More than a dozen Illinois high schools have been named among some of the best in the nation, according to the latest ranking released by U.S. News & World Report Wednesday.
Thirteen Illinois schools were given gold medal ratings in the coveted annual list, which looks at more than 20,000 public high schools across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The gold medal rating means a school was listed in the top 500 of the list. Two Illinois schools also made the top 100.
The top-rated public high school in Illinois was Chicago’s Payton College Preparatory High School, which ranked at no. 52 nationally.
Northside College Prep, also in Chicago, came in no. 82.
The ranking looked at 20,548 public high school, evaluating each on criteria including, student performance in reading and math, performances by historically underserved students, graduation rates, and college-readiness performance, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Gold medals were awarded to schools ranked in the top 500, silver medals were given to schools ranked between no. 501 and no. 2,711 and bronze medals were given to an additional 3,237 schools.
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"Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students," Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News said in a statement. "We encourage parents to use the Best High Schools rankings and data to research which schools in their state and nationwide are ensuring students are well-equipped for the future."
According to the list, the top-ranked school in the country is BASIS Scottsdale in Arizona.
Illinois had 13 gold medal schools, 54 silver medal schools and 115 bronze medal schools, according to the report. Separate reports were also done for charter and magnet schools.
These were the top 13:
1. Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 52 nationally
2. Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 82 nationally
3. Lane Technical High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 112 nationally
4. Phoenix Military Academy High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 122 nationally
5. Jones College Prep High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 124 nationally
6. Young Magnet High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 140 nationally
7. Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Linconshire: ranked at no. 199 nationally
8. Proviso Math and Science Academy in Forest Park: ranked at no. 261 nationally
9. Lincoln Park High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 324 nationally
10. Brooks College Prep Academy High School in Chicago: ranked at no. 345 nationally
11. Lindblom Math and Science Academy in Chicago: ranked at no. 395 nationally
12. Libertyville High School in Libertyville: ranked at no. 447 nationally
13. Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale: ranked at no. 489 nationally
See the full list of schools here.
