Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the America's Best High Schools project and why did U.S.News & World Report create this report?
2. What are the sources of information that U.S. News used to do the America's Best High Schools rankings?
3. What methodology was used to identify America's Best High Schools?
4. Were there changes to the methodology used in the 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings?
5. What distinguishes a gold high school from a silver, bronze, or honorable mention high school?
6. Why was the honorable mention designation added to the America's Best High Schools rankings for the second year in a row?
7. Why did schools change rankings in the 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings compared to the rankings a year ago?
8. How can one find out how a high school ranked in previous years' rankings?
9. How were schools evaluated? What data and/or indicators were used to identify the high schools?
10. Why is a school not listed or not ranked in the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings?
11. Why did U.S. News list a school's AP or IB data as "Not Applicable" when the school does offer AP or IB classes?
12. Why are private schools not ranked as part of the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings
13. Why did U.S. News say that a high school was not a magnet school (or another type of school), when it is a magnet school (or another type of school)?
14. Why did one school in the same county rank lower on the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings than another school in the same county that it outperforms on the state tests?
15. Who created the methodology?
16. Was every high school in the United States evaluated?
17. Do the "best" high schools receive a reward?
18. Who can I contact if I have questions?

1. What is the America's Best High Schools project and why did U.S. News & World Report create this report? 

The America's Best High Schools project is an annual report that identifies the country's top-performing high schools. The goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture of how well public schools serve all of their students - from the highest achieving to the lowest achieving - in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work. The first-ever list of America's Best High Schools is the 2008 edition, which was posted online November 30, 2007. The 2009 edition was posted online on December 5, 2008 and the 2010 edition was posted on December 10, 2009.

Since U.S. News & World Report editors believe high schools are among America's most important institutions, adding America's Best High Schools to its "America's Best" series was a natural progression. Education drives our country's future. Recognizing schools that are performing well and providing them as models to other schools will inspire educators and communities to do better. Also, by sharing this information, parents across the country will be armed with information to help them make better-informed decisions about their child's education.
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2. What are the sources of information that U.S. News used to do the America's Best High Schools rankings?

There are a number of data sources used to produce the America's Best High Schools rankings and they are listed below.

· Common Core Data is the U.S. Department of Education's website (http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/) that contains basic data on enrollment, ethnicity and other profile information on all public high schools in the U.S. It's updated annually. The U.S. Department of Education collects the data found on this site directly from the schools themselves, school districts or state departments of education.

· College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com/) was the source of the Advanced Placement test data for each public high school when applicable.

· International Baccalaureate (http://www.ibo.org/) was the source of the International Baccalaureate test data for each public high school when applicable.

· Each high school's state-wide accountability test results were collected directly from official sources in that state.
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3. What methodology was used to identify America's Best High Schools?

The methodology for identifying America's Best High Schools was developed with a core principle in mind - that the best high schools must serve all students well and must produce measurable academic outcomes that support this mission. The methodology was developed by School Evaluation Services.

According to the methodology, a best high school is one that succeeds at the following:

Step 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.

Step 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.

Step 3. Prepares its students for college, as measured by student participation in and performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams
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4. Were there changes to the methodology used in the 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings?

Yes, there were two small changes incorporated into this year's methodology. One minor change was made concerning how to evaluate schools offering both IB and AP programs. Another adjustment was made in how ties were broken among Gold schools ranked 1 through 100.

· How a school's IB and AP programs are evaluated.

The 2010 list marks the second year in which International Baccalaureate (IB) data were available. For schools that offer both IB and AP coursework, the calculation of their College Readiness Index (CRI) has been modified to better capture the degree to which these schools are offering some form of college-level coursework. For the 2010 list, the data for the larger program (i.e., the program serving a larger percentage of the school's students) is used to calculate the school's College Readiness Index (CRI).

· Use of the participant passing rate for tie-breakers.

Medal status and rank of the Gold medal schools 1-100, is based primarily on the CRI. In addition, we have used the Quality-Adjusted Exams Per Test Taker as a means of further sorting in order to break any ties that occur using the CRI. The reality is that there are only true ties at the very top, for schools with "perfect" CRIs of 100 (since lower CRIs are calculated to many decimals, there have never been any exact ties at lower CRI values).The issue this year is that there are suddenly many schools - (about 10) that have achieved the CRI value of 100, so ranking the top 10 requires the tie-breaker to be invoked. We are using the participant passing rate as an additional sorting measure to help decide ties by clarifying the results of the CRI ranking. It is worth noting that the CRI is rounded to the tenths place for publication purposes; as a result, some schools may appear to be tied but actually have different CRIs and thus are ranked solely on this factor with no need for tie breakers.

