AUSTIN, TX—Five Austin Independent School District high schools are among the best in the nation, according to a Newsweek and The Daily Beast ranking released today. The district’s Liberal Arts Science Academy and Anderson, Austin, Bowie and McCallum high schools each earned a spot on the list of “America’s Best High Schools.”

The ranking highlights the 2,000 best public high schools in the nation—those that have proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready graduates. Newsweek and The Daily Beast ranked: The Liberal Arts and Science Academy 33^rd; Bowie High School 476^th; Anderson High School 611^th; Austin High School 1280^th; and McCallum High School 1649^th.

“From academics to fine arts, AISD students and teachers at LASA and Anderson, Austin, Bowie and McCallum high schools are achieving success at the highest levels,” Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said. “We commend the principals for their steadfast leadership and congratulate the students and teachers for their diligence and hard work, which is helping their schools remain among the best in the nation.”

Explaining the methodology behind the ranking, Newsweek and The Daily Beast said they consider high schools that best prepare students for college, focusing on factors that have been proven to be the best indicators of college readiness: graduation rates; participation in college-level classes via Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs; and acceptance into a two- or four-year college program. This year, they updated the methodology. Instead of considering the number of courses offered, which is limited even for the most ambitious high school curricula, they weighed the percentage of students enrolled in an AP, IB or Advance International Certificate of Education (AICE) course.

Newsweek and The Daily Beast invited more than 5,000 high schools to participate in the survey. Nearly 2,500 responded. All public high schools in the United States are eligible. All the data they analyzed was self-reported by each school for the 2011–12 school year.

For more information about Newsweek’s rankings of AISD high schools, please visit: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/2013/americas-best-high-schools.html .