Arizona has five high schools ranked in the top 25 nationally in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report analysis of the country’s high schools. The Arizona schools are:
- No. 2 Basis – Scottsdale
- No. 3 Basis – Tucson North
- No. 6 Basis – Oro Valley
- No.. 13 Arizona College Prep – Chandler
- No.24 University High – Tucson
While Basis Scottsdale maintained it’s 2015 number two ranking right behind perennial number one School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas, Texas, University High dropped from number eight to number twenty four under the leadership of Superintendent H. T. Sanchez. While both Basis Tucson North and Basis Oro Valley jumped to numbers 3 and 6 respectively.
The rankings are based on criteria including a school’s performance on state assessments, graduation rates, and how well they prepare students for college. More than 19,400 high schools were evaluated this year.
In a major change to the Best High Schools rankings methodology, U.S. News has added a new step this year focused on graduation rates. High schools that make it past the first two steps of the methodology, which remain unchanged and are detailed in the full report, now have to meet or exceed a national standard high school graduation rate to be considered top-performing schools and to be ranked at a national level.
This marks the first time graduation rates have been used in ranking high schools at this scale. As part of this effort, U.S. News has published graduation rates for all high schools on its website for the first time.