“Matthews’ list underscores that it is not a matter if bright and talented young people exist in rural communities across the nation instead, the ‘Public Elites’ list demonstrates the excellence possible when young people are able to learn to their full ability and potential.”ĪSMSA is included among the 29 schools nationwide on the Public Elites list. “ASMSA is thrilled to, once again, stand shoulder to shoulder among national leaders in secondary education,” ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice said. Mathews traditionally calls this list the “Public Elites,” which includes ASMSA. It includes non-neighborhood schools with SAT or ACT averages above the highest averages for neighborhood schools nationally. Mathews also created a second list of top-performing high schools who are not included in the Challenge Index “because, despite their exceptional quality, their standardized test scores indicate they have few or no average students,” according to the website. The Challenge Index ranks approximately the top 11 percent of the more than 22,000 high schools in the nation. Rather than using test scores, Mathews created a ranking list that uses a simple ratio: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge test given at a school each year divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. This year’s list was announced on a new website . It has been published as “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” list in The Washington Post and Newsweek magazine in past years. Mathews, an education columnist for The Washington Post, created the Challenge Index in 1998 as a way to recognize schools across the nation who adequately challenge average students. The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has been recognized as one of the nation’s top-performing public high schools in the latest Jay Mathews Challenge Index rankings.

Washington post top high schools 2017