MISD One of the Best High Schools in New Mexico and the United States
Mora High School was ranked by US News and World Reports as one of the best high schools in New Mexico and the United States. To produce the 2021 Best High Schools rankings, which are only available online, U.S. News teamed up with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm.
RTI implemented the U.S. News comprehensive rankings methodology, which reflects how well high schools serve all of their students, not just those who are planning to go to college. According to the U.S. News Best High Schools methodology, schools were rated on the following six measures, and the weights used for each indicator are in parentheses.
College readiness (30% of the ranking): The percentage of 12th graders from the class of 2018-2019 who took at least one AP or IB exam by the end of their senior year and the percentage of 12th graders who earned a qualifying score on at least one AP or IB exam in high school. Earning a qualifying score is weighted three times more than taking.
College curriculum breadth (10%): The percentage of 12th graders from the class of 2018-2019 who took a wide variety of AP and IB courses across the multiple disciplines and the percentage of 12th graders who earned a qualifying score on them. Earning a qualifying score is weighted three times more than taking.
Reading and math proficiency (20%): Measures how well students scored on state assessments that measure proficiency in reading and mathematics. Passing these assessments can be required for graduation. Examples of assessments include Smarter Balanced in California and STAAR in Texas.
Reading and math performance (20%): The difference between how students performed on state assessments and what U.S. News predicted based on a school's student body. U.S. News' modeling across all 50 states and the District of Columbia indicates that the percentage of students from historically underserved subgroups – defined as Black students, Hispanic students, and students who are eligible for free and reduced price lunch – are highly predictive of a school's reading and math scores.
Underserved student performance (10%): How well the student population receiving subsidized school lunch and Black and Hispanic populations perform on state assessments relative to statewide performance among students not in those subgroups.
Graduation rate (10%): For the 2021 rankings, the graduation rate corresponds to the 2019 graduation cohort who would have entered ninth grade in the 2015-2016 school year. The high school graduation rates were collected directly from each state along with the math and reading assessment data.
