Arizona's BASIS Peoria has clinched the coveted number one spot in U.S. News & World Report's 2024 "Best High School Rankings," showcasing the academic excellence present in the Grand Canyon State. The rankings, which consider more than 24,000 public high schools across the nation, placed BASIS Oro Valley and BASIS Scottsdale in second and third place, solidifying Arizona's educational prestige. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Arizona boasts a total of 12 schools in the top 100, tying with Florida for the most high schools in this elite group and surpassing California by a single institution.
The rankings are not just a mere list; they are a comprehensive analysis grounded in various factors that include college readiness, state assessment performance, and graduation rates. To get a deeper insight into the methodology, it's revealed that college readiness, for instance, gets a weight of 30%, demonstrating its significant impact on the overall scores. Adjustments this year involved slight tweaks in scoring, resulting in notable ranking shifts, U.S. News reports.
This year's shakeup saw some schools making impressive leaps, with four new names joining the top 10. Among them, Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Pennsylvania and the International Academy in Michigan each climbed at least 29 spots, signaling their rising prominence in the educational landscape. Additionally, the top 20 schools feature selective enrollment or a lottery system, indicating a trend toward schools with specialized admission processes standing out in measures of success.
Magnets and charters are overrepresented among top schools, a testament to the success of these alternative education models. About 31.5% of schools in the top 5% of rankings fell into this category, with BASIS Charter Schools Inc., the network to which BASIS Peoria belongs, being a noted contributor. Demographically, high-ranking schools showcase variance, with metropolitan areas like San Jose, California, boasting a 66% representation of schools in the top quarter of rankings, while some states, such as Massachusetts, lead in the proportion of schools hitting the top quarter nationally.
The disparities continue when looking at the demographic breakdown of student populations among the highest-ranking schools. Schools with predominantly Black and Hispanic students, as well as those serving low-income communities, are underrepresented in the top quarter. These figures highlight the ongoing challenges and disparities in educational attainment and opportunity affecting underserved populations.
