Paly students and faculty are speaking out one week after U.S. News and World Report ranked the nation’s public high schools.

The report placed Gunn 65th in the nation with Paly trailing in the number 85 spot, after an analysis of 18,790 public high schools in 40 states.

“It [the ranking] is based on the key principles that a great high school must serve all its students well, not just those who are bound for college, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes that show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators,” US News and World Report stated.

The rankings were based on several factors. First, the results of schools standardized tests were compared to the average in their state, which in California was the CAHSEE. Then they compared how disadvantaged students, defined as black, Hispanic, and low income students, fared on standardized tests as compared to state averages. The final piece measured “which schools produced the best college-level achievement for the highest percentages of their students.” This was found by the percentage of students who took AP tests and then what the average scores were for the AP tests.

Principal Jacqueline McEvoy is happy with the rankings and sees it as a reflection of all the hard work students and teachers put in at Paly.

“It’s really a good thing,” McEvoy said. “The students and teachers work really hard, and to be recognized in the top 100 is really a compliment, we should celebrate when we’re given that recognition.”

According to McEvoy, the fact that the ranking only considered what she calls “quantitative” information is not necessarily a bad thing.

“When you do a ranking you have to look at quantitative things,” McEvoy said. “We all know schools are beyond the numbers, but when you do a national ranking, you have to use quantitative information.”

But McEvoy also notes that standardized tests play in important part in designing a school’s curriculum by illuminating the areas students are underperforming in. But the administration has run into a roadblock due to the fact that only 73% of Paly’s junior class took the STAR test last year. This is compared to Gunn, which according to McEvoy, has about 98% junior participation in the star tests.

“They [Gunn] require students to take STAR tests to be enrolled in AP’s,” McEvoy said. But McEvoy points to other reasons that Gunn scored higher. According to McEvoy, Gunn generally has more National Merit scholars, 200 more students, more kids taking AP tests, and more AP class periods.

Even though Paly did well in the rankings, some students are not happy with how they were obtained.

“I think overall it’s not the best way to rank schools,” senior Charles Holland said. “But 20 spaces from Gunn isn’t bad.” Basing the rankings solely on test scores leads some to question the accuracy of the rankings.

“I think 85 is good, but I think it [the rankings] should be based on more than just test scores,” freshman Natalie O’Hara said.

Although some disagree with how the rankings were determined, most students are glad to be ranked so high, but don’t believe it matters in the long run.

“I think we should be proud of how good our school is but the rankings don’t affect our quality of education,” sophomore Aaron Lee said.

Teachers also chimed in with their feelings about the rankings.

“I think it’s better that we’re ranked than unranked, but it really doesn’t change what we do here,” social studies teacher Jack Bungarden said. Although generally happy with how Paly faired, some teachers side with students in finding the methods rankings were determined to be insufficient to a true look at a school.

“Numbers can do a lot of things for you,” English teacher Mike McNulty said. “But to base a ranking solely on test scores is like playing basketball with a hand tied behind your back. It doesn’t give you the whole picture… because there is so much more to a school than test results.” As for the future, McEvoy has ideas to help the school score even higher next time around.

“It’s not about raising test scores, it’s broadening the number of students taking APs,” McEvoy said, “by getting kids not traditionally in the APs to take APs.”