Dublin High Ranked High In Magazine's List, But Data Isn't Correct

The good news:was ranked 12th in the nation and 4th in California in U.S. News & World Report's annual list of best high schools in the country.

The bad news: It appears at least one piece of crucial data isn't even close to being correct.

The publication released its 2012 list of the nation's best public high schools today, which includes information on nearly 22,000 schools from 49 states and the District of Columbia, according to the publication's website.

In addition to ranking the schools, U.S. News & World Report awarded 4,850 bronze, silver, and gold stars to top performing schools. Of those, 500 were gold stars, with 97 golden honors going to California schools, according to the magazine's website.

Dublin High snagged one of those gold medals.

However, the magazine listed the student population at 493, when it's actually more than 1,500. The number of full-time teachers was listed at 66.

That gave Dublin High the eyebrow-raising student-to-teacher ratio of 7:1. The real ratio, based on 66 teachers, would be closer to 23:1.

Administrators at Dublin High could not be reached for comment.

U.S. News & World Report editors also were unavailable.

If the magazine does update and correct the data, it appears Dublin High would still be in the gold medal category.

The magazine noted the school has a 100 percent "pass rate" on the annual Advanced Placement (AP) tests. Dublin High also had an Academic Performance Index score of 867, above the state average.

In partnership with the American Institute for Research, U.S. News & World Report analyzed schools on a state level based upon how well each school's students performed on state assessments, according to the website.

High schools that ranked highly on the state level analysis were then eligible to be ranked nationally. National rankings were determined by the degree to which each school had prepared its students for college.

This determination involved assessing the number of advanced placement and international baccalaureate programs taken by students at each school, according to the website.