Two Lincoln-Way Schools Make Newsweek's Top Public High Schools List for 2016

Just in time for the start of the school year, Newsweek released its annual list Thursday of the top public high schools in America for 2016.

And on that list are two Lincoln-Way District 210 schools. Lincoln-Way West ranked at No. 349, and Lincoln-Way Central at No. 434. Neither school made the list in 2014 or 2015.

Newsweek’s rankings of the best public high schools in the country stand apart from other attempts to rank school performance. Newsweek uses legitimate and objective measurements to put together its annual ranking of the country’s best high schools.

Newsweek looked at six measurements and weighted them to achieve a “college readiness index.” The rankings show how well high schools prepare students for college.

Those measurements and their weight are:

• Holding power: 10 percent
• Ratio of counselor/full-time equivalent to student enrollment: 10 percent
• Weighted SAT/ACT: 17.5 percent
• Weighted AP/IB/dual enrollment composite: 17.5 percent
• Graduation rate: 20 percent
• College enrollment rate: 25 percent

In all, 6,477 of the nation’s 15,819 public high schools met the criteria to be considered in Newsweek’s rankings.

Newsweek used school performance data from the National Center for Education Statistics to narrow the list of schools.

Of those 6,477 schools, 4,760 were considered for the overall rankings, while 4,452 made the cut for another list of schools “beating the odds.” (Many schools made both lists.)

To see the full list of Illinois schools that made the list, click here. For the full list of schools across the country,visit Newsweek.