Every year, Newsweek releases their “Beating the Odds” list of schools around the country that do an excellent job of preparing their students for college, including low-income students who have to overcome economic disadvantages.
The schools are rated according to performance indicators, and college preparedness based on college acceptance, college prep tests such as SAT and ACT, and percent of students taking advanced placement (AP) courses, among other criteria.
The list includes the top 500 schools in the country, but here are just the top 10 public high schools:
#1 - Stuyvesant High School: This school in NYC has 47.3 percent at the poverty level, yet was rated 100 percent for college readiness with 99 percent of students college-bound.
#2 - Townsend Harris High School: This NYC school ranked second on the list, beating a 50.8 percent poverty rate with a graduation rate of 100 percent, and 99.7 percent are college bound.
#3 - Northside College Preparatory High School: This Chicago-based school has a poverty level of 37.5 percent, yet 99.6 percent of its students are college bound.
#4 - Brooklyn Technical High School: In spite of a 64.9 percent poverty level, this New York City school ranked 93.7 for college readiness, and 94.8 of its students are college bound.
#5 - School of Science and Engineering: This school in Dallas, Texas has a 100 percent graduation rate and a 100 percent of its students are college bound, in spite of a poverty rate of 57.9 percent.
#6 - Staten Island Technical High School: This New York city school has a 100 percent graduation rate and 99.7 percent are college bound, even though the poverty rate is 31.7 percent.
#7 - High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at the City College of New York: has both a graduation and college bound rate of 100 percent, even with a poverty rank of 51.5 percent.
#8 - Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy: This Los Angeles, California-based school ranked 100 percent in graduation and college bound, beating the odds against a poverty rate of 72.7 percent.
#9 - Early College High School: This Austin, Texas-based school has a very high poverty rate of 92.1 percent, yet they have a 100 percent graduation rate, and 94.5 percent of students are college bound.
#10 - Irma L. Rangel Young Women's Leadership School: This school in Dallas, Texas ranks 100 percent for both graduation and college bound, in spite of a poverty rate of 87.4 percent.
See the full list at www.newsweek.com/high-schools/beating-odds-2016
