Roosevelt Ranked #2 in Iowa on Washington Post Index
Roosevelt High School is ranked number two in the State of Iowa when it comes to preparing students for post-secondary education, according to the High School Challenge Index released this week by the Washington Post.
The Post began the index in 1998 as a way to measure how well high schools in the Washington, DC-area were preparing students for college. This year, for the first time, the newspaper looked at schools across the nation, including more than 1,900 high schools in the index. Only schools which had a ratio of one AP/IB test given for each diploma awarded were included in the index, roughly 7 percent of the nation’s high schools.
The formula for the High School Challenge Index divides the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests given in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors. The Post notes that the index is not meant to rank the overall quality of a school but to look at the effort to prepare students for college.
The top five high schools in Iowa, and their score on the Washington Post Index, were:
- Cedar Rapids Washington 2.925
- Des Moines Roosevelt 2.725
- Cedar Rapids Kennedy 2.544
- Ames High School 1.881
- Iowa City West 1.839
“We’re proud of the work of our teachers and students in making sure Des Moines graduates are prepared for their next step in life, including college,” said Dr. Nancy Sebring, Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. “Students in Des Moines have some of the best opportunities in Iowa – both at their home high schools and at Central Academy – to benefit from a diverse offering of AP and IB courses.”
Roosevelt High School was also in the top quarter of schools nationally on the Washington Post Index, ranked #392 out of more than 1,900 high schools
For more information on the Washington Post High School Challenge Index, visit http://apps.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge/.