Newsweek recently released its 2011 list of America's best high schools. The ranking for 2011 is based on a revamped methodology that Newsweek’s panel of experts believe to reflect more accurately a high school’s effectiveness at preparing its students for college. Newsweek sent out over 10,000 requests for information and ultimately assessed over 1,100 high schools based on data from the 2009-2010 academic year. After crunching the self-reported data from the high schools, Newsweek selected 500 schools for its 2011 list of America’s best high schools.
Two Dallas schools, The School of Science and Engineering Magnet (no. 1) and The School for the Talented and Gifted Magnet (no. 2) took home the top honors as ranked by Newsweek.
At number 234 on the list, Southlake Carroll was amongst an impressive 38 Texas schools to make the overall list. Carroll ISD was also again rated Exemplary at every camplus– the largest 5A district to earn the state’s top rating in 2011.
Other area schools of note in the 20011 list of top high schools included;
# 10- North Hills Prepatory – Irving, TX
# 31 – Highland Park – Dallas, TX
# 98 – Plano West – Plano, TX
# 295 – The Woodlands – Houston, TX
# 305 – Colleyville Heritage – Colleyville, TX
# 397 – Allen – Allen, TX
# 461 – Plano East – Plano, TX
Newsweek's methodology for assessing the top high schools in America was based on a score derived from six components with weightings that correspond to the level of importance determined by Newsweek’s panel: Graduation Rate (25%), College-Bound Rate (25%), AP/IB/AICE Tests per Graduate (25%), Average SAT/ACT Score (10%), Average AP/IB/AICE Score (10%), and the Number of AP/IB/AICE Courses Offered per Graduate (5%). Newsweek’s panel of experts did not consider Economy of Scale to be an important weighting factor in its assessment. Schools without a graduating class in 2010 were excluded from consideration.