Newberg named in top-ranked state high schools

U.S. News today released the fourth edition of the Best High Schools rankings, available exclusively online. The 2012 rankings include data on nearly 22,000 public high schools from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

There are 76 Oregon schools ranked among the U.S. News Best High Schools in 2012, including 5 with gold medals, 21 with silver medals, and 50 with bronze medals.

Newberg High School ranked among the top 76 Oregon high schools with a bronze rating.

U.S. News partnered with the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research (AIR), which implemented U.S. News's rankings methodology. To determine the Best High Schools national rankings, schools were first analyzed at the state level in terms of how well students in each school performed on state assessments, taking into account the test scores of disadvantaged students (low-income, Hispanic, and black), who tend to score lower on tests.

High schools that made it through this analysis were then eligible to be ranked nationally, in terms of college readiness. U.S. News determines the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work by analyzing student success in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, both of which include college-level courses. U.S. News awarded more than 4,850 gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top-performing schools.