Best High Schools: Frequently Asked Questions

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I'm a teacher at Eastern Sierra Academy, a small rural school in a remote town in Eastern California. I've read your methodology for ranking "America's Best High Schools 2008" and I believe our school should be ranked quite high on your list.
We serve a community that is almost exclusively middle to low income and is about 40% Hispanic. We consistently rank among the top 50 schools (out of almost 1000) in the state with our API scores. We also have a robust AP program in place at the school. 100% of our seniors have taken at least 4 AP exams and our AP pass rate is usually between 75% and 40%.
For the 2005-2006 school year, 100% of our seniors had taken AP exams and 60% of them had passed at least one test. So if I take the formula you provided for "College Readiness" we have a score of 70.0. This would put us at #54 on your list of Gold Medal Schools.
If there is some way we be included on your list, our students and faculty would be very grateful for the recognition.

James Godoy of CA 11:20AM December 13, 2007

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Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings

Robert Morse is director of data research for U.S.News & World Report and has worked at the company since 1976. He develops the methodologies and surveys for the Best Colleges and Best Graduate Schools annual rankings, keeping an eye on higher-education trends to make sure the rankings offer prospective students the best analysis available. Morse Code provides deeper insights into the methodologies and is a forum for commentary and analysis of college, grad, and other rankings.