Schreiber is ranked 408th best in the nation: Newsweek looks at college readiness to rank the country’s top 500 high schools

In a recent Newsweek report, Schreiber was ranked 408 out of the top 500 high schools in the nation.

So how did Newsweek rank schools all over the country?  The honor was based on college readiness, the rate of graduation, and poverty levels, in addition to how many students actually went to college.

With this in mind, Newsweek posted two lists:  “America’s Top High Schools 2015” and “Beating the Odds.”  They were based on academic achievement alone, and a combination of the school’s performance and student poverty rates, respectively.

“I would caution any reader from taking any ranking, whether for schools or hamburgers, at face value.  Looking closely at the metrics used often tell a deeper story about the ranking,” said Principal Mr. Ira Pernick

In order to create precise lists, Newsweek worked with its research partner, Westat.  The groups collaborated to develop a three category organizer to make the lists as accurate as possible.

Each of the three categories, Short List Analysis, Ranking Analysis, and Equity Analysis, used different criteria.

Short List Analysis incorporates scores from state assessments, especially Math and English proficiency.  Ranking Analysis involves college-readiness data, such as college enrollment rate and graduation rate.

Finally, the three-step procedure concludes with the Equity Analysis.

Although it does not numerically affect the rankings of the school, it balances out the school rankings.  The Equity Analysis recognizes schools with economically disadvantaged students who earned average or above-average scores on state math and language arts assessments.

Schools that qualified for this recognition received a gold star next to their names on the list of rankings.

“Someone’s personal feeling of college readiness partially depends on the classes they take and the teachers they have.  Certain teachers work on particular skills that are simply there to help you be an overall better writer or researcher, for example,” said senior Jessie Baer.

Schreiber’s highest score was in the percentage of students that graduated, 98.1 percent.  Additionally, Schreiber was highly ranked in the percentage of how many students went to college after graduating, 92.9 percent.

“I think it’s pretty cool that we have been ranked so high.  I believe that many people, including myself, don’t realize how great Schreiber really is,” said senior Shannon Rybecky.

Many colleges visit Schreiber annually to give conferences in order to answer questions and emphasize the assets of individual schools.  In addition, Schreiber counselors set up meetings with seniors to discuss college plans and address any questions or concerns they might have with regard to their academics.

“It is pretty amazing that we were ranked 408 out of 500 schools in the nation,” said junior Ryan Tawil.  “I think the credit should be given to the amazing Schreiber faculty, who are extremely dedicated educators.”