Based on : Top-High-Schools-2014-by-New-Jersey-Monthly.pdf

Based on the above article shared by a fellow member Sheena Singh and recommended realtor Puneeta Kalra, the Top High School list shows Chatham at the zenith.

The highlights are as follows:

• Sadly, McNair Academic, the renowned magnet high school in Jersey City has lost its spot since the last few rankings. McNair had held the number-2 spot in the last three rankings, but fell to number 62 this year. While McNair students are still among the best in the state as far as SAT and HSPA scores are concerned, the school was pulled down the chart by its post-secondary enrollment rate of 76 percent—far below the state’s best-performing schools.

• The ranking methodology includes SAT Scores and Post Secondary Enrollment rate:

SAT Scores. Rather than just report a school’s average SAT scores, the DOE now calculates the percentage of students scoring 1,550 or better, a benchmark that it says is “associated with a high likelihood of college success.” At Chatham High School, 74.3 percent of students surpassed that benchmark. It was the 14th best result in the state.

Postsecondary Enrollment. Two years ago, the state introduced the adjusted cohort graduation rate as a more accurate way of calculating student results. Now it has added the postsecondary enrollment rate, which is described as the percentage of students enrolled in a two- or four-year college 16 months after high school graduation. Chatham was number 3 in the state.

New Jersey Monthly made other methodology changes for this year’s rankings. We’ve dropped two factors: average class size (which is no longer available from the DOE) and percentage of faculty with advanced degrees. We also have stopped compiling separate rankings by District Factor Group, a classification based on a district’s relative socioeconomic status that is no longer included in the DOE reports.

The entire article can be found here.