An exclamation point to the great end of school year arrived with the news of Sonoran Science Academy ranking 27th in the nation among more than 1900 public high schools nationwide. The 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. The index aims to rate the level of a high school's commitment to preparing average students for college.
Since 1998, The The Washington Post's Jay Mathew has ranked Washington-area public high schools using the Challenge Index, his measure of how effectively a school prepares it students for college. In 2011, the Post expanded its research to high schools across the United States. The Challenge Index was formerly Newsweek's America's Best Schools ranking. When The Washington Post sold Newsweek last year, they held on to the Challenge Index. It is currently posted online and will come out in print in a special edition of The Washington Post.