Produced December 13, 2007; based on 2007 data

This list has been updated since Dec. 13, 2007. The rankings of some schools have changed based on new data given to The Post by schools and school districts.

The Washington Post Challenge Index measures a public high school's effort to challenge its students. The formula is simple: Divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests a school gave by the number of seniors who graduated in June. Tests taken by all students, not just seniors, are counted. Magnet or charter schools with SAT combined verbal and math averages higher than 1300, or ACT average scores above 27, are not included, since they do not have enough average students who need a challenge.

The rating is not a measurement of the overall quality of the school but illuminates one factor that many educators consider important.

When compared with schools across the country, Washington-area schools are overall the most encouraging of college-level testing. In the list below, any school with a rating of 1.000 or above is in the top 5 percent of all U.S. high schools in encouraging students to take AP, IB or Cambridge tests. Also listed is the name of the school district and the percentage of a school’s students whose family incomes are low enough to qualify for federally subsidized lunches and who also apply for that program. The portion of subsidized-lunch applicants is a rough indicator of a school’s poverty level. High poverty schools are at a disadvantage in persuading students to take college-level courses, but some on this list have succeeded in doing so anyway.

The Equity and Excellence rate is the percentage of all seniors who have had at least one score on an AP, IB or Cambridge test that would qualify them for college credit. The average AP Equity and Excellence rate for all U.S. schools is about 15 percent.

*Includes IB tests.

