Westport’s Staples High School ranks No. 593 in a Washington Post compiled list of more than 1,900 U.S. public high schools on how effectively they prepare students for college.
The newspaper has ranked Washington-area public schools using its Challenge Index since 1998, but this is the first year it has expanded its research to high schools across the United States. In Connecticut, Staples was No. 6 in a list of 18.
The Washington Post said its formula for the index 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.”
It added: “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.”
The top 10 Connecticut results in the Challenge Index:
1 Connecticut IB Academy East Hartford
2 Farmington Farmington
3 Conard West Hartford
4 Simsbury Simsbury
5 Weston Weston
6 Staples Westport
7 Ridgefield Ridgefield
8 Hall West Hartford
9 Fairfield Warde Fairfield
10 Avon Avon
