Westlake and Newbury Park high schools among the best

Three local schools made Newsweek magazine's list of the top 1,300 public high schools in America.

Westlake High School is 201, Oak Park High School is 435 and Newbury Park High School is 460, according to the magazine's method of calculation.

BASIS Charter School in Tucson, Ariz., is ranked No. 1.

The ranking is based on a ratio that takes the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007, divided by the number of graduating seniors at the school.

Newsweek began publishing the list in 1998.

"Newsweek's Challenge Index is designed to recognize schools that challenge average students and not magnet or charter schools that draw only the best students in their areas," according to a statement by the magazine.

The list was compiled by Newsweek's Jay Mathews and can be viewed in detail at www.newsweek.com/id/39380.