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BY BRIAN HEWS • April 23, 2020
U.S. News & World Report’s newest 2020 rankings placed two of the top 20 high schools in the nation in Southern California and five of the top 10 in California.
The U.S. News Best High Schools rankings include data on more than 24,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 18,000 schools were ranked on six factors based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college.
The study evaluates six areas: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth, and graduation rates.
According to its methodology, U.S. News used advanced placement and International Baccalaureate test scores to measure college readiness.
The California Academy of Mathematics and Science, a Long Beach Unified magnet school in Carson, ranked first in California and 11th nationally.
Oxford Academy in Cypress ranked second in California and 19th nationally.
Cerritos’ Whitney High School fell from the top spot in California to third best, while also falling sixteen spots from the 14th best high school nationwide to 30th this year.
U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 rankings were based on the 2016-17 academic year, so the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent shuttering of schools did not play a role in the evaluation.
(CORRECTION: In the original post, HMG-LCCN incorrectly indicated the data was from 2017-2018 but it was from 2016-2017 school year.)
And that was when a new principal, John Briquelet, was hired at Whitney.
“The Best High Schools rankings provide the most comprehensive, data-based information on nearly every public high school in the country,” said Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News. “Families can use this information to see how their local schools compare on graduation rates and state assessments, as well as academic performance by students who are traditionally underserved – those who are black, Hispanic or from low-income households.”
The highest-ranked schools are scattered throughout the country, showing that the best schools are not concentrated in any one geographic area. Nine different states are represented among the top 10 schools. More broadly, the top 100 schools span 29 states.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia moves up to No. 1 this year, due to its best-in-state performance in English and math assessments, top ranking in college readiness and 100% graduation rate.
Half of Massachusetts’ high schools are in the top quarter of the national rankings – the highest proportion of any state. However, the major metropolitan area with this distinction is found in California. The San Jose metro area, which includes Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, has 63% of its schools in the top quarter of the national rankings.
The Best High Schools rankings are available exclusively on USNews.com and include data on a variety of factors, such as enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price lunch programs, graduation rates and the results of state assessments. U.S. News worked with RTI International, a global research firm, to implement the comprehensive ranking methodology. For more information, visit Facebook and Twitter using #BestHighSchools.
Analyze the data, better performing schools are in areas where both parents have high degrees: Masters/ Phds. Also more affluent neighborhoods have higher placement in the charts, parents have more money to spend on education which produces higher grade point averages when they get into High School. ABCUSD is not an area, where both parents are highly educated families.
Absent from this test scores is personalities, most of these kids are lacking personality, where they may be very smart but impaired personalities and work experiences. My experience with Whitney High School- Oxford, students are very smart, but they have very little common sense.
Something new at ABCUSD/Whitney HS, all schools have a chance to enroll at Whitney, use to be hi GPA, now that has been altered, higher performers from ea. School in the district can attend Whitney. Now the poor areas in the District, such as sections of Hawaiian Gardens, E.Lakewood and Artesia, are attending Whitney. One time, Whitney did not have one African American student, but that is changing now.
Do not approve, Mayor Grace Hu gave money to Whitney HS for Arts center, which only illustrates to students, there is still tier levels in local education. This only fuels tribalism in our educations. Sick to my stomach, CCC talks only about Whitney at CCC meetings, real insult to all the parents in the district, if their students do not attend Whitney. CCC is for all equally and stop the Hoop-La over one campus …..Whitney…
Hope BB Mello Roos bond is reversed, money is not going to be here for many decades, following the cure for this pandemic.