For many years, U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Best High Schools in America, and they’re considered to be the gold standard when it comes to high school rankings. Michigan’s charter schools have always been at or near the top of these rankings; earlier this year, the U.S. News rankings showed that the top open-enrollment high schools both statewide and in Detroit were all charter schools.
And for the first time ever, U.S. News and World Report decided this year to also rank the best elementary and middle schools in each state. The publication used state assessment data in math and language arts from the 2018-2019 school year, so the pandemic did not affect the rankings.
The rankings came out earlier this month, and while charter schools fared very well in the state rankings, the results in Detroit were even more noteworthy – the top 13 open-enrollment elementary schools and middle schools in Detroit are all charter schools.
The rankings were done separately, but the results were the same. The top 13 open-enrollment elementary schools in Detroit are all charter schools, and the top 13 open-enrollment middle schools are all charter schools. There are some schools in the Detroit Public Schools Community District on the list, but they’re all either gifted or talented programs or application schools, meaning they aren’t open to all students.
Charter schools in Detroit, like all charter schools statewide, are open to any student who applies.
Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA), said these results are nothing short of remarkable.
What’s noteworthy here is that this is the first time that U.S. News and World Report has ranked elementary and middle schools,” Quisenberry said. “This is the first time the public has gotten to see a metric like this, and the results speak for themselves. The highest-achieving schools in Detroit are all charter schools. And it’s not just one or two schools. The top thirteen schools on each list are all charter schools. While there’s so much work that still needs to be done to raise student achievement in all schools, this certainly shows that charter schools are leading the way.
- Dan Quisenberry, MAPSA's president.
Quisenberry also noted that when U.S. News and World Report released its high school rankings earlier this year, the top seven open-enrollment high schools in Detroit were all charter schools, as well.
That bears repeating. The top seven high schools in Detroit are all charter schools. The top 13 elementary schools in Detroit are all charter schools. The top 13 middle schools in Detroit are all charter schools.”
- Dan Quisenberry, MAPSA President
The U.S. News and World Report rankings for Detroit (charter schools in bold);
Elementary schools
Detroit middle schools
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