The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology is listed again among the best in the nation in the latest rankings of high schools by U.S. News & World Report.
The public high school in Lawrenceville is well known for prepping students to go to college for engineering and other tech fields. It usually ranks among the top schools in the state. It placed ninth in the nation this time among the more than 17,800 schools ranked.
In 2017, the Gwinnett STEM school tied Muscogee County’s Columbus High for first place in Georgia. This time, Gwinnett took the lead, with Columbus High in second.
Several metro Atlanta schools rounded out the state’s top 10, with Walton High in Cobb County in fourth place, Lambert High in Forsyth in fifth, Northview High in Fulton in sixth, the DeKalb School of the Arts in eighth, South Forsyth High in ninth and Lassiter High in Cobb in tenth.
The publication had to adjust its rankings for COVID-19, since test performance is a key factor. Fewer students took standardized tests last year. In the 2019-2020 school year, state standardized testing was canceled.
“Without 2019-2020 assessment data available, U.S. News relied on historic assessment data from the three prior ranking years while also incorporating for the first time state science assessment data from the 2018-2019 school year to capture a broader measure of student learning,” the publication explained.
Half of the ranking calculations used completely new data, for the first time using state science assessment data from the 2018-19 school year. The publication also used older scores, such as math and reading tests from the 2016-17 school year.
Though some of the data was different, U.S. News still ranked high schools with the same six indicators.
“College readiness” is one metric, based on the proportion of seniors with high Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test scores. Another metric is “college curriculum breadth,” which is the proportion of those test takers who earned qualifying scores.
There is also “state assessment proficiency” based on state standardized test scores in subjects related to math, reading and science. And there is “state assessment performance,” which compares each school’s math, reading and science test scores with what U.S. News predicted.
The publication also reviewed graduation rates and the performance of Black, Hispanic and low-income students.
Metro Atlanta Rankings
The following are U.S. News and World Report’s rankings for metro Atlanta schools:
1. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (Gwinnett County)
2. Walton High School (Cobb County)
3. Lambert High School (Forsyth County)
4. Northview High School (Fulton County)
5. DeKalb School of the Arts (DeKalb County)
6. South Forsyth High School (Forsyth County)
7. Lassiter High School (Cobb County)
8. Cambridge High School (Fulton County)
9. Alpharetta High School (Fulton County)
10. Chattachoochee High School (Fulton County)
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