Ranking America's High Schools
Since 1998, The Post’s Jay Mathews has ranked Washington-area public high schools using the Challenge Index, his measure of how effectively a school prepares its students for college. In 2011, the Post expanded its research to high schools across the United States.
The formula is simple: Divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors. While not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college.
E & E is the percent of all seniors who had at least one passing grade on an AP or IB exam. Subs lunch is the percent of all students designated low income.
AP, IB and AICE tests
Graduating seniors
Challenge Index
National Rankings
Get Challenge Index scores for more than 1900 public high schools nationwide.
| 1. Science/Engineering Magnet |
| 2. Talented and Gifted |
| 3. Corbett Charter |
| 4. BASIS Tucson |
| 5. Stanton College Prep |
View National List
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D.C. Area Rankings
See Challenge Index scores for more than 170 Washington-area public high schools.
| 1. H-B Woodlawn |
| 2. Bethesda Chevy Chase |
| 3. Richard Montgomery |
| 4. Poolesville |
| 5. George Mason |
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View Local List
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Inside The High School Challenge
Not just the “A” team
Two seemingly similar high schools can have wide gaps in the access they offer students to challenging courses, Jay Mathews writes.
More Rankings from around the U.S.
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High School Challenge
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