D.C.-Area Schools: How do McLean, Langley Stack Up?

McLean and Langley high schools are in the top tier among Washington-area high schools, according to Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews' Challenge Index this year.

McLean High School ranked 12th among D.C. area high schools this year. Langley ranked 26th on the regional list.

McLean area schools ranked higher in Virginia than they did among regional counterparts: Langley was ranked No. 14 among all Virginia schools; McLean earned No. 5.

On the national list, Langley was ranked No. 194 and McLean was ranked No. 122.

To see the full list, click here.

Since 1998, Mathews has ranked Washington-area public high schools using the Challenge Index, his measure of how effectively a school prepares its students for college.  

The formula: Divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave by the number of graduating seniors.

Also noted are the percentage of students who come from families that qualify for free and reduced lunch (subsidized lunch), an indicator of poverty, and the percentage of graduates who passed at least one college-level test during their high school career, called equity and excellence, (E&E).

More than 170 public and private schools are on the local list; 1,900 are included nationally. Magnet and charter schools, like Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, are not included in the rankings.

• See: Thomas Jefferson High School Acceptance Rate at 14.9 Percent for Class of 2017

The index is not a measure of the overall quality of the school, but the rating can reveal the level of preparing average students for college, Matthews says.

George Mason High School in Falls Church, part of the city's school system, was the highest-ranking school in the Fairfax County area on the DC regional list, at No. 9.

What do you think of the rankings? Is your child taking full advantage of the higher-level course work?