LI Schools Speak Out After Seeing Ranking Drops in U.S. News' Best Public High Schools

LONG ISLAND, NY — Schools across Long Island have spoken out after several saw significant drops in the U.S. News & World Report 2026-2027 Best Public High Schools rankings.

U.S. News evaluated about 27,000 eligible public high schools nationwide and ranked nearly 18,000 of them. Schools including Jericho and Syosset saw significant drops compared with recent years.

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Some districts, including Syosset, told Patch the declines in the national rankings are due to the New York State Education Department denying a request to provide additional AP exam data for inclusion in U.S. News & World Report's methodology.

U.S. News sought a different data set than in previous years, excluding publicly available AP exam scores. At NYSED's request, the College Board did not release the requested AP exam data to U.S. News.

U.S. News & World Report was not immediately available for comment when Patch reached out.

The report stated that 22 Long Island schools made the top 100 in New York, with South Side High School in Rockville Centre leading the Long Island schools at No. 8 in New York.

Jericho High School, previously ranked at No. 9 in New York in last year's U.S. News report, dropped to No. 41 on the newest list. Nationally, it ranked No. 108 last year and No. 3,959 this year.

Syosset High School also saw a drop, falling to No. 54 in New York from No. 36 last year. Nationally, it ranked No. 264 last year and No. 4,955 this year.

Dr. Thomas Rogers, superintendent of the Syosset Central School District, released a statement:

"It's gratifying to learn we remain so highly ranked in New York. However, because US News and World Report changed its methodology to exclude publicly available AP Test results for New York schools. As a result of the methodology change, these rankings no longer accurately compare New York school districts with those in most other states. That's unfortunate because Syosset had its best AP results ever this year."

The New York State Education Department released a document explaining its decision and addressing privacy concerns surrounding the sharing of AP exam data with U.S. News & World Report.

NYSED said that earlier this year, the College Board asked the department to authorize the use of AP data for the news outlet's school rankings.

"Rather than simply deny the request, Department staff explored whether U.S. News could obtain what it needed from information NYSED already makes publicly available," NYSED said. "Our public website contains extensive AP participation data reported at the state, district, and school levels. We specifically asked College Board whether those public data could meet U.S. News & World Report's needs. College Board told us they could not."

According to NYSED, the College Board said U.S. News uses a separate College Board cohort data set, which the College Board would share only with permission from NYSED.

"That distinction was important. This was no longer simply a question about using publicly available aggregate information."

The NYSED said "the request raised concerns," because the information could be used for a commercial purpose instead of as an educational one.

The department clarified that it did not withhold public AP data, which is available online, but instead did not authorize the College Board to provide the requested cohort file to U.S. News & World Report.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the rankings use data from the 2023-2024 school year and were produced with research firm RTI International.

The rankings are based on six performance measures, including student achievement on state-required assessments, graduation rates and college readiness, and also consider how well schools serve underserved students, participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, curriculum breadth and overall student outcomes.

According to its methodology page, an exception applied to "Colorado, Maine, New York and Vermont; state education agencies provided assent for U.S. News to use their AP data from College Board in the rankings." The methodology page states that schools in those states that administered AP exams "were not able to be fully credited on their College Readiness.

More information on methodology can be found online.

Cold Spring Harbor High School did not make the top 100 for New York schools this year, while it ranked No. 33 statewide last year. Nationally, the school ranked No. 250 last year and No. 5,698 this year.

Joseph Monastero, superintendent of schools at Cold Spring Harbor, said its students' AP participation and performance were not included in the ranking, leaving out an "important measure of the strength of" its academic program.

He added:

"As a result, the rankings do not provide a complete picture of Cold Spring Harbor or other New York schools whose advanced academic programs are AP-based. I am disappointed that the New York State Education Department did not authorize the release of this data. At the same time, this situation is an important reminder that Cold Spring Harbor is not defined by a number."

Manhasset was another district that saw a drop, though officials declined to comment when Patch reached out.

To find the full ranking, click here.