NEWSWEEK: America's Best High Schools, 2007

Texas has the top two public high schools in the United States with Talented and Gifted in Dallas, Texas, ranking number one for the second year in a row, according to Newsweek's new compilation of America's best public high schools in the current issue. In the annual ranking, the Science/Engineering Magnet school in Dallas is number two on the list, followed by Stanton College Prep in Jacksonville, Fla., Jefferson County IBS in Irondale, Ala., and Suncoast Community in Riviera Beach, Fla. Florida has two schools in the top ten and seven in the top 25, and Texas has five in the top 25 on the list, which is in the May 28 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, May 21).

The schools are ranked according to Challenge Index devised by Contributing Editor Jay Mathews: the total number of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) tests taken at a school and divided by the number of graduating seniors. See the complete list of 1,258 schools at http://www.Newsweek.com. The top 100 are in also in the print edition of the magazine.

Mathews writes that two education experts recently said it was wrong for Newsweek to label "best" schools with high dropout rates and low average test scores like many of the low-income schools on the list. "As we note this year, several of the schools on the Newsweek list did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind law, though that, too, is mostly a measure of poverty, plus the failure of some not-so-poor schools to raise the achievement of their most disadvantaged students. Readers are entitled to their own views of this rating system. The Challenge Index is journalism designed to serve readers, like the Dow Jones Averages or baseball slugging percentages-not scholarship," Mathews writes.

As part of the Best American High Schools package, Senior Editor Barbara Kantrowitz and Mathews look at the role of principals in making a high school great. Good principals may seem unlikely superheroes-unless you're a student, teacher or parent. They set the tone for what happens from the moment the opening bell rings and can turn a troubled school around with a combination of vision, drive and very hard work. It's a 24/7 job. "Schools aren't just about just reading, writing and arithmetic anymore," says Al Penna, principal of Binghamton H.S. in upstate New York. "School faculties now have the additional roles of mentor, adviser and quasi parent."

Principals also have to be politicians, crisis managers, cheerleaders, legal experts, disciplinarians, entertainers, coaches and persuasive evangelists for their school's educational mission. Add to that already daunting list the task of statistician, thanks to reams of data required by the federal No Child Left Behind law and local testing. "Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in data," says Jill Martin, the principal of Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., who won the 2007 Principal of the Year title from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Martin, 61, who, like Penna, routinely works 12- and 14-hour days, makes sure to show up at school plays and games on weekends. Endless energy does seem to be a requirement, as does a talent for getting the best out of a large team. "It no longer works to be the dictator or the sage on the stage," says Martin. "You have to be a leader of instructional leaders. You have to be someone who can really motivate people to go the extra mile because the job of a teacher is far more difficult and complex than when I started teaching."

Above all, says Martin, you have to be someone who understands teenagers' needs. Although the demands of the school have changed in her 38 years as an educator, Martin says kids are the same: "They still want someone to care about them. The principal has to be someone who really loves kids and understands what it takes to motivate teachers to change every child's life." Finding those leaders is harder than ever, Newsweek reports. Many baby boomers, who now hold the majority of the jobs, are retiring in the next few years. Other veteran principals are leaving because of school reform or restructuring efforts or simply because they no longer want to do the work. It's estimated that in some areas, 60 percent of principals will leave their positions in the next five years. That's why there's a new focus on finding and training the best of the next generation for these jobs, including recruits from other fields.

Also in the high schools package, Washington Correspondent Pat Wingert also reports on the rapidly growing popularity of the rigorous International Baccalaureate (IB) test in schools across the country. Wingert reports that the growth of IB schools around the world has been steady over the past 40 years, but it's been fastest in the United States, where it is now in 758 schools.