Lower Merion Ranked 16th Most Challenging High School in Pennsylvania

A new ranking says that Lower Merion High School in the Lower Merion School District is the 16th most challenging school in Pennsylvania.

The Washington Post’s 2015 list of the most challenging high schools in the country ranks schools through a simple ratio: the number of Advanced Placement (AP) exams, International Baccalaureate (IB) and Advanced International Certificate of Education (ACE) tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. A ratio of 1.000 means the school had as many tests as graduates.

Lower Merion achieved a 2.032 ratio, according to the Post. The school has an enrollment of 1,300 students and offers 19 AP courses, one IB course and one ACE course. The number places Lower Merion at 1,296 on the national list, well behind the top ranked BASIS Oro Valley in Arizona, which scored a 20.444.

The Post’s analysis does not factor in scores from the college-level exams, just the number of tests that are given to the students. According to an explanation by one for the editors, the study is intended to measure a school’s efforts to offer advanced classes, not the students’ performances.

“The Challenge Index is designed to identify schools that have done the best job in persuading average students to take college-level courses and tests,” said the Post’s Jay Mathews in describing the methodology.