US News High School Rankings 2019: Here's How Anne Arundel Fared

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Two high schools in Anne Arundel County are among the best high schools in Maryland, U.S. News & World Report said Tuesday in its most comprehensive ranking yet of the nation's high schools. More than 17,000 schools are ranked, an increase from 2,700 last year.

The highest-ranked Maryland school on the list was Walt Whitman High in Bethesda, which was ranked No. 93 nationwide. In all, 239 Maryland schools made the U.S. News & World Report rankings.

The two schools in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system that were ranked among the top 25 in the state were South River High in Edgewater at No. 16 (nationally ranked 660th best), and Chesapeake Science Point, a charter school in Hanover, at No. 22 (nationally ranked 866th).

Among charter schools nationwide, Chesapeake Science Point was ranked No. 159. The Hanover high school achieved the same ranking among the nation's magnet schools.

Click here to see the full list of Maryland high schools.

U.S. News & World Report is the gold standard for education rankings and is widely considered the global authority. Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News, said the aim of the rankings is to give families more information about the schools in their district.

"By evaluating more schools than ever before, the new edition expands that focus so all communities can see which schools in their area are successfully serving their students — including historically underserved populations," Narayan said in a news release.

Overall, Maryland schools graduate 95.1 percent of students.

The factors considered in compiling the list include college readiness, measured by performance and participation in advanced placement and international baccalaureate exams; reading and math proficiency; underserved student performance; college curriculum breadth; and graduation rates.

The data also take into account school enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price meal programs and the results of state assessment tests. U.S. News worked with the global research firm RTI International to rank the schools.

"We enhanced the methodology to provide an even more comprehensive ranking that is easier to understand and, therefore, more useful to parents and educators," Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, said in the news release.

"Now, each school's score correlates to its national percentile — a school with a score of 70 is in the 70th percentile and ranks higher than 70 percent of schools," he said. "Going forward, this methodology will allow for intuitive comparisons of a school's performance year after year."

The nation's top 10 high schools are in 10 different states, the report said, demonstrating that a high-quality education can be found across the country. Here are the top 10, according to U.S. News:

1. Academic Magnet High School, South Carolina
2. Maine School of Science and Mathematics, Maine
3. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona
4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia
5. Central Magnet School, Tennessee
6. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Georgia
7. Haas Hall Academy, Arkansas
8. International Academy of Macomb, Michigan
9. Payton College Preparatory High School, Illinois
10. Signature School, Indiana

Several of those also were included among rankings for specialized schools.

U.S. News & World Report's list can be found here.

— By Patch editors Beth Dalbey and Elizabeth Janney