DOWNTOWN — Seven of the 10 best public high schools in Illinois can be found in Chicago, according to new rankings.
U.S. News and World Report released its latest rankings of the best high schools in the country, naming Payton College Prep — a Chicago Public School — the No. 9 high school in the United States and the No. 1 school in Illinois.
Northside College Prep (No. 2) and Lane Tech (No. 3) rounded out the top of Illinois’ ranking. The scores among the top three schools were close: Payton got 99.95 out of 100 on its scorecard, while Northside scored 99.87 and Lane Tech got 99.6.
Among all Chicago Public Schools, college readiness was rated at an average of just 23.4. Just 20 percent of students were proficient at reading and 16 percent at math, on average, according to the rankings.
The rankings are based on college readiness, math and reading proficiency among students and the school’s graduation rate, among other factors, at more than 23,000 public high schools across the United States. They are released every year.
Here are the top 10 schools in the state:
- Payton College Prep
- Northside College Prep
- Lane Tech
- Young Magnet High School
- Jones College Prep
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School (suburban Lincolnshire)
- Proviso Math and Science Academy (suburban Forest Park)
- Brooks College Prep Academy
- Phoenix Military Academy
- Libertyville High School (suburban Libertyville)