Informational Update on U.S. News and World Report High School Rankings: April 2024
The U.S. News and World Report released its annual publication that ranks almost 17,655 high schools across the country. Hanover High School’s national rank is 2,139 and its state rank is 87. We maintain that our students perform far better academically than this subjective analysis suggests, even though we have shown significant progress since this ranking system was implemented in 2020. As we focus on supporting all students, the U.S. News rankings are not our top priority; however, our reputation and community confidence in our schools are very important, thus the reason we annually share this analysis. We are very proud of our students and staff for their commitment to academic excellence and representing our community with pride.
Publication Year | National Rank and Percentile | State Rank and Percentile | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 2139 / 17655 | 88 % | 87 / 351 | 75 % |
2023 | 2969 / 17680 | 83 % | 120 / 348 | 66 % |
2022 | 3125 / 17857 | 83 % | 124 / 348 | 64 % |
2021 | 3045 / 17792 | 83 % | 116 / 345 | 66 % |
2020 | 5081 / 17245 | 71 % | 185 / 345 | 46 % |
The U.S. News & World Report ranks high schools using the following six metrics.
College Readiness, 30% of the rating [Seniors only - other AP students are excluded] The College Readiness Index, or CRI, is measured by the proportion of a school's 12th graders in the 2021-2022 school year who took and earned a qualifying score on Advanced Placement exams. | |
State Assessment Proficiency, 20% of the rating [All Sophomores] Aggregated scores on MCAS assessments that students are required to pass for graduation. In Massachusetts, the 2021-2022 state assessment data was used. | |
State Assessment Performance, 20% of the rating [Underserved Sophomores] Aggregated scores on MCAS are compared to the U.S. News's expectations given the proportions of underserved students who are black, Hispanic, and from low-income households. In Massachusetts, the 2021-2022 state assessment data was used. | |
Underserved Student Performance, 10% of the rating [Underserved Sophomores] Scores on state assessments aggregated just among students who are Black, Hispanic, and low-income. This evaluates how well this underserved subgroup scored on state assessments compared with the average for non-underserved students within Massachusetts. | |
College Curriculum Breadth, 10% of the rating [All seniors who took multiple AP exams] The College Curriculum Breadth Index, or CCBI, is calculated among a school's 12th graders in the 2021-2022 school year, from the percentage who took, and the percentage who earned qualifying scores on, multiple AP exams. | |
Graduation Rate, 10% of the rating [All Students in the Class of 2022] Among students who entered ninth grade in the 2018-2019 academic year, this measure is the proportion who graduated four years later, by 2022. | |
National Ranking
Publication | Overall | College | Curriculum | MCAS | Underserved | Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 Rank | 2139 | 1302 | 1113 | 3751 | 11849 | 2278 |
2024 Percentile | 88 % | 93 % | 94 % | 79 % | 33 % | 87 % |
2023 Rank | 2969 | 1373 | 821 | 4783 | 14546 | 1244 |
2023 Percentile | 83 % | 92 % | 95 % | 73 % | 18 % | 93 % |
2022 Rank | 3125 | 1349 | 1637 | 4541 | 13158 | 1858 |
2022 Percentile | 83 % | 92 % | 91 % | 75 % | 26 % | 90 % |
2021 Rank | 3045 | 1241 | 842 | 5549 | 14466 | 1 |
2021 Percentile | 83 % | 93 % | 95 % | 69 % | 19 % | 100 % |
2020 Rank | 5081 | 1930 | 2063 | 8300 | 16062 | 2456 |
2020 Percentile | 71 % | 89 % | 88 % | 52 % | 7 % | 86 % |
Massachusetts Ranking
Publication | Overall | College | Curriculum | MCAS | Underserved | Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 Rank | 87 /351
| 71 | 69 | 89 | 257 | 70 |
2024 Percentile | 75 % | 80 % | 82 % | 74 % | 26 % | 80 % |
2023 Rank | 120 / 348 | 69 | 40 | 95 | 288 | 13 |
2023 Percentile | 66 % | 80 % | 89 % | 73 % | 17 % | 96 % |
2022 Rank | 124 / 348 | 72 | 104 | 89 | 257 | 70 |
2022 Percentile | 64 % | 79 % | 70 % | 74 % | 26 % | 80 % |
2021 Rank | 116 / 345 | 69 | 49 | 108 | 281 | 1 |
2021 Percentile | 66 % | 80 % | 86 % | 69 % | 19 % | 100 % |
2020 Rank | 185 / 345 | 107 | 124 | 166 | 291 | 65 |
2020 Percentile | 46 % | 69 % | 64 % | 52 % | 16 % | 80 % |
The U.S. News ranking methodology uses data from previous school years — specifically, the current rankings are generated from AP exams from the 12th graders in the 2021-2022 school year and the MCAS exam scores from the 10th graders in the 2021-2022 school year - two years ago.
The first two metrics account for 40% of the rankings: College Readiness (30%) and Curriculum Breadth (10%). These metrics use AP exam scores from 12th graders in the 2021-2022 school year. The U.S. News uses a weighted methodology where passing an exam is worth three times taking an exam.
The next two metrics account for 50% of the rankings using MCAS exam scores from the 10th graders in the 2021-2022 school year. State Assessment Proficiency (20%) takes into consideration the performance of all students taking the MCAS exam in a given year. The Underserved Performance metric (30%) is a combination of the green and purple columns in the tables above. The underserved student population, as defined by U.S. News, is approximately 5% of our overall student body, and the effect of their performance on this ranking method is significant. This subjective factor affects every district differently based on their student population and the U.S. News-determined metrics. We are focusing a great deal of time and resources to support this small cohort of students, and we are far more concerned about supporting their academic and personal growth than how we are perceived by U.S. News.
The last metric, Graduation Rate, accounts for 10% of the rankings. Holding students accountable for graduation requirements is important, and Hanover always has one the highest graduation rates in MA.
In general, we don’t agree with the methodology developed by U.S. News and the focus on such a small population of students for such a high percentage of this ranking process. However, we take all feedback seriously and we will continue to use this annual report as a learning opportunity to improve wherever possible.
View more information about the U.S. News and World Report ranking methodology.