Dawson High School earns national recognition for second year in a row

Dawson High School was recently ranked among America's best high schools according to Newsweek for the second year in a row.

The school also made the list of best high schools according to the U.S. News and World Report and the High School Challenge list from the Washington Post.

Dawson was placed at No. 805 on Newsweek's 1,000 best public high schools in the country, out of more than 2,300 evaluated schools.

To be considered for the list, schools had to fill out a survey to provide the following information: four-year, on-time graduation rate; percent of 2011 graduates who were accepted into college; average SAT and ACT scores; average AP/IB/AICE scores; and percent of AP/IB/AICE courses offered per student.

Dawson High School boasts a 100 percent graduation rate with 86 percent of those students accepted into colleges. The average SAT score was 1528, and the average AP exam score was 2.8.

The U.S. News ranking was based on an analysis of 21,776 public high schools across the nation. Dawson High was placed at No. 101 in Texas and 1,266 in the country.

This study was based on the performance of traditional and economically disadvantaged students on standardized tests and preparation for college-level work through AP classes and exams.

In the Washington Post High School Challenge, Dawson High was ranked at No. 73 in the state and No. 769 in the nation.

This study examines how well a school prepares its students for college by dividing the number of college-level tests administered by the number of graduating seniors.