Methodology: The Most and Least Diverse High Schools in MA

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

To compile its ranking of Rhode Island's most diverse high schools, GoLocal utilized data submitted by each school to the Institute for Education Science's National Center for Education Statistics and the Massachusetts Department of Education.

See the 50 Most Diverse High Schools in Massachusetts Here

This data includes a total enrollment figure and numbers of students in each of 6 racial categories:

American Indian/Alaskan
Asian/Pacific Islander
Black
Hispanic
Two or more races
White

GoLocal researchers used these numbers to compute percentages of the student body in each category. From there, to assess a school's overall racial balance, GoLocal looked at how far from a "perfect balance" of equal representation in each category each school fell. The numerical distance--either above or below--was calculated for each school in each category, and then summed. The lowest sums indicated those schools closest to balance across all six categories.

Those sums, from lowest to highest, yielded GoLocal's rankings.

GoLocal acknowledges that nearly every public school represents the diversity of its community; this ranking does not seek to correlate that factor. This is a statistical look at how each and every public and charter school's composition represents a true (or far from true) racial diversity.

Methodology: The Most and Least Diverse High Schools in MA

Related Slideshow: The 50 Least Diverse High Schools in Massachusetts

#50 Pioneer Valley Reg.

Northfield, MA

#49 Health & Human Svc.

Health & Human Svc. HS, Lawrence, MA

#48 South Shore HS

South Shore Voc. Tech. HS, Hanover, MA

#47 Seekonk HS

Seekonk, MA

#46 Athol HS

Athol, MA

#45 Humanities & Leadership

Humanities & Leadership Dev. HS, Lawrence, MA

#44 Blackstone