U.S. News & World Report: Madison High One of Top Schools in Virginia

Fairfax County is home to the top five public high schools in Virginia, according to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2013 Best High Schools rankings — including Vienna's own James Madison High School.

U.S. News generated the rankings through a partnership with American Institutes for Research, looking at students’ performance on standardized tests and how successfully schools educated black, Hispanic and low-income students.

James Madison was third in Virginia and 101st nationally in 2013 —  both improvements over its 2012 rankings of No. 8. and No. 129 in the state and country, respectively.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was once again ranked the top school in Virginia. It was ranked No. 4 of all schools nationally, down from its No. 2 post in 2012.

Replacing TJ at No. 2 was BASIS Tucson in Arizona, which jumped from sixth in 2012.

Langley, McLean and W.T. Woodson rounded out the rest of Virginia’s top five high schools.

Langley and McLean High Schools, both in McLean, were ranked second and fourth in Virginia respectively. Nationally, Langley was ranked No. 84 and McLean was ranked No. 107.

Woodson High School ranked fifth in Virginia and 116th in the nation in 2013.

According to the list, the School for the Talented and Gifted in the Dallas Independent School District held onto the title of top high school in the nation.

Click here for more information on U.S. News and World Report’s 2013 Best High School rankings.

U.S. News' list is just one of the many Fairfax schools make each year.

Earlier this month, a number of area schools, including Madison and Marshall, earned a national ranking on the Washington Post Challenge Index.

usually in May.

How much stock do you put into national rankings? How do you measure a good school? Tell us in the comments.