By Mhar Tenorio
The Mirror
Staff Writer
By Stefanie Tyo
The Mirror Staff
VNHS ranked #152 in California High Schools, #135 in Magnet High Schools, #3 in Traditional LAUSD schools, and #1 in Traditional Schools in San Fernando Valley.
CAMPUS NEWS
VNHS Earns Silver Medal in US News Best High Schools Report
May 22, 2017
NEWS: School garners high ranking in annual survey of over 20,000 schools nationwide
Van Nuys High School has earned a silver medal in the 2017 US News Best High schools ranking report for its performance in the 2016-2017 school year.
US News and World Report magazine ranks public high schools nationwide based on their students’ standardized test scores and their college readiness each year. VNHS was ranked 895th in National Rankings out of 20,487 eligible schools.
VNHS ranked #152 in California High Schools, #135 in Magnet High Schools, #3 in Traditional LAUSD schools, and #1 in Traditional Schools in San Fernando Valley.
To determine the rankings of the best high schools, US News uses a four-step process. The first three steps are based on school performance, and the fourth is based on college readiness during the 2014-2015 school year.
US News starts with determining whether a specific school did better than the national average in math and reading proficiency tests, also taking in consideration the number of economically disadvantaged students. Van Nuys High School’s State Test Performance Index is 59.5, surpassing the expected performance by 23.8.
The second step is to determine whether minority and low-income students, considered disadvantaged populations, had better scores in state math and reading proficiency exams than the state’s average. The percentage of disadvantaged students who are proficient in Van Nuys High School is 54.1% exceeding the state average by 7.4%.
Based on the California High School Exit Exam results, 58% of students who took the test were proficient in Mathematics, while 61% are proficient in English.
High schools that have a higher graduation rate than 75% meets the third criteria. Van Nuys High School has an 86% graduation rate.
To pass the fourth step, a College Readiness Index (CRI) of 20.91 or above is required for a school to be ranked nationally. This is calculated by the quality-adjusted AP Participation rate (75% of the CRI) and the AP participation rate (25% of the CRI).
The quality-adjusted participation rate is measured by the number of 12th graders in the 2014-2015 school year who took at least one AP exam and scored a 3 or higher divided by the total number of seniors at the school. The AP participation rate does not factor in the number of students who scored a 3 or above on the AP exams.
Van Nuys High School has a CRI of 45.9. The school has a 56% participation rate and 77% participant passing rate. The quality-adjusted participation rate is 43%.
Schools that are ranked between 501st place and 2609th place nationally are awarded the Silver Medal. Schools that ranked in the top 500 receive the Gold Medal. Bronze Medal recipients are schools that are ranked beyond 2609th and passed the first three steps.