· What is the participant passing rate? Why use it?

The participant passing rate is simply the number of test takers that pass at least one test over the total number of test takers. In effect, it is taking the numerator of the Quality-Adjusted participation rate and dividing by the numerator of the unadjusted participation rate. If there were no reporting issues of marrying the AP or IB data to the 12th grade enrollment data, we wouldn't need to use this metric - any school with 100 CRI would also have a 100 percent participant passing rate, as every 12th grader would be a participant (take at least one test) and every participant would pass at least one test. Given that participants exceed 12th graders for many of these top 10 schools with 100 CRIs, we are using this measure as a quality check. The result is that only 2 of the 10 schools with 100 CRIs also have 100% participant passing rates. These schools are then ranked based on their depth of test-taking, as in prior years (quality-adjusted exams per test taker).
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5. What distinguishes a gold high school from a silver, bronze or honorable mention high school?

There are four levels of medal award winners:

· The first two include top-performing high schools (gold and silver distinctions), which are schools that met all three criteria outlined above.

· The third includes schools that met state test performance criteria, but have not yet demonstrated high levels of measurable college readiness, these schools received the bronze distinction.

· The fourth level recognizes schools that merit honorable mention. These were schools that achieved high levels of college readiness, but did not meet (or partially met) state test performance criteria.

The top-performing high schools have been subdivided into two groups - gold and silver - based on their college readiness index, which measures the degree to which students are exposed to and master some college-level material while in high school. The gold high schools are the top 100 high schools in the country, ranked numerically according to their college readiness index, while the silver high schools are the remaining of the top-performing high schools identified nationwide with a college readiness index of greater than or equal to 20.

A bronze high school is one that met the first two criteria of the methodology but not the third. These schools have demonstrated commendable performance on state tests, but did not perform well enough on the college readiness index to merit identification as a top-performing high school. Either they have not provided as much access to college-level coursework as their top-performing peers, or they offer an alternative program to AP or IB. While AP and IB are the two most well known college-level programs in the country, there are schools that focus on providing students with access to alternative college-level programs, typically in the form of dual enrollment at local community colleges. At present, there is no uniform set of data collected about participation in such programs. In addition, researchers have found that the quality of such existing programs varies significantly from school to school.

An honorable mention school is one that may have done a particularly good job of preparing students for college, but it was not able to meet the state test performance criteria. Had these schools met the state test criteria, their college readiness performance would have placed them among the top 100 schools nationwide (gold level status).
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6. Why was honorable mention added to the America's Best High Schools rankings for the second year in a row?

An honorable mention school is one that may have done a particularly good job of preparing students for college, but it was not able to meet the state test performance criteria. Had these schools met the state test criteria, their college readiness performance would have placed them among the top 100 schools nationwide (gold level status). We thought it was important that schools with such high levels of college readiness receive some kind of recognition, while at the same time maintaining the rigorous standards embedded in the methodology to keep these schools separate from the medal winners.
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7. Why did schools change rankings in the 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings compared to the rankings a year ago?

There are a number of possible reasons why high schools moved up, down or were no longer included on the 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings.

· Changes in relative performance on state tests.

Some schools fell off the list all together because they are no longer among the best performing schools on their statewide tests, specifically, whether their overall student performance on state tests exceeds statistical expectations (step 1) or their least advantaged students' performance is not as good as the state average (step 2). Without successfully meeting both of these two state test-focused steps, schools are not eligible for any medal recognition, although they are still evaluated independently on their college readiness to determine whether they merit honorable mention. In some cases those schools that earned medals last year but had a lower performance on state tests earned honorable mention status this year.

· Changes in relative or absolute performance on college-level coursework as it impacts the school's College Readiness Index (CRI).

Some schools may have changed ranks either up or down because of how the performance and participation of their class cohort on AP or IB exams compares with the performance of the class cohort from a year earlier. The determination of college readiness is based upon the performance and participation of 12th graders from the graduating class cohort in the most recent academic year (i.e. whether or not these students took - and passed - any AP or IB exams during their years at the school, up to and including their senior year). Many schools have experienced a change in their status, from as little as a few places in the gold medal rankings, to medal status (gold to silver, silver to bronze, bronze to gold, bronze to silver) due to changes in the school' College Readiness Index (CRI).

