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Eastchester High School made the cut, but Scarsdale High School was omitted from the list in The Daily Beasts ranking of the top 1,000 public high schools in the nation.
The Daily Beast said it factored several aspects of the education process to compile its list on a weighted scale. Graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and AP courses offered per student (5percent) were averaged to create a final score.
Eastchester came in at No. 314 on the list, with 98 percent of students graduating and advancing to college. Students take less than one AP/IB test each, though their average score is 3.7 out of 5 (a 3 is required to receive college credit at most institutions). They average 1,624 (out of 2,400) on the SAT and 24.7 (out of 36) on the ACT.
Although it has a strong reputation and sizable budget, Scarsdale High School wasnt on the list. Scarsdale High doesnt have Advanced Placement classes, but offers the opportunity for students to take the tests if they wish. The Daily Beast weighed AP tests heavily, which partly explains Scarsdales omission.
Scarsdale Schools Superintendent Michael McGill said the district does follow-up evaluations every year and has found its graduates are scoring as well or better on the tests than they did when Scarsdale offered the AP program. Participation, however, is low because the school does not offer the courses.
We have some of our kids taking AP tests, but not AP courses," he said. "We used to require the tests, but we no longer do. They can take them if they think it will be beneficial to them. We offer Advanced Topics. This is why we are no longer in the rankings in these surveys.
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