Two Shelby County Schools were ranked by U.S. News and World Report as some of the best high schools in the state.
Oak Mountain High School was ranked No. 11, and Chelsea High School was ranked No. 24 on the 2016 U.S. News and World Report’s “Best High School” rankings for Alabama. Nationally, both schools were awarded silver medal status as part of their ranking.
Silver medals were given to schools ranked from No. 501 to No. 2,673 nationally. The silver medal distinction was based on the median College Readiness Index, which was 20.17, and given to schools at or above that value.
U.S. News and World Report worked with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, to produce this year’s rankings, according to the U.S. News and World Report website.
Ranking methodology looks at which schools serve all students well — not just those who are college bound — and that can produce measurable academic outcomes to show it is successfully educating students. More than 28,000 public high schools were reviewed as part of the rankings, although some were eliminated from consideration because they were too small to be analyzed. The number of ranked schools was narrowed to fewer than 20,000.
This was the first year graduation rates were used in ranking high schools, according to the U.S. News website. An explanation of the steps of analysis and ranking can be found on usnews.com.
Oak Mountain’s student-to-teacher ratio, which is 18:1, was noted as larger than the state average. Its college readiness score, based on the percent of 12th-graders who tested and passed AP exams, was 38.8 out of 100. This was above the state average.
Chelsea’s student-to-teacher ratio is 19:1, also larger than the state average, and its college readiness score is 25.3. This score is also above the state average.
