Newsweek recently released its list of the Top 25 Transformative High Schools, and public charter schools represented exactly 60 percent of the list, including the top three highest ranked schools. Within the Top 25, the charter schools hold the rankings of: #1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 23.
In terms of its methodology, Newsweek notes: “It’s no secret that schools in poor neighborhoods often struggle. But some achieve a remarkable amount in relation to the poverty of their communities. Newsweek calls these Transformative Schools, and for the second year in a row, we have created a list of the top 25. “To compile the Transformative list, we took the scores from Newsweek’s top 1,000 schools and factored in the percentage of students who qualified for free- or reduced-price lunches—the most reliable measure of socio-economic status in American high schools. Schools that restrict admissions based on academics were ineligible; the purpose of the list is to highlight schools where enthusiasm is the only defining metric.” NAPCS commends the tremendous impact these public charter schools are making in the lives of its students. This is another proof point for what can happen when great leaders are given the flexibility to be innovative. You can more about the #1 rankedPreuss School UCSD in our newest issue brief.




