ME (& NH) high schools shut out of top 500

(from http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/923789-196/nh-high-schools-shut-out-of-top.html)

Granite State high schools were shut out in a ranking of the top 500 public high schools in America published by Newsweek Magazine this week.

New Hampshire didn’t have a single high school crack the list, which was based on a formula that used the following factors: graduation rate (25 percent); college matriculation rate (25 percent); AP tests taken per graduate (25 percent); the average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent); the average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent); and AP courses offered (5 percent).

Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island were the other New England States not to have a school make the list. Massachusetts had 11 schools, including Boston Latin School, which was ranked at 63 and has a 99 percent graduation rate and college-bound rate. It also had an average SAT score of 1911.

Connecticut had 12 schools on the list. Two Dallas magnet schools – School of Science and Engineering and School for the Talented and Gifted – topped the list, respectively.

Last year, Hollis-Brookline High School was ranked 1,155 in a field of 1,600 top high schools by Newsweek. It was the fourth year in a row Hollis/Brookline had made the top 1,600 list.

Newsweek changed its methodology this year. In the past, schools had only been ranked by AP tests per graduate. But the formula was changed this year, the development of which included several education experts.

To view the list and more on how schools were selected, visit www.newsweek.com/feature/2011/americas-best-high-schools.html