Stevenson again among top-ranked schools

Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire ranks among the top 5 percent of public high schools in the country based on a measurement of college placement tests.

Newsweek magazine's annual ranking of public high schools put Stevenson at 150th among the 1,300 schools that made the grade. Of the five Illinois schools in the top 200, Stevenson was the only Northwest suburban representative.

The score is based on a ratio devised by a Washington Post education reporter. It takes the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school, divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Advanced Placement tests can be taken in May by students in several subjects. That translates to college level work they can do in high school and apply the credit, according to Jim Conrey, Stevenson spokesman.

It's not unusual for Stevenson students to enter college as second-semester freshmen or even first-semester sophomores, he said. About 70 percent of Stevenson students -- this year about 4,450 -- take at least one Advanced Placement test.

"We're one of the world leaders in terms of Advanced Placement participation," Conrey said. "Last year, we had a record number of kids take the exams and the number of tests the students take."

The other two tests examined by Newsweek are not generally offered in this part of the country.

Newsweek has published the national list using the formula in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Stevenson has appeared on the list at least five times, Conrey said.

"We're honored at the ranking, but it's only one glimpse at the quality of a school," Conrey said.

According to Jay Mathews, the Washington Post reporter and Newsweek contributing editor who devised the formula, the tests are important because "they give average students a chance to experience the trauma of heavy college reading lists and long, analytical college examinations."

In answers to frequently asked questions about the process, Mathews said studies show the best predictors of college graduation were not good high-school grades or test scores, but the intensity of the academic experience in high school.