· Changes in how schools offering both IB and AP programs are evaluated.

The 2010 list marks the second year in which International Baccalaureate (IB) data were available. For schools that offer both IB and AP coursework, the calculation of their College Readiness Index (CRI) has been modified to better capture the degree to which these schools are offering some form of college-level coursework. For the 2010 list, the data for the larger program (i.e., the program serving a larger percentage of the school's students) is used to calculate the school's College Readiness Index (CRI). This change may have been the reason why some schools that have both AP and IB changed rankings this year compared to last year.
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8. How can one find out how a high school ranked previous years rankings?

These seven PDF files contain the entire previous two America's Best High School rankings:

· Click here to see the 2008 gold medal schools (published December 2007)

· Click here to see the 2008 silver medal schools (published December 2007)

· Click here to see the 2008 bronze medal schools (published December 2007)

· Click here to see the 2009 gold medal schools (published December 2008)

· Click here to see the 2009 silver medal schools (published December 2008)

· Click here to see the 2009 bronze medal schools (published December 2008)

· Click here to see the 2009 honorable mention schools (published December 2008)
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9. How were schools evaluated? What data and/or indicators were used to identify the high schools?

Analysts from School Evaluation Services looked at several indicators to determine which schools, met the tiered criteria as outlined in the methodology. These indicators include:

· Overall performance of students on state tests

State Test Performance Index - All Students

An index that measures the mastery of state tests, with full credit awarded to proficient scores, additional credit awarded to more advanced scores, and partial credit awarded to scores approaching proficient.

Economically Disadvantaged Students (% of Total Enrollment)

A measure of student poverty (typically % receiving free or reduced-price lunch).

Risk-Adjusted Performance Index

An index that measures the effective "distance" from statistically expected performance, based on the statistical relationship between student poverty and the performance index in this state. Only index values of 1 or greater meet the criteria for selection.

· Performance of the least advantaged students on state tests

Disadvantaged Students State Test Proficiency Rate

An index that measures the aggregate proficiency rate of a school's black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged students. Under NCLB, this rate must reach 100% by 2014, when all students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in reading and math.

Disadvantaged Students Performance Gap Differential

The differential between a school's disadvantaged student performance index and the state average for that index. Only values greater than zero meet the criteria for selection.

Non-disadvantaged Students State Test Proficiency Rate

An index that measures the aggregate proficiency rate of a school's most non disadvantaged students (white and non-economically disadvantaged students). As mentioned above, under NCLB, this rate must reach 100 percent by 2014, when all students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in reading and math. This is provided for additional context, to draw some attention to the within-school achievement gap, which for many of the top-performing high schools, as with most of the nation's schools, remains an area with room for progress.

Current State Test Achievement Gap (Non-disadvantaged vs. Disadvantaged Students)

The achievement gap measures the difference between the performance index achieved by non-disadvantaged and disadvantaged students in the school provided for context to focus special attention on the issue of achievement gaps.

· Performance on college-level Advanced Placement (AP) exams or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams

AP or IB Participation (%)

The percentage of 12th graders that took at least one AP or IB exam at some point during high school (number of students tested divided by number of 12th graders enrolled).

Quality-Adjusted AP or IB Participation (%)

The percentage of 12th graders that took, and passed at least one AP or IB exam at some point during high school (number of students tested that received at least one score of 3 or higher on AP or 4 or higher on IB divided by number of 12th graders enrolled).

College Readiness Index (CRI)

An index that measures the degree to which a school's students are exposed to, and master, some college-level material (a weighted average of AP or IB participation and the quality-adjusted AP or IB participation rates. Only values greater than 20 meet the criteria for selection. Gold high schools are simply the top 100 high schools that meet these criteria, ranked using this index.

Participant Passing Rate

The percentage of total participants in AP or IB (i.e., test takers) who passed at least one AP or IB exam. In order to break ties (which occur at the very top of the list, with CRIs of 100), the list is then sorted on this metric second.

Exams Per Test Taker

A measure of the depth of AP or IB participation (the degree to which a school's students are exposed to more than one AP or IB subject), provided for additional context (the number of exams taken divided by the number of test takers, equals the average number of exams per test taker).

Quality-Adjusted Exams Per Test Taker

A quality-adjusted version of the above indicator, focusing solely on the number of exams that receive passing scores and the students that took them (the number of exams scoring 3 or above on AP or 4 or above on IB divided by the number of students scoring 3 or above on at least one AP exam, or 4 or above on at least one IB exam). Also provided for additional contextual value, and used as a secondary ranking for the gold high schools. In order to break ties (which occur at the very top of the list, with CRIs of 100), the list is then sorted on this metric third.
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10. Why is a school not listed or not ranked in the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings?

Less than 10 percent of all U.S. public high schools scored high enough in the ranking methodology to win a medal. If your school is not listed as a medal winner that means that your school didn't score high enough in the methodology described in questions above and in greater detail in other places on the website to receive a medal. At the present time only those 1,787 schools that won a gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention award are listed on usnews.com.
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11. Why did U.S. News list a school's AP or IB data as "Not Applicable" when the school does offer AP or IB classes?

U.S. News only publishes actual AP (per an agreement with the College Board) or IB test result data for high schools that have a college-readiness-index score of greater than or equal 20. In other words, U.S. News is only publishing AP data for the schools that are either gold or silver, or for 561 schools plus the 37 honorable mention schools. However, around 350 of 1,189 schools that have earned a bronze medal offer AP or IB courses.
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12. Why are private schools not ranked as part of the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings?

In almost all cases students at private schools are not required to take the state-wide accountability tests which are mandatory for U.S. public high schools. Since private schools do not have the state testing data that U.S. News uses for the first two parts of the America's Best High Schools rankings, they are not included in the U.S. News America's Best High Schools rankings.
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13. Why did U.S. News say that a high school was not a magnet school (or an other type of school), when it is a magnet school (or another type of school)?

U.S. News uses designations found on the Common Core Data, the U.S. Department of Education's website (http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/) as the basis for those designations. U.S. News did not independently verify the data that was reported to the Department of Education. If the Common Core Data site said that a school was a magnet or another type of school, then that is school type designation that U.S. News went by.
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14. Why did one school in the same county rank lower on the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings than another school in the same county that it outperforms on the state tests?

The U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings are based on more than just the absolute level of state test results. See No. 3 above and other places on the website that explain the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools ranking methodology. The U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings take into account the relative performance on state tests of students who are economically disadvantaged and minorities, not the absolute level. In addition, the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools rankings take into account how well students do on either the AP or IB tests, not just the proportion of students taking the tests and how many they take.
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15. Who created the methodology?

School Evaluation Services analysts developed the resulting methodology in consultation with analysts from Education Sector. The principal authors were:

Paul Gazzerro, director of analytical criteria at School Evaluation Services, where he has served as a principal author of analytical methods and published studies of high-performing schools and districts. Prior to joining School Evaluation Services in 2000, Gazzerro spent several years working in education reform efforts in Chicago.

Andrew J. Rotherham, cofounder of Education Sector, author of the blog Eduwonk.com, and a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute.
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16. Was every high school in the United States evaluated?

School Evaluation Services collected state test data from state departments of education. At this time, 48 states and the District of Columbia had sufficient data to be analyzed. More than 21,000 high schools were included in the analysis. Nebraska and Oklahoma did not have sufficient state test data available for analysis. Schools in these two states were, however, evaluated for honorable mention, but none of the schools met the criteria for recognition.
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17. Do the "best" high schools receive a reward?

No monetary reward is associated with being named one of "America's Best High Schools," but each gold school will be mentioned in both the online and print versions of U.S.News & World Report. All schools that received a silver, bronze or honorable mention will have their data online. All the medal winning schools will also have the distinction of being named one of "America's Best High Schools." In addition the medal and honorable mention winners are eligible to use the 2010 America's Best High Schools badge for the purpose of identifying the high school as being named to the U.S. News 2010 America's Best High Schools list. The badge request form guidelines and terms and conditions of use are available on www.usnews.com/badge/high-schools. For custom reprints, plaques, and banners email usnews@wrightsreprints.com.
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18. Who can I contact if I have questions?

Because of the large number of inquiries, parents and teachers should direct your questions to school administrators. High school or school district officials and administrators with specific questions about your ranking, the accuracy of the data or why your school was ranked like it was, should email letters@usnews.com. Please include details about the high school including city, state and county, your title, and email address. Please limit inquiries to one official representative per school or district.
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