Best Dallas-Area High Schools 2018: U.S. News & World Report

Seventy-three Texas high schools are rated among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2018 high school rankings. The highest-rated school in Texas was Meridian School in Round Rock that ranked sixth nationally.

The 2018 best high school rankings were released on Wednesday and evaluate more than 20,500 public high schools. U.S. News identified schools that best serve all students and assessed how prepared students are for college-level work. Schools are also recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness.

A total of 15 Dallas-area schools received a gold medal. The 73 Texas high schools that ranked high nationally received a gold medal, 155 schools got a silver medal and 373 schools got a bronze medal.

"Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students," Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News, said in a press release.

Here's the state's gold medal schools in the Dallas area and where they ranked nationally, according to the 2018 rankings:

The School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG), Dallas, No. 11

Science and Engineering Magnet School (SEM), Dallas, No. 13

Imagine International Academy of North Texas, McKinney, No. 49

Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, Dallas, No. 129

Booker T. Washington SPVA, Dallas, No. 133

Uplift Education-North Hills Prep High School, Irving, No. 134

Uplift Summit International High School, Arlington, No. 139

Uplift Williams Preparatory High School, Dallas, No. 146

Highland Park High School, Dallas, No. 170

Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet, Dallas, No. 198

Uplift Peak Preparatory High School, Dallas, No. 208

Harmony Science Academy - Carrollton, No. 337

School of Health Professions, Dallas, No. 389

School of Business and Management, Dallas, No. 390

Rosie Sorrells Education and Social Services High School, Dallas, No. 434

To determine the rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the social science research firm RTI International. A variety of data sources, including the Common Core of Data, College Board and the International Baccalaureate, were used.

A four-step process was used to rank all eligible schools. The first two steps were to determine whether students were performing better than statistically expected in the state and whether minority students were performing at or better than the state average for minority students, which was the second step. The third step required schools to meet or surpass a certain graduation benchmark and the final step was to determine college readiness. (You can read the full methodology here.)

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