RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

Four Scioto County high schools have earned medals from U.S. News, and two of them have been identified as being among the 100 best high schools in Ohio, and among the 2,000 best in the United States.

U.S News on Tuesday released its annual list of the “Best High Schools in the United States.” South Webster High School was No. 43 in the state and No. 1,077 in the United States; and Valley High School was ranked No. 98 in the state and No. 1,742 in the United States. Both schools earned silver medals from U.S. News.

According to U.S. News, there are 705 school districts in Ohio, with 873 high schools.

Green and Wheelersburg high school were not ranked, but were each given honors of being “Recognized Nationally” and awarded bronze medals.

Superintendents from the four local school districts were not available to comment this week.

Among more than 22,000 public high schools from 49 states (Nebraska did not report enough data to be included) and the District of Columbia, U.S. News awarded more than 4,850 gold, silver and bronze medals to the top-performing schools in the United States in 2012.

To determine the “Best High Schools,” schools were first analyzed at the state level in terms of how well students in each school performed on state assessments, taking into account the test scores of disadvantaged students who tend to score lower on tests. High schools that made it through this analysis were then eligible to be ranked nationally, in terms of college readiness.

South Webster led Scioto County schools in college readiness with a score 30.2, followed by New Boston with 30.0; then Clay, 20.6; Valley, 19.6; Wheelersburg, 15.1; Minford, 12.0; and Portsmouth, 6.6.

College readiness scores were not available for Green, Northwest, Portsmouth West and Sciotoville high schools.

The list can be found online at www.usnews.com/education. Parents and students can compare schools in terms of student-teacher ratios, college readiness, and proficiency on state math and English assessments. And with the major boost of data that U.S. News collected for the 2012 rankings, specific details about each school are now freely available, such as the enrollment of each grade and the percentage of students who passed exams.

Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, rottney@heartlandpublications.com.