Several Newark Schools Rate High On U.S. News 'Best High School' List

NEWARK, NJ — U.S. News and World Report released its latest list of "Best High Schools" in the nation Tuesday, which included rankings for hundreds of schools in New Jersey – including Newark.

Several schools in Newark ranked among the best in New Jersey, according to the U.S. News and World Report list. See the full New Jersey list here.

>> Read More: These NJ High Schools Are Among 2022's Best: U.S. News

Some of the city's highest-ranking schools included:

• Science Park High School - 27th in New Jersey
• Technology High School - 38th in New Jersey
• Great Oaks Legacy Charter School - 125th in New Jersey
• Arts High School - 176th in New Jersey
• American History High School - 191st in New Jersey

Ninety percent of the rankings incorporate performances on AP and IB exams and standardized tests, while the remaining 10 percent is the graduation rate. The rankings measure six categories: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment performance, state assessment proficiency, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance and graduation rates.

The data used in this year's ranking is from the 2019-20 academic school year. U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact COVID-19 had on schools in the 2019-20 school year.

Read more about the methodology here.

The U.S. News & World Report school rankings have their critics. James Fallows, a former U.S. News editor, even called them "meaningless" in an interview with NPR.

"The reason they started doing it back in the early 1980s under the guidance of a man named Mel Elfin, was because it was a brilliant business strategy," Fallows said. "By appealing to the human desire for rankings and knowing where you stand and where somebody else stands, they were able to make a very strong part of their business, which is now basically the only part of their business."

U.S. News, however, contends that the rankings help parents make better-informed decisions about their children's education.

"The goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture," the report says, "of how well public schools serve all of their students — from the highest to lowest achieving — in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work."

This article contains reporting by Alexis Tarazzi and Josh Bakan, Patch staff

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