The Washington Post Releases 2011 Rankings of America’s High Schools
WASHINGTON—May 20, 2011—Today The Washington Post releases The High School Challenge, a comprehensive look at more than 1,900 public high schools across the nation and each school’s level of commitment to offering challenging college-level course work to all students. This national ranking is published for the first time by The Washington Post and can be viewed at www.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge.
Since 1998, Washington Post Education Writer Jay Mathews has compared schools by their college-level course programs in effort to bring attention to how school systems can vary in preparing average students for college.
“Education coverage is a core interest of our readers,” said Liz Spayd, Managing Editor of The Washington Post. “This analysis is intended to provide parents, educators and others with one view of how much students are being challenged in their high schools.”
The online interactive features individual profile pages for most schools. There you can find pictures of each school, AP courses offered, ethnic breakdowns, how many kids get free lunch, how many years of experience their principal has, teacher to student ratio, varsity sports available, and more information. You can also connect with each school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. An easy-to-use database allows for searching schools by state, whether they have special education offerings, graduation rate, and more.
The Washington Post compiled the list based on the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Advanced International Certificate of Education tests a school administered in 2010 divided by the number of graduating seniors. The Challenge Index is designed to recognize schools that challenge average students. Twenty-four elite schools were placed on a separate list because they have few or no average students.
The print edition of Sunday’s Washington post will feature a 12-page special section, which will include the top 200 schools on the national list and analysis of schools in the Washington metro area.
To view this year’s ranking, visit www.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge.
