US News Best High Schools 2019: Skokie Schools Make Elite List

SKOKIE, IL — Niles Township High School District 219 schools are among the best high schools in America, 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.

Niles North High School ranked 1,175th nationally and 49th among Illinois schools, while Niles West ranked 1,210th in the nation and 50th in the state in the 2019 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings.

According to U.S. News, 32 percent of the 4,514 students at District 219's two high schools are economically disadvantaged. Citing 2016-17 data, the rankings said 18 percent of Niles North students and 14 percent of those at Niles West did not meet or partially met expectations in math. As for reading proficiency, 13 percent of Niles North students and 11 percent of Niles West students did not meet the expectations. Another 31 percent across both schools and categories were classified as having approached expectations.

At Niles North, 67.5 percent of underserved students were not proficient on state exams, while at Niles West 64.2 percent were not proficient. The graduation rate at Niles North, with a 13-to-1 student to teacher ratio, was 92 percent. At Niles West, where there is a 14-to-1 student to teacher ratio, the graduation rate was 96 percent.

In Illinois, the top five schools — and seven of the top nine — were Chicago Public Schools with selective enrollment. Stevenson High School (No. 6) was the top suburban high school in the ranking. Other north suburban high schools coming in ahead of Niles West and Niles North in the state's top 50 included: Libertyville High School (No. 10), Deerfield High School (No. 14), New Trier (No. 15), Glenbrook North (No. 16), Buffalo Grove (No. 20), Vernon Hills (No. 23), Glenbrook South (No. 24), Lake Forest (No. 25), Highland Park (No. 26) and Evanston Township High School (No. 27) and Maine South (No. 36)

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.

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

The data also take into account school enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price meal programs, graduation rates 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 a 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. Going forward, this methodology will allow for intuitive comparisons of a school’s performance year after year."

Nationally, the top 10 schools are in 10 different states, demonstrating that a high-quality education can be found across the country, the report said. Those schools are:

1. Academic Magnet High School, South Carolina
2. Maine School of Science and Mathematics
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 schools also were included among rankings for specialized schools.

The top five schools nationally for an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM schools, are:

1. High Technology High School, New Jersey
2. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona
3. BASIS Peoria, Arizona
4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Georgia
5. The Early College at Guilford, North Carolina

Charter and magnet schools performed well in the rankings, U.S. News said. Within the top 5 percent of ranked schools, a third are either charter or magnet. In the national rankings, more than 18 percent are charter schools, and 15 percent are magnet schools.

Arizona had three of the top five charter high schools in the country. They are:

1. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona
2. Haas Hall Academy, Arkansas
3. Signature Academy, Indiana
4. BASIS Chandler, Arizona
5. BASIS Peoria, Arizona

The top five magnet high schools are:

1. Academic Magnet High School, South Carolina
2. Maine School of Science and Mathematics
3. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia
4. Central Magnet School, Tennessee
5. International Academy of Macomb, Michigan

In the state-by-state performance, based on the number of high schools in the top 25 percent of national rankings, Massachusetts was the leader. This year, nearly half — 48.8 percent — of the commonwealth’s high schools were ranked in the top 25 percent of high schools. Maryland was second with 43.7 percent, followed by California, with 40 percent, and Connecticut, with 39.8 percent in the top 25 percent of schools ranked nationally.

Overall, only seven states had more than a third of their schools in the top 25 percent, and 20 states had 25 percent or more of their schools in the top 25 percent.

On the other end of the spectrum, 22 states had fewer than 20 percent of their high schools in the top 25 percent, and seven had fewer than 10 percent of schools in the top tier. South Dakota’s schools finished at the bottom of the list since it was the only state that didn’t give U.S. News permission to use advanced placement data in the rankings. Even so, 1.9 percent of South Dakota’s schools finished in the top 25 percent of rankings.

The full list is available exclusively on usnews.com.