How Matawan-Aberdeen Ranks On U.S. News 'Best High School' List

ABERDEEN, NJ — This week, U.S. News & World Report released its 2022 rankings, listing nearly 24,000 high schools across the nation.

Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college. Here are all their high school rankings for the state of New Jersey.

And here is how Matawan-Aberdeen Regional High School ranked (Click on the school name to see their full profile):

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional High School is ranked 117th in the state of New Jersey. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® coursework and exams. The AP® participation rate at Matawan Regional High School is 39%. The total minority enrollment is 39%, and 25% of students are economically disadvantaged. Matawan Regional High School is the only high school in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District.

Overall Score 84.35/100

• 39% Took at Least One AP® Exam
• 32% Passed at Least One AP® Exam
• 49% Mathematics Proficiency
• 66% Reading Proficiency
• 34% Science Proficiency
• 91% Graduation Rate

Read more: These NJ High Schools Are Among 2022's Best: U.S. News

But, U.S. News & World Report school rankings have their critics. James Fallows, a former U.S. News editor, even called them "meaningless" in an interview with NPR.

"The reason they started doing it back in the early 1980s under the guidance of a man named Mel Elfin, was because it was a brilliant business strategy," Fallows said. "By appealing to the human desire for rankings and knowing where you stand and where somebody else stands, they were able to make a very strong part of their business, which is now basically the only part of their business."

U.S. News, however, contends that the rankings help parents make better-informed decisions about their children's education.

"The goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture," the report says, "of how well public schools serve all of their students — from the highest to lowest achieving — in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work."

Ninety percent of the rankings incorporate performances on AP and IB exams and standardized tests, while the remaining 10 percent is the graduation rate. The data used in this year's ranking is from the 2019-20 academic school year. U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact COVID-19 had on schools in the 2019-20 school year.

Read more about the methodology here.

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