Two Arkansas high schools have been ranked in the top 100 high schools in the United States.
Every year, the U.S. News & World Report releases its rankings of the nation’s high schools. With data on approximately 24,000 public high schools as well as charter, magnet, and science, technology, engineering and math-focused schools, the publication develops a system to rank the schools based on math and reading state assessment performance, scores on college-level exams, and high school graduation rates.
In Arkansas, Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville was the top rated high school on the 2021 U.S. News & World Report list. It was ranked no. 1 among Arkansas schools and was no. 50 among all U.S. high schools. The school was also ranked no. 9 among all U.S. charter schools.
According to the report, Haas Hall Academy had an overall score of 99.72. At Haas Hall Academy, 97 percent of students took at least one AP exam and 74 percent passed at least one AP exam. The school’s student had an 89 percent mathematics proficiency and an 85 percent reading proficiency, and the school’s graduate rate was greater than 95 percent.
Haas Hall Academy Bentonville was the only other Arkansas school to be ranked among the top 100 high schools in the country. The no. 2-ranked Arkansas school had a national ranking of no. 80. It was ranked no. 17 among all U.S. charter schools.
The school’s overall score was 99.55 with 100 percent of student taking at least one AP exam and 85 percent passing at least one AP exam. Students had an 89 percent mathematics proficiency and a 73 percent reading proficiency with a 77 percent graduation rate.
Four other Arkansas schools were ranked among the top 1,000 schools in the nation. These include Lisa Academy North High Charter School, Bentonville High School, Rogers New Technology High School and Greenbrier High School, which were the no. 3, no. 4, no. 5 and no. 6 Arkansas schools, respectively. Lisa Academy North High Charter School had no. 491 national ranking, Bentonville High School had a no. 653 national ranking, Rogers New Technology High School had a no. 733 national ranking and Greenbrier High School had a no. 892 national ranking.
Fayetteville High School East, Bismarck High School, Arkansas Arts Academy High (Rogers) and Bentonville West High School (Centerton) filled out the top 10 schools in Arkansas.
Overall, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia was the top ranked high school in the United States. The Academic Magnet High School in South Carolina, the Davidson Academy of Nevada, Payton College Preparatory High School in Illinois and the School for Advanced Studies in Florida filled at the top five highest ranked high schools in the nation.
To determine the national rankings, U.S. News & World Report uses six criteria, which include college readiness, college curriculum breadth, math and reading proficiency, math and reading performance, underserved student performance and graduation rate. College readiness, which is determined by the number of a school’s 12thgraders earn a qualifying score on AP or IB exams, accounts for 30 percent of the ranking. College curriculum breadth, math and reading proficiency, and math and reading performance each account for 20 percent of the rank. The proficiency score relates to performance on state-issued standardized tests, while the math and reading performance score is a measure of how the assessment scores compare to what U.S. News predicted for a school based on state demographic characteristics. Underserved student performance and graduation rate count for 10 percent each in the ranking.
