Local high schools rank high in challenging their students

All three Conejo Valley high schools were included in The Washington Post's Challenge Index, a formula that measures a school's effort to challenge its students.

The index ranks the nation's top 1,250 public high schools in this category. Westlake High School ranked No. 200, Newbury Park came in at No. 409 and Thousand Oaks at No. 879.

The formula for the Challenge Index is based on the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and other college-level tests the schools administered divided by the number of seniors who graduated in June.

Westlake's 200 ranking was accompanied by a 2.498 index. Newbury Park's index was 1.908 and Thousand Oaks, 1.334.

The ranking also included an Equity and Excellence rate, which represents the percentage of all seniors who earned at least one score of 3 or above on the 5-point AP test. The new statistic wasn't available for all schools, including Newbury Park.

However, Westlake High School received a 35.7 Equity and Excellence rate, and Thousand Oaks, a 20. The national average is 14.7 percent.

The Washington Post makes clear, however, that the ranking "is not a measurement of the overall quality of the school but illuminates one factor that many educators consider important."

- - Joann Groff