Treasure Valley schools dominated U.S. News and World Report’s latest Idaho high school rankings top-ten list. The standout schools included an even mix of traditional and non-traditional schools. The rankings are released annually, and are based on a half-dozen criteria that assess academic performance and college readiness, including:
State exam scores
Four-year graduation rates
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam participation and scores
The rankings also take into account underserved students’ — including those who are Black, Hispanic, or from low-income households — performance on state exams.
U.S. News and World Report evaluated 227 Idaho high schools to create its ranking list. Of those, 36 (or 16%) were charters, and four (or less than 2%) were magnets. These non-traditional schools are overrepresented among the best schools, comprising nine of the state’s top 20 schools, or 45%.
The same is true for schools nationwide. For all ranked public schools in the U.S., 11.5% were charters and 4.4% were magnets. Yet they claimed 13 of the top 20 spots, or 65% percent.
Traditional public schools
Four schools on this list are in the Treasure Valley, three in North Idaho, and two in Eastern Idaho. Rockland Public School is the only rural outlier. Enrollment is higher at these schools than the non-traditional standouts, with an average of about 1,200 students.
School / Location | Idaho/National rank | Grad rate | College readiness score | Enrollment |
Boise Senior High / Boise | #5 | 90% | 59 | 1,588 |
Timberline High / Boise | #6 | 89% | 55.3 | 1,398 |
McCall-Donnelly High / McCall | #7 | 89% | 39.6 | 429 |
Rockland Public School / Rockland | #8 | 100% | 35 | 63 |
Century High / Pocatello | #9 | 92% | 46 | 1,092 |
Moscow High / Moscow | #11 | 82% | 34.7 | 769 |
Twin Falls High / Twin Falls | #14 | 84% | 26.3 | 1,286 |
Eagle High / Eagle | #15 | 93% | 21.2 | 1,802 |
Coeur d’Alene High / Coeur d’Alene | #16 | 93% | 22.9 | 1,548 |
Centennial High / Boise | #17 | 85% | 26.4 | 1,931 |
*Based on 12th-grade student participation and performance on state-required tests and AP/IB exams. Passing an exam is worth three times more than taking an exam.
See full article published by Carly Flandro at IdahoEdNews.org!