U.S. News & World Report has released its 2021 ranking of 17,857 public high schools in the United States, including charter and magnet schools, and Rhode Island’s offerings span the list.

The top public high school in the Ocean State — Providence’s Classical High School — comes in as the 144th best school in the country, while 13 schools (mostly in Providence) are below the line at which U.S. News’ editors decided not to publish actual ranks (the bottom quarter).  The Rhode Island list, from best to worst, is provided at the end of this post, with the national rank shown (when provided).

The scores reflect each school’s performance based on six factors:

• The proportion of seniors who took AP (or IB) exams and, additionally, who earned a qualifying score (30%)
• A measure of students’ taking multiple AP (or IB) exams and earning qualifying scores (10%)
• Math and reading proficiency based on state-issued standardized tests (20%)
• Math and reading proficiency adjusted for the demographic qualities of the school (20%)
• The size of gaps in math and reading proficiency based on demographic qualities of students (10%)
• Graduation rate (10%)

Obviously, these measures are subjective, and changing relative weightings could make a significant difference for the results.  Moreover, the ranking makes no attempt to adjust for regional differences or for the amount that states invest in education.

Additionally, Rhode Islanders viewing the above rank should keep in mind that the straight list of 59 schools presents a distorted picture.  They aren’t evenly distributed across the national rankings — there are large jumps at some points.

The following chart illustrates that fact, with the ranks inverted, so the highest-ranking school has the largest column.  The gray box shows the bottom 25% of schools, for which U.S. News did not report the actual rank.  The solid red line is the midway point of the rank, and the dotted red line shows the cutoff for the top 25%.

Click to enlarge.

Most conspicuously, the two steps from Rhode Island’s 26th-best high school, Rogers in Newport, to its 28th best, Providence Career Tech, is not representative of the real distance between them: about one-eighth of all schools in the country.

Rhode Island High School Ranking:

1. Classical High School, Providence, 144
2. Barrington High School, Barrington, 289
3. East Greenwich High, East Greenwich, 551
4. Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth, 1,283
5. North Kingstown Senior High, North Kingstown, 1,382
6. Blackstone Valley Prep High, Cumberland, 1,471
7. South Kingstown High, South Kingstown, 1,951
8. Exeter-West Greenwich Regional, West Greenwich, 2,020
9. Paul Cuffee Upper School, Providence, 2,294
10. Chariho High School, Wood River Junction, 2,509
11. North Smithfield High School, North Smithfield, 2,578
12. Westerly High School, Westerly, 2,982
13. Lincoln Senior High School, Lincoln, 2,983
14. Narragansett High School, Narragansett, 3,146
15. Tiverton High School, Tiverton, 3,901
16. Times2 Academy, Providence, 4,050
17. Scituate High School, North Scituate, 4,088
18. Cumberland High School, Cumberland, 4,106
19. Mt. Hope High School, Bristol, 4,184
20. Jacqueline M. Walsh School, Pawtucket, 4,637
21. Smithfield High School, Smithfield, 5,506
22. Coventry High School, Coventry, 5,535
23. Middletown High School, Middletown, 5,766
24. Ponaganset High School, North Scituate, 5,913
25. Burrillville High School, Burrillville, 6,038
26. Rogers High School, Newport, 6,411
27. Cranston High School West, Cranston, 7,559
28. Providence Career Technical, Providence, 8,866
29. North Providence High, North Providence, 8,984
30. Davies Career-Tech High School, Lincoln, 9,540
31. Pilgrim High School, Warwick, 9,586
32. Cranston High School East, Cranston, 9,758
33. E-Cubed Academy, Providence, 9,963
34. Johnston Senior High, Johnston, 10,042
35. West Warwick High School, West Warwick, 10,148
36. Beacon Charter School, Woonsocket, 10,699
37. East Providence High, East Providence, 11,082
38. Woonsocket High School, Woonsocket, 11,163
39. Trinity Academy Performing Art, Providence, 11,387
40. Toll Gate High School, Warwick, 11,580
41. The Greene School, West Greenwich, 11,755
42. Metropolitan Career Tech Center, Providence, 12,300
43. Central Falls Sr. High, Central Falls, 12,581
44. Academy for Career Exploration, Providence, 12,673
45. William E. Tolman High, Pawtucket, 12,888
46. Charles E. Shea High School, Pawtucket, 13,221
47. 360 High School, Providence
48. Blackstone Academy Charter, Pawtucket
49. Block Island School, New Shoreham
50. Central High School, Providence
51. Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School, Providence
52. Evolutions High School, Providence
53. Highlander Secondary Charter School, Providence
54. Hope High School, Providence
55. Mount Pleasant High, Providence
56. Nel/Cps Construction Career, Cranston
57. Rini Middle College, Providence
58. Village Green Virtual, Providence
59. WB Cooley and Acad International, Providence, 17857