9 Maryland STEM Schools Best In Nation: U.S. News

Maryland has nine of the best high schools in America when it comes to programs for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known as STEM, according to new rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The list released this week identifies Poolesville High School the best STEM school in the state. It was ranked No. 37 nationally.

New Jersey, Texas and California each had at least two schools crack the top 10 overall on the U.S. News best STEM schools list.

To come up with its STEM high school rankings, U.S. News looked at the top 500 public schools from its "best high schools" list, released Wednesday, then evaluated them based on student participation — and success — in Advanced Placement science and math tests.

Here are all the top STEM schools in Maryland, according to U.S. News & World Report:

• Poolesville High School
  • Poolesville
  • STEM rank: 37
  • Montgomery County Public Schools
• Thomas S. Wootton High School
  • Rockville
  • STEM rank: 63
  • Montgomery County Public Schools
• Centennial High School
  • Ellicott City
  • STEM rank: 116
  • Howard County Public School System
• Winston Churchill High School
  • Potomac
  • STEM rank: 127
  • Montgomery County Public Schools
• River Hill High School
  • Clarksville
  • STEM rank: 131
  • Howard County Public School System
• Marriotts Ridge High School
  • Marriottsville
  • STEM rank: 171
  • Howard County Public School System
• Towson High Law and Public Policy
  • Towson
  • STEM rank: 189
  • Baltimore County Public Schools
• Eastern Technical High School
  • Essex
  • STEM rank: 210
  • Baltimore County Public Schools
• Urbana High School
  • Ijamsville
  • STEM rank: 224
  • Frederick County Public Schools

SEE ALSO: The 55 Best Maryland High Schools In 2018, According To U.S. News

Here are the top 10 best STEM schools, according to U.S. News & World Report:

1. High Technology High School (NJ)
2. BASIS Scottsdale (AZ)
3. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)
4. Bergen County Academies (NJ)
5. The Early College at Guilford (NC)
6. Science and Engineering Magnet School (TX)
7. Monta Vista High (CA)
8. Union County Magnet High School (NJ)
9. Saratoga High (CA)
10. DeBakey High School for Health Professions (TX)

Click here to read more about the methodology.

The rankings come as the U.S. finds itself lagging behind many other advanced industrial nations when it comes to math and science. In 2015, the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, ranked the U.S. 38th out of 71 countries for math literacy and 24th for science literacy.

The leader in science and math, based on that assessment, was Singapore.

Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, America ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.

Patch reporters Dan Hampton and Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.