Why Paly and Gunn Didn't Make the U.S. News Ranking

Palo Altans can be described by one word: educated.

With Stanford University and two top-performing high schools, the city has a lot of smart people, which is why the most recent U.S. News and World Report ranking of high schools nationwide was puzzling—Palo Alto and Gunn High were unranked.

Indeed, many Los Altos Hills parens, who chose their homes based on attendance in those schools, were probably scratching their heads.

So Palo Alto Patch asked the publication and received a reply from Bob Morse, director of data research, at U.S. News and World Report.

His reply? "The reason why Palo Alto and Gunn High Schools didn't make the ranking is that both didn’t pass step 2 of the rankings. Read PDF starting Page 10."

On page 10 of the methodology, it explains that in Step 2 the process sought to identify high schools that had "combined reading and mathematics proficiency levels that were at least equal to the state’s combined reading and mathematics proficiency levels for those disadvantaged student groups."

The goal of this step was to ensure that all students received the same education at the high school, "regardless of their socioeconomic or ethnic backgrounds," the report said.

Morse explained that if one looked at the test scores for Paly and Gunn one would see that there is a gap—in the negative—between the state average score and the school's score.

"This negative means those two school's disadvantaged students didn’t perform as well as the state’s average," he said.

What do you think of this Palo Alto? Do the rankings matter to you? Should it matter that disadvantaged students aren't performing well in the school district? Tell us in comments.

Also in Los Altos Patch

• Los Altos High Is A 'Distinguished School'
• High School Graduation Rates in Silicon Valley
• Computers in the Classroom: How do Los Altos Area Schools Rate?
• High School Classrooms Are Fuller for Los Altans
• Compare Teacher Salaries in Los Altos and Nearby

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