Two CMCSS High Schools Make U.S. News Ranking
September 25, 2015
Please note: This article was originally published on 9/25/2015. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year.
Two Clarksville-Montgomery County School System high schools are listed in the 2015 U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools project, which identifies the country’s top-performing public high schools.
Kenwood High School and the Middle College at Austin Peay State University were both named in the listing, each meeting the criteria of the bronze level. According to U.S. News, its goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture of how well public schools serve all of their students – from the highest achieving to the lowest achieving – in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work.
“We are extremely pleased for these schools to receive this recognition,” according to Schools Director B.J. Worthington. “Our high school focus on rigorous advanced placement classes and expanded opportunities for students to enroll in college classes during their high school years leads to high quality academic experiences.”
All public high schools were eligible and nearly all were evaluated in the process of calculating the rankings. Under the U.S. News Best High Schools methodology, state test data were collected from state departments of education. A total 115 Tennessee magnet and public high schools out of 350 made the ranking list. To see the Tennessee rankings, go to http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/tennessee/rankings?schooltypepublic=y&schooltypemagnet=y&state=TN&schooltypecharter=y
Their methodology begins by reviewing 29,070 public high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. That number was reduced to 19,753 schools that were eligible to be ranked. This is the total number of public high schools that had 12th-grade enrollment of 15 or greater or sufficient enrollment in other high school grades during the 2012-2013 school year to be analyzed. For more information on the 2015 Best High School Rankings, go to http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/rankings-faq#1
The first two levels recognized – the gold and silver distinctions – include the top-performing high schools, which are schools that met all three identified criteria. These schools have been divided into gold and silver groups based on their College Readiness Index, which measures the degree to which students are exposed to and pass some college-level material while in high school. The third level – bronze distinction – includes schools that met state test performance criteria, but have not yet demonstrated high levels of measurable college readiness since their CRI values are less than the CRI median or they don’t offer AP or IB programs at all or they provide an alternative to these programs, of which U.S. News does not collect data.