Rankings-maker U.S. News and World Report has determined that Maryland high schools are the best in the nation, based on a “medal count.”
According to the magazine’s chief data strategist Bob Morse, 27.5 percent of Maryland’s eligible high schools earned gold and silver “medals” in this year’s rankings, a higher share than in any other state.
The magazine hands them out based on a range of criteria, beginning with how well the schools prepare their students for college, performance on state test scores and graduation rates, according to the methodology. The rankings do, in fact, account for how well schools prepped economically disadvantaged students – namely black, Hispanic and low-income – for success compared to their peers.
This marks the third straight year in which Maryland schools were rated the best in the country. Florida came in second with more than 24 percent of its high schools getting gold or silver medals, while California came in third with just shy of that percentage mark.
As for individual schools, the top-ranked Maryland public high school – Winston Churchill High in Montgomery County – actually doesn’t appear until number 75. In fact, the top five Maryland high schools in the national ranking are in Montgomery County.
The first Baltimore-area school, Marriotts Ridge High in Howard County, appears at spot number 226. For those searching for a top-ranked school a bit closer to the city, look to Towson’s George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Science at number 339 or Eastern Technical High at number 354.
Hahahahahaha! I formally invite the US News team to tour almost any Baltimore City school! Heck, Carroll County averages a little over 500 on each SAT section, tour those schools if they are afraid to go to Baltimore.