U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of Best High Schools on Tuesday, April 26. Coming in at number 13 on the 2022 list of Connecticut high schools, Wilton High School fell out of the top 10 rankings, falling from last year‘s sixth-highest spot.
It’s the lowest rank the magazine has given the school in several years. In 2016, WHS claimed the #7 spot; it was #10 in 2018; #9 in 2019; and #11 in 2020. (The 2017 rankings were an exception when the school was not ranked because it missed a preliminary assessment qualification).
This year, Wilton was ranked by the magazine at no. 13 out of 206 Connecticut high schools. Nationally, WHS was ranked at no. 562; last year Wilton came in at no. 446; of the national STEM schools, the magazine put Wilton at no. 192, down 70 spots. Wilton was ranked at no. 7 (down two spots) in the Bridgeport Metro Area High Schools.
According to a press release from U.S. News, the 2021 rankings list rated more schools across America than ever before, ranking more than 17,800 out of almost 24,000 public high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on how well they serve all of their students, regardless of economic or ethnic background.
Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college, and are assessed on six factors:
- College readiness, based on the proportion of 12th-grade students who took and earned a qualifying score on at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam (30% of ranking)
- State assessment proficiency, based on aggregated scores on state assessments that students may be required to pass for graduation (20%)
- State assessment performance, based on whether performance on state assessments exceeded expectations given the school’s proportion of underserved students (20%)
- Underserved student performance, based on how Black, Hispanic and low-income students performed on state assessments compared with those who are not underserved in the state (10%)
- College curriculum breadth, based on proportions of 12th-grade students who took and earned a qualifying score on AP and/or IB exams in multiple content areas (10%)
- Graduation rate, based on the proportion of students who entered ninth grade in 2016-2017 and graduated four years later (10%)
The complete U.S. News overview of Wilton High School is available online and includes an assessment of WHS graduation rates, math and reading proficiency, math and reading performance, college readiness index, student diversity, test scores and more.
The other schools in Wilton’s DRG (district reference group) also made appearances on the Best High Schools list in the following order:
Darien High School: #1 in CT (was #1); #191 in U.S. (was #201)
Weston High School: # 3 in CT (was #3); #255 in U.S. (was #354)
Staples High School (Westport): #5 in CT (was #4), #316 in U.S. (was #380)
New Canaan: #6 in CT (was #5); #320 in U.S. (was #387)
Ridgefield: #8 in CT (was #8); #391 in U.S. (was #469)
Redding/Joel Barlow: #17 in CT (was #16), #821 in U.S. (was #709)
This was the first year that U.S. News adjusted its calculations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in light of states canceling standardized testing in spring 2020. In place of 2019-2020 assessment data, U.S. News incorporated mathematics and reading assessment results from the three previous years’ rankings instead.
For the first time, U.S. News included science assessment data. Per federal law, students take a state science assessment once between ninth and 12th grade. Science assessment data from the 2018-2019 test year was used to calculate 2022 rankings.
For the AP and IB assessment data, U.S. News used scores from 2019-2020 — which the magazine points out were moved online in spring 2020.
Key findings:
- The top two best high schools remain unchanged from last year, with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia at No. 1 and the Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, South Carolina at No. 2.
- The top 15 schools are from 14 different states.
- The number of high-ranking schools varies per state, but none have more than one school in the top 10 overall. Thirteen high schools in Arizona are featured in the top 100, the most of any state. Florida and New York are a close second with 11 schools. Massachusetts takes the lead for the largest proportion of schools in the top 25% of the Best High Schools rankings; nearly 48% of its eligible schools are in the top quarter of the national rankings, followed by Connecticut with 42.5%.
- In looking at student populations, about 31% of ranked schools have majority Black and Hispanic student bodies, but just 25% of schools featured in the top quarter of overall rankings have similar demographics.
U.S. News worked with RTI International, a global research firm, to implement the comprehensive ranking methodology.
See the full rankings online.
This is 7 years of decline that is going to get worse. No excuses!
More money is not the answer. New leadership is required. Both Administration and BOE need to be replaced.
Remember, we’re not in Wilton for the beaches!
I hate these rankings because I feel like it’s more about real estate value than education and student readiness for whatever comes next for them. When my kids were toddlers, I remember talking to other parents about what we hoped for for our children. We wanted them to be articulate, open minded and independent thinkers; conscientious and engaged citizens; happy people and compassionate individuals. Now, I think those qualities are more important than ever. College and life readiness is not about the number of AP exams a percentage of your class takes. It’s about being articulate, interested, supportive, grounded in yourself, open to and grateful for opportunity and willing to work hard for a extended period of time. It’s also about finding balance and meaning in life, not in test scores.