Maine is no longer the top-ranked state in the country for student achievement on college placement exams, U.S. News & World Report said Tuesday.

The state fell seven places to No. 8 on the magazine’s 2015 Best High Schools list after earning the top spot a year earlier.

This year’s rankings are based on the performance of high school seniors during the 2012-13 academic year on both Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests, according to the magazine. Both tests assess knowledge and critical thinking skills and have other measures.

Of the 95 Maine high schools deemed eligible for the study, 17 were found to have superior student performance on college placement exams, representing 17.9 percent of all eligible schools.

High-performing schools earned either a gold, silver or bronze medal. Three high schools in Maine earned gold medals, and 14 were awarded silver medals. Bronze-medal schools were not considered for the purpose of state-by-state rankings. A full list of the Maine schools that earned medals was not available as of press time.

The previous year, only 90 high schools in Maine met the study’s eligibility requirements, which were loosened this year to allow more schools to be included. Still, that year four schools in the state earned gold medals and 16 were awarded silver medals, for a total of 20 schools, or 22.2 percent of all schools.

In 2014, the top-ranked high school in Maine for achievement on college placement exams was the Maine School of Science & Mathematics in Limestone, followed by Falmouth, Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth and Kennebunk high schools.

The No. 1-ranked state in the country for 2015 was Maryland, in which nearly 29 percent of high schools earned medals. Of the 232 eligible schools, 20 were awarded gold medals and 47 earned silver medals. It was followed by California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Florida and Ohio. After Maine, New York and Virginia rounded out this year’s top 10.

Gov. Paul LePage has been critical of the overall preparedness of Maine students for college and work, saying K-12 schools need to do a better job. In stumping for his budget and tax reform package this year, he has repeatedly cited the high number of Maine high school graduates who need remedial classes once they get to college.

 

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