Cape, Mariner, North and Fort Myers among top high schools in nation
Earlier this month, U.S. News & World Report has released its annual list of the nation’s top high schools – and several Lee County public schools were recognized. District schools making the list include:
– Fort Myers High, ranked 13th in Florida and 91st in the United States;
– Mariner High, ranked 66th in Florida and 1,245th in the United States
– Cape Coral High, ranked 67th in Florida and 1,248th in the United States;
– North Fort Myers High, ranked 74th in Florida and 1,558th in the United States.
The review looked at 21,776 public high schools across the country, with the exception of Nebraska, which didn’t have sufficient data to analyze. According to U.S. News & World Report, the following three-step review process was used:
– Step 1 determined whether each school’s students were performing better than statistically expected for the average student in the state, looking at reading and math results for all students on each state’s high school proficiency tests.
– Step 2 determined whether the school’s least-advantaged students (black, Hispanic, and low-income) were performing better than average for similar students in the state, comparing math and reading proficiency rates for disadvantaged students with the statewide results.
– Step 3 schools that made it through the first two steps became eligible to be judged nationally on the final step college-readiness performance using Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test data as the benchmarks for success, depending on which program was largest at the school. This third step measured which schools produced the best college-level achievement for the highest percentages of their students by computing a “college readiness index” based on the school’s AP or IB participation rate (the number of 12th-grade students in the 2009-2010 academic year who took at least one AP or IB test before or during their senior year, divided by the number of 12th graders) and how well the students did on those tests.
Source: The School District of Lee County