photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World File Photo

Free State High School, 4700 Overland Drive, is pictured in this file photo from September 2018.

Lawrence’s Free State High School finished just outside the top 10 of Kansas’s best public high schools, according to a new ranking by U.S. News & World Report.

The high school in northwest Lawrence ranked No. 11 in the state, and was the top-ranked public high school in Douglas County.

Here’s a look at the rankings for all the school districts in the county, plus some of the metrics that U.S. News & World Report used to measure the schools:

• No. 11: Free State High. 90% graduation rate; 45% science proficiency; 42% reading proficiency; 38% mathematics proficiency; 38% took at least one advanced placement exam; 17-1 student-teacher ratio.

• No. 23: Lawrence High. 79% graduation rate; 38% science proficiency; 36% reading proficiency; 33% mathematics proficiency; 25% took at least one advanced placement exam; 16-1 student-teacher ratio.

• No. 27: Baldwin High. 82% graduation rate; 46% science proficiency; 33% reading proficiency; 40% mathematics proficiency; 21% took at least one advanced placement exam; 13-1 student-teacher ratio.

• No. 84: Perry-Lecompton High. 89% graduation rate; 45% science proficiency; 33% reading proficiency; 39% mathematics proficiency; 15-1 student teacher ratio. (Information on number of students taking advanced placement exam wasn’t reported.)

• No. 85: Eudora High. 94% graduation; 43% science proficiency; 36% reading proficiency; 27% mathematics proficiency; 15-1 student-teacher ratio. (Information on number of students taking advanced placement exam wasn’t reported.)

U.S. News & World Report uses a variety of data from the U.S. Department of Education and the College Board, a nonprofit that administers Advanced Placement — or AP — exams and courses to high school students, in addition to other types of standardized tests. Proficiency scores are based off the standards set by each state for state assessment tests. Standardized test scores were based off a three-year average in most cases, given that some schools were given exceptions from administering standardized tests due to COVID disruptions.

U.S. News & World Report places various weights on each category, and the review goes well beyond looking at just the graduation rates, as evidenced by the two lowest-ranked schools in Douglas County — Perry-Lecompton and Eudora — had the highest graduation rates of all other schools in the county. For reasons that weren’t explained in the report, however, both Perry-Lecompton and Eudora had no information to report on AP Exam rates. That likely hurt the overall ranking of both schools because 30% of the U.S. News & World Report ranking is based on college readiness as determined by AP Exam results and participation rates.

Here’s a look at a few other area high schools that were ranked:

• No. 16: De Soto High School: 95% graduation rate; 46% science proficiency; 44% reading proficiency; 34% mathematics proficiency; 32% took at least one advanced placement exam; 17-1 student-teacher ratio.

• No. 96: Tonganoxie High. 89% graduation rate; 30% science proficiency; 32% reading proficiency; 12% mathematics proficiency; 21% took at least one advanced placement exam; 13-1 student-teacher ratio.

• No 178-282: Ottawa High School. 90% graduation rate; 30% science proficiency; 22% reading proficiency; 12% mathematics proficiency; 13-1 student-teacher ratio. (Information on number of students taking advance placement exam wasn’t reported.)

The Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kansas City, Kan. was the topped ranked public high school in the state and ranked No. 32 in the entire country. Key metrics for the magnet school include 98% graduation rate; 46% science proficiency; 57% reading proficiency; 60% mathematics proficiency; 99% took at least one International Baccalaureate exam; 19-1 student-teacher ratio.

Other schools in the top 10 of the state include: No. 2, Blue Valley North; No. 3, Shawnee Mission East; No. 4, Olathe Northwest; No. 5, Blue Valley High; No. 6, Blue Valley West; No. 7 Blue Valley Northwest; No. 8, Andover Central; No. 9, Blue Valley Southwest; No. 10, Northeast Magnet Wichita.