‘The Washington Post’ ranks Madison in ‘America’s Most Challenging High Schools’

MADISON – “The Washington Post” has included both Bob Jones and James Clemens high schools in its 2017 edition of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools.”

Madison’s high schools both placed in the top five for Alabama schools on the list.

“Bob Jones ranked third and James Clemens fifth in this prestigious study of how successfully schools challenge their students,” John Peck said. Peck is Public Relations Manager for Madison City Schools.

The study ranks schools with a simple ratio. First, researchers totaled the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year. Next, they divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. A ratio of 1.000, for example, means the school had as many tests as graduates.

The only other high school in North Alabama to merit the list from “The Washington Post” was Buckhorn in the Madison County Schools district. Buckhorn placed ninth.

In the top 100, numerous public high schools have students in poverty-stricken environments. However, these same youth have higher participation rate on advanced placement and International Baccalaureate testing than in expensive private schools (washingtonpost.com).

Examples are the IDEA Mission College Prep School in Mission, Texas with 91 percent of its students from low-income families. The Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School in Dallas has 73 percent of its students in low-income homes.

The list from “The Washington Post” documents a steady increase in the number of schools that qualify by AP, IB and Cambridge test participation. However, the vast majority of schools in the United States do not qualify to make the list.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com/high-school-challenge-2017.

In recent weeks, “U.S. News & World Report” ranked both James Clemens and Bob Jones among the top ten in “Best High Schools in Alabama.” “U.S. News & World Report” prepares rankings with statistics and data for more than 22,000 public schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.