By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Spain Park High School recently received national recognition, ranking among the best public high schools in America.

U.S. News and World Report paired with social science research firm RTI International to produce the 2015 Best High Schools list, examining more than 21,000 schools across the country.

Schools were evaluated on two key factors, “That a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are college bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show it is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators,” the U.S. News and World Report methodology read.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the final list was compiled through a three-step process.

First, math and reading results from state high school proficiency tests were evaluated to determine if students at each school were outperforming the state expectations.

Spain Park High School students recorded a 98 percent proficiency in reading and 99 percent proficiency in math on state high school exit exams.

Second, schools passing the first step were analyzed for whether disadvantaged students were outperforming the state average for disadvantaged students.

Finally, schools passing the first and second steps were evaluated for students’ college-readiness. This was determined by examining school Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate scores.

To read more about how schools were evaluated, visit Usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings.

U.S. News and World Report awarded Spain Park a bronze-level medal, recognizing the school as one of the best public high schools in the country. Spain Park High School also ranked among the best public high schools in Alabama.

Spain Park boasts a 12-to-one student-teacher ratio, with a student body of 1,558 and 131 full-time teachers.

Students of Spain Park’s most recent graduating class were offered nearly $17 million in college scholarships. Ninety percent of the class of 2015 enrolled in four-year institutions and nearly 90 percent were offered admission to their first choice school.