U.S. News and World Report has ranked Hampton High School as the number 13 school in the state in its “2012 Best High Schools” report. The report – the fourth one issued by the news magazine – hit newsstands today. Hampton High School has ranked in the top 15 in the state in all four years.

The methodology used to determine which schools make the list was developed by School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor’s. The methodology is a three-step process that analyzes first how schools are educating all of their students, then their minority and disadvantaged students, and finally their college-bound students based on student scores on statewide tests, Advanced Placement tests, and International Baccalaureate tests. The key principles for the methodology are that a great high school must serve all its students well, not just those who are college-bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.

Other Western PA schools earning a place in the report are Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, North Allegheny and Fox Chapel.

The full report can be accessed here.