Evanston Township High School is still one of the best places in the country to get an education.
The latest “Best High Schools” study from U.S. News & World Report places ETHS as #41 in Illinois, and #955 in the country. U.S. News ranks nearly 18,000 public high schools from across the nation.
ETHS ranked 13th in the state in 2016, 27th in 2019, 29th in 2019, 37th in 2020 and 41st last year.
According to a news release from ETHS, the school received a score of 94.65 out of a possible 100, placing it in the top 3% of high schools in Illinois and in the U.S.
U.S. News says the methodology used for this year’s rankings changed somewhat because of disruption to school testing programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Six factors were included in determining the score: College Readiness; Math, Reading & Science Proficiency; Math, Reading & Science Performance; Underserved Student Performance; Collge Curriculum Breadth; and Graduation Rate.
In a statement from the school, District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon praised the “dedicated teachers and staff.”
“Even with the impact of a global pandemic and the challenges to the academic, social and emotional wellbeing of students, ETHS is committed to preparing students for career, college, and life,” Witherspoon said.
“As a comprehensive public high school that welcomes all in our community,” he added, “we are incredibly proud.”
According to this article ETHS ranked 13th in the state in 2016 and dropped to 41st in 2021. This should be cause for concern. It seems to be a significant drop in a relatively short time. So the question I have is this – what caused this drop in performance and what can be done to correct it?