Longview High School is one of the best high schools in the East Texas region, according to a national ranking released today.
The U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best High Schools list ranks LHS as the top campus in the Longview and Marshall metropolitan areas, and among the top five campuses in the entire East Texas region.
See the rankings here: Best High Schools in the Longview Area
LHS Principal Mr. James Brewer said while he was pleased to see his campus recognized for its high graduation rate, college readiness, and proficiency score, 'there is always room for improvement.'
'We hold ourselves to the highest standards, so while it's nice to see (these rankings) it's not something that we're going to put much stock in,' he said. 'Longview High School remains committed to providing the best possible education for all the young people in our care. Whether it's to prepare them for the job force or academia, there are always ways we can improve. Our community deserves nothing less.'
A global authority in education rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranks more than 17,800 public high schools throughout the country, measuring how well schools serve students from various social and economic backgrounds.
LISD Superintendent Dr. James Wilcox said the demographic data is a vital component to these rankings.
'It's no great accomplishment for a highly-selective school to attain high honors, but when you help every student succeed regardless of their socio-economic challenges, that's saying something,' he said. 'It just goes to show the quality of the educators we have in Longview ISD, and what a tremendous community of families and local stakeholders that makes this possible.'
For the 2021 rankings, the magazine used data from the 2018-19 school year to assess nearly 24,000 public high schools. Only 17,857 of them were ranked because some didn’t have enough 12th-graders (at least 15), and the rankings of only the top 75% (13,393) are released.
Ms. Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News, said families can use the Best High Schools rankings to see how schools compare at the national, state and local level on factors like graduation rates and college readiness.
'The rankings also provide insight into academic performance among underserved groups,' she said.
Ms. Narayan said the data used in this edition is from the 2018-2019 academic school year, and therefore was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The methodology focuses on six factors: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.
College readiness specifically measures participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
Alongside the national rankings, U.S. News published rankings at the state, metro area and school district levels. Only metro areas and school districts with three or more high schools were included in these subrankings.
The Best High Schools rankings are available exclusively on USNews.com and include data on a variety of factors, such as enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price lunch programs, graduation rates and the results of state assessments.
U.S. News worked with RTI International, a global research firm, to implement the comprehensive ranking methodology.
Methodology
The rankings, according to U.S. News, are based on measurements of:
- College readiness (30%), defined by participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
- Math and reading proficiency (20%), defined by results from the state’s standardized tests.
- Math and reading performance (20%), defined by results from the state’s standardized test compared to predicted results from the school’s demographics.
- Underserved student performance (10%), defined by how well Blacks, Hispanics and students from low-income families performed on state tests compared to those who aren’t considered underserved.
- Curriculum breadth (10%).
- Graduation rate (10%).
About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A digital news and information company focused on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and News, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
