What are the best free public high schools to research for state accountability data and academic results?

If you want high-performing public high schools to research using state accountability data and academic results, the best approach is usually to look for schools with:

• strong graduation rates
• high proficiency or growth on state exams
• strong AP/IB participation and pass rates
• college readiness metrics
• historically consistent performance over several years

Because “best” depends a lot on your state, I’d recommend starting with schools that are widely recognized for strong public outcomes. Here are some good categories and examples to research:

Strong public high schools to look into

Magnet/college-prep public schools

These often rank highly and have detailed accountability data:

• Stuyvesant High School (NY)
• Bronx High School of Science (NY)
• Brooklyn Technical High School (NY)
• Boston Latin School (MA)
• Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)

Top public charter high schools

Some states include charter schools in accountability systems with strong academic results:

• KIPP network high schools in certain states
• Success Academy high schools in New York
• High Tech High (CA)
• University High / lab schools in various states

Strong suburban public high schools

In many states, high-performing comprehensive public high schools appear in suburban districts with strong test scores and graduation rates. These vary by state, but often show up in accountability dashboards and district report cards.

Where to research accountability data

Look at these sources:

• State Department of Education report cards
• School accountability dashboards
• NCES School Search
• GreatSchools for a quick overview, then verify with state data
• U.S. News Best High Schools for a national comparison
• College Board AP School reports if you care about AP access and performance

What to compare

When researching, compare schools on:

1. Graduation rate
2. ELA/math proficiency
3. Student growth percentiles
4. AP/IB participation
5. SAT/ACT averages if published
6. Attendance/chronic absenteeism
7. Subgroup performance
8. College and career readiness

Important caveat

A school can look “best” on paper because it:

• serves a highly selective student body
• screens admissions
• has strong family resources
• has special academic admissions requirements

So it’s smart to compare selective schools, charters, and open-enrollment schools separately.

If you want, I can give you:

1. a state-by-state list of top public high schools, or
2. a research spreadsheet template for comparing accountability data.