The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has been recognized as one of the nation’s top-performing public high schools in the latest Jay Mathews Challenge Index rankings.
Mathews, an education columnist for The Washington Post, created the Challenge Index in 1998 as a way to recognize schools across the nation who adequately challenge average students. It is the oldest high-school ranking system in the country. It has been published as “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” list in The Washington Post and Newsweek magazine in past years. This year’s list was announced on his website — jaymathewschallengeindex.com.
Rather than using test scores, Mathews created a ranking list that uses a simple ratio: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge test given at a school each year divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. The Challenge Index ranks approximately the top 11 percent of the more than 22,000 high schools in the nation.
Mathews also created a second list of top-performing high schools who are not included in the Challenge Index “because, despite their exceptional quality, their standardized test scores indicate they have few or no average students,” according to the website. It includes non-neighborhood schools with SAT or ACT averages above the highest averages for neighborhood schools nationally. Mathews traditionally calls this list the “Public Elites,” which includes ASMSA.
“Recognition as a ‘Public Elite’ high school is a testament to the ability of talented young Arkansans to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with peers nationwide when given the opportunity to learn and achieve at the highest levels,” said ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice. “This list includes exceptional institutions, educators and students who are committed to the daily pursuit of excellence. It's an honor to be recognized among schools that lead in college preparation, matriculation and student growth.
“Though Mathews uses the term 'elite' to describe our students, it's important to observe that ASMSA's community of learning is one of the most geographically, economically and racially diverse schools among this year's cohort.”
ASMSA is included among the 27 schools nationwide on the Public Elites list. It includes peer institutions such as Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics in Kentucky; Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky; the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy; the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts; the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics; the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics; and the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics.
This is the fifth consecutive time ASMSA has been included on the Public Elites list. The school was first added to the Public Elites list in 2015 and included in the 2016 and 2017 list. Mathews did not release a list in 2018 but announced a new list in 2019. ASMSA had often been ranked highly in the Challenge Index previously.