense we would fall.” TUSD’s UHS also bills itself as a college preparatory high school, requiring students to test in for admission.<doc-sep>
Four Michigan high schools ranked in the top 100 nationwide by U.S. News & World Report in its widely expanded 2019 edition of best high schools, including a Grand Rapids school that made the cut this year. In new, national high school rankings announced Tuesday by the media company, the International Academy of Macomb in Clinton Township, which is run by the Macomb Intermediate School District, ranked eighth; the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, which is run by Oakland Schools, ranked 42nd; City Middle-High School, a school operated by Grand Rapids Public Schools, ranked 38th; and Washtenaw International High School in Ypsilanti, operated by the Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium, ranked 83rd. MOBILE USERS: Search by school name or by school district to find where your high school or your district's high schools rank. A full list of the rankings can be found here. Officials say the rankings take a holistic approach to evaluating schools, using six factors: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates. College readiness measures participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test exams, officials said. This year U.S. News & World Report ranked more than 17,000 schools nationwide — up from last year’s 2,700 schools, more than a six-fold increase. “Our mission with the Best High Schools rankings has always been to educate families about the schools in their district,” said Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News. “By evaluating more schools than ever before, the new edition expands that focus so all communities can see which schools in their area are successfully serving their students — including historically underserved populations.” City Middle-High School in Grand Rapids is an International Baccalaureate school that is ranked in the top 5% of Michigan schools on combined measures of student achievement and growth over time, according to its website. No Michigan schools made the national Top 10 list for Best STEM High Schools or Best Charter High Schools. The International Academy of Macomb ranked fifth in Best High School Magnet rankings nationally. In rankings broken down by state, the top 10 Michigan schools include: Rochester Adams High School, Rochester Hills; Black River Public School, Holland; Troy High School; Northville High School; and Seaholm High School, Birmingham. The new methodology assigns weights to the six factors and then produces an overall score on which the ranking is based, officials said. The previous methodology used by U.S. News & World Report involved a four-step process in which the final step used college readiness as the sole basis to determine a school’s numerical rank, officials said. “We enhanced the methodology to provide an even more comprehensive ranking that is easier to understand and, therefore, more useful to parents and educators,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News. Officials say the 2019 rankings results aren't comparable to past rankings by U.S. News due to the new and different methodology. The primary reason for a school's rise or fall in the 2019 rankings in almost all cases was the revamped ranking methodology, officials said. Top 10 ranked by state Michigan high schools International Academy of Macomb, Clinton Township City Middle/High School, Grand Rapids International Academy, Bloomfield Hills Washtenaw International High School, Ypsilanti Rochester Adams High School, Rochester Hills Black River Public School, Holland Troy High School Northville High School Seaholm High School, Birmingham Skyline High School, Ann Arbor Source: U.S. News & World Report