Birmingham High Schools Rated Among Best in Michigan

Birmingham's Seaholm High School and Groves High School are listed among the best public high schools in Michigan in rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

Seaholm is rated fifth in the state and Groves is ranked 18th, according to the 2013 data.

But Marcia Wilkinson, director of community relations for Birmingham Public Schools, pointed out Tuesday that the student-to-teacher ratios on the U.S. News site is listed inaccurately at 39:1 for both schools, which is much higher than the actual numbers.

Getting that data updated could affect the schools' rankings, Wilkinson said. "That is one of the factors they look at," she said, adding that the district plans to contact U.S. News to resolve the discrepencies.

Nevertheless, Wilkinson said the district is always proud of its students.

"Our schools consistently rank among the highest in Michigan and our students consistently perform well on all standardized testing," she said. "We're always proud of our students. They consistently perform well and it's a tribute to our staff and the families - we just have some great students."

Among Michigan's other top ranked schools, International Academy in Bloomfield Hills was rated No. 1, Grosse Pointe South ranked fourth, and Troy High School was rated eighth in the state.

To calculate the ratings, U.S. News partnered with the D.C.-based American Institutes for Research to evaluate schools on overall student performance on state-mandated assessments, as well as how effectively schools educated their black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students.

Performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams was then used to determine the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work.

Read more about how the ratings were calculated here.

More than 21,000 public high schools in 49 states and the District of Columbia were evaluated. Find the full 2013 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings here.