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How ‘Exam Schools’ fared in the best high schools rankings

In the new book, Exam Schools: Inside America’s Most Selective Public High Schools [1], the authors examine institutions with selective admissions processes, U.S. News reports. Many of these public schools did very well in the 2012 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings [2], accounting for 7 of the top 10 schools in the national rankings [3]; 11 of the top 25; and 24 of the top 50. In an article entitled “Exam Schools from the Inside [4]” in Education Next, authors Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Jessica A. Hockett discussed how exam schools have evolved in the United States:

“[T]hese academically selective institutions have long been a part of the American secondary-education landscape. The schools are diverse in origin and purpose … Some arose from a desire (among parents, superintendents, school boards, governors, legislators) to provide a self-contained, high-powered college-prep education for able youngsters in a community, region, or state. Others started through philanthropic ventures or as university initiatives. A number of them were products of the country’s efforts to desegregate–and integrate–its public-education system, prompted by court orders, civil rights enforcers and activists, or federal ‘magnet school’ dollars.”

Click here for the full story [5]