**Includes Cambridge, community college or other types of college-level final exams.

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Rank School District Index Equity and Excellence % Subsidized Lunches %
85 T.C. Williams** Alexandria 1.590 22.50 50.00
119 Arundel Senior Anne Arundel 1.277 20.80 10.00
140 North County Anne Arundel 0.922 10.00 24.00
76 Southern Anne Arundel 1.738 19.00 11.00
143 Northeast Anne Arundel 0.893 16.70 13.00
123 Chesapeake Anne Arundel 1.226 23.70 7.00
61 Old Mill* Anne Arundel 1.998 31.00 15.00
153 Meade Anne Arundel 0.770 16.60 26.00
53 South River Anne Arundel 2.182 35.20 4.00
50 Annapolis* Anne Arundel 2.298 18.20 28.00
157 Glen Burnie Anne Arundel 0.708 10.00 23.00
41 Severna Park Anne Arundel 2.494 43.50 2.00
30 Broadneck Anne Arundel 2.730 41.50 5.00
1 H-B Woodlawn Arlington 5.636 93.60 17.00
5 Washington-Lee* Arlington 4.179 43.80 36.00
11 Yorktown Arlington 3.896 66.30 15.00
55 Wakefield Arlington 2.157 38.40 52.00
64 Patuxent Calvert 1.951 32.20 8.00
129 Calvert Calvert 1.063 15.90 15.00
70 Huntingtown Calvert 1.912 n/a 6.00
101 Northern Calvert 1.442 26.30 8.00
175 Key Carroll 0.283 11.20 18.00
164 North Carroll Carroll 0.538 15.70 8.00
133 Winters Mill Carroll 0.975 27.30 17.00
155 Westminster Carroll 0.756 29.40 6.00
144 Century Carroll 0.887 27.80 6.00
149 South Carroll Carroll 0.819 20.70 4.00
107 Liberty Carroll 1.409 32.60 3.00
52 McDonough Charles 2.216 19.00 18.00
105 Stone Charles 1.419 13.70 20.00
150 Lackey Charles 0.815 11.10 23.00
74 La Plata Charles 1.771 20.20 11.00
108 Westlake Charles 1.401 16.90 14.00
3 Clarke County* Clarke 4.535 82.00 13.00
160 Culpeper County Culpeper 0.588 9.60 20.00
110 Friendship Collegiate** D.C. 1.382 n/a 67.00
20 Woodrow Wilson D.C. 3.272 35.00 42.00
180 Eastern D.C. 0.154 2.00 63.00
131 Coolidge D.C. 1.038 2.00 55.00
172 Dunbar D.C. 0.351 0.00 54.00
167 H.D. Woodson D.C. 0.510 2.00 62.00
166 M.M. Washington D.C. 0.516 0.00 67.00
111 McKinley Technology D.C. 1.380 4.00 53.00
186 Ballou D.C. 0.000 0.00 90.00
25 Banneker* D.C. 3.106 32.00 39.00
184 Spingarn STAY D.C. 0.043 4.00 80.00
154 Cesar Chavez D.C. 0.761 0.00 81.00
122 Ellington D.C. 1.231 n/a 32.00
125 Thurgood Marshall D.C. 1.179 4.70 70.00
173 Integrated Design and Electronics D.C. 0.348 0.00 75.00
124 Cardozo D.C. 1.203 2.40 66.00
177 Spingarn D.C. 0.269 0.00 79.00
183 Anacostia D.C. 0.123 0.00 68.00
146 Booker T. Washington D.C. 0.862 0.00 86.00
159 Washington Math & Science Tech D.C. 0.663 7.00 80.00
69 SEED Public Charter School D.C. 1.917 20.00 73.00
178 Roosevelt D.C. 0.258 2.50 54.00
77 Hyde D.C. 1.706 n/a 50.00
98 School Without Walls D.C. 1.468 35.00 13.00
13 Bell Multicultural D.C. 3.888 11.00 81.00
4 Langley Fairfax 4.280 67.40 1.00
87 Hayfield Fairfax 1.577 27.20 21.00
10 W. T. Woodson Fairfax 3.907 59.50 6.00
86 Lee* Fairfax 1.582 37.60 32.00
14 Lake Braddock Fairfax 3.681 54.40 11.00
16 McLean Fairfax 3.646 68.20 6.00
17 Oakton Fairfax 3.590 55.40 9.00
18 Centreville Fairfax 3.566 45.30 11.00
19 Chantilly Fairfax 3.346 47.60 11.00
21 Herndon Fairfax 3.265 53.70 18.00
22 South County Fairfax 3.190 35.00 15.00
23 Westfield Fairfax 3.138 49.50 12.00
24 James Madison Fairfax 3.107 53.60 5.00
84 Edison* Fairfax 1.635 42.40 29.00
31 Robinson* Fairfax 2.718 52.10 10.00
32 West Potomac Fairfax 2.700 39.30 30.00
34 West Springfield Fairfax 2.605 52.10 9.00
35 Marshall* Fairfax 2.599 55.40 16.00
37 Fairfax Fairfax 2.587 42.70 16.00
94 Mount Vernon* Fairfax 1.511 34.90 38.00
47 Stuart* Fairfax 2.378 43.10 51.00
51 Falls Church Fairfax 2.245 35.20 37.00
63 South Lakes* Fairfax 1.991 41.50 33.00
104 Annandale* Fairfax 1.425 40.00 40.00
6 George Mason* Falls Church 4.176 65.00 7.00
148 Liberty Fauquier 0.835 18.40 14.00
92 Fauquier Fauquier 1.520 23.10 10.00
83 Urbana* Frederick 1.645 43.00 4.00
118 Catoctin Frederick 1.303 26.80 13.00
128 Tuscarora Frederick 1.069 31.10 14.00
90 Gov. Thomas Johnson Frederick 1.556 28.80 19.00
88 Frederick Frederick 1.572 34.40 28.00
71 Linganore Frederick 1.842 39.10 5.00
100 Brunswick Frederick 1.454 28.60 14.00
56 Middletown Frederick 2.133 46.00 5.00
103 Walkersville Frederick 1.431 33.40 12.00
127 Monroe Fredericksburg 1.091 24.90 30.00
141 Hammond Howard 0.921 20.90 17.00
147 Long Reach Howard 0.845 18.90 19.00
121 Wilde Lake Howard 1.241 29.50 19.00
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*Includes IB tests.

**Includes Cambridge, community college or other types of college-level final exams.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, with a rating of 7.486 and an Equity and Excellence rate of 100 percent, was not ranked because it is a magnet school with a selective admissions policy and an average SAT reading and math score, 1456, higher than the highest average for any regular enrollment school in the country. The index is designed to show which schools are challenging average students and does not work well with schools like Jefferson that have few or no average students.

Briar Woods and Freedom in Loudoun County, Battlefield and Freedom in Prince William County, Skyline in Warren County, Clarksburg and Northwood in Montgomery County, Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. in Prince George’s County, Marriotts Ridge in Howard County and North Point in Charles County were not included because they are new schools and did not have full senior classes graduating this year.

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