WaPo is out with its annual ranking of the nation's high schools | Eastern North Carolina Now

     The Washington Post is out with its annual ranking of the nation's high schools. Neither they nor we contend the list is a true reflection of the best and worst of the nation's high schools, but what it does do is reflect those schools that make a concerted attempt to prepare their students for college. It does so by ranking schools according to the most widely used measure of college preparation test for the best and brightest students. As the Post explains:

     " The formula is simple: Divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors. While not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school's commitment to preparing average students for college."

     Again this year, there are two notable things about the list: First, charter and magnet schools are disproportionately represented at the top and secondly, Beaufort County does not have any schools that make the cut. North Carolina has a number of top-rated schools, but again, the preponderance of charter and magnet schools shows in our state as it does in the nation. But notably, there are relatively few top schools from Eastern North Carolina.

     You can review the methodology used by the Washington Post by clicking here.

     And here's the list for North Carolina: Click here.

     The highest ranked school closest to us was J. H. Rose in Pitt County, ranked at 44 in the state and D. H. Conley in Pitt County ranked at number 80. Manteo, First Flight and Cape Hatteras also made the top 100. Relative to size of the system, Chapel Hill had the most top-rated schools while Mecklenburg and Wake had the most overall top-ranked schools in the state.

    Delma Blinson writes the "Teacher's Desk" column for our friend in the local publishing business: The Beaufort Observer. His concentration is in the area of his expertise - the education of our youth. He is a former teacher, principal, superintendent and university professor.