U.S. News and World Report High School Rankings: April 27, 2022

U.S. News and World Report (U.S. News) recently released their annual publication that ranks almost 18,000 high schools across the country. If you are learning about this ranking process for the first time, we encourage you to read below to understand how Hanover is uniquely impacted by the methodology used by U.S. News.

We maintain that our students perform far better academically than this subjective analysis suggests. At first glance, you will see that our rank appears in the middle of the pack in terms of Massachusetts high schools.  Upon further review, you will find that HHS ranks 31^st in the state for Curriculum and 72^nd in the state for Readiness, both Top 100 rankings that were earned by the Class of 2020 for their performance on Advanced Placement exams.

The U.S. News ranking methodology for 2022 uses data from 2, 3, and 4 years ago — specifically, the 2022 rankings are generated from Advanced Placement (AP) exams from the 12^th graders in 2020 and MCAS exams from the 10^th graders in 2017, 2018, and 2019 (there were no MCAS exams in 2020). U.S. News used grade 10 MCAS results from the three years prior to 2020 in the ranking algorithm. This data has already been factored into our rankings from prior years.

Two of the metrics account for 40% of the ranking, College Readiness (30%) and Curriculum Breadth (10%). These metrics use AP exam scores from students in the class of 2020. U.S. News uses a weighted methodology where passing an exam is worth three times as much as taking an exam. Our students in the class of 2020 did very well on their AP exams, and it is reflected in the national and state rankings in these categories.

Three of the metrics account for 50% of the ranking, Math and Reading Proficiency (20%), Math and Reading Performance (20%), and Underserved Student Performance (10%). These metrics use MCAS scores from grade 10 students from 2017, 2018, and 2019.  The “Proficiency” ranking accounts for all grade 10 students taking the MCAS in a given year. The “Performance” ranking is a combination of the Math and Reading Performance and Underserved Student Performance categories.  This metric accounts for 30% of the overall ranking. These two categories focus exclusively on the underserved student population (defined by U.S. News as black, Hispanic, and low-income students).  This designation represents approximately 5-10% of the overall enrollment at HHS (approximately 15 students per year taking the grade 10 MCAS). These subjective metrics affect every district differently based on the size and demographics of their student population.  If this small cohort of students has a difficult time with the grade 10 MCAS, our ranking is negatively affected quite significantly.  We will continue to focus time and resources to support all of our students each year, and we are seeing progress with our scores.  

The last metric, Graduation Rate, accounts for 10% of the ranking. Holding students accountable for graduation requirements is certainly important. Two years ago, we were perfect with all students graduating within four years of starting at HHS.  Most years, we have a few students who require extra time to graduate for many different reasons. The pandemic has certainly brought challenges related to physical and mental health that has required some students to take longer than four years, but they do graduate from HHS with the support of our dedicated teachers, counselors, and administrators. HHS is traditionally one of the top districts in Massachusetts for graduation rate and college participation, and that will not change.

In general, we don’t agree with the methodology developed by U.S. News, and how it affects HHS because of the heavy emphasis on the performance on one standardized test (grade 10 MCAS), and the emphasis placed on the performance of a specific group of students. However, we take all feedback seriously and we will continue to use this annual report as a learning opportunity to improve wherever possible.   

Below is a complete breakdown of the state and national rankings for the past four years by category.  Please be assured that we are mindful of the attention that these publications receive.  As we emerge from the pandemic and focus our time on supporting all students, this magazine is not our top priority; however, our reputation and your confidence in our schools is very important to all of us.  

View more information about the U.S. News and World Report ranking methodology.

2020 National Ranking: 3045 out of 17792 (Percentile: 82.9%)

2020 State Ranking: 116 out of 345 (Percentile: 66.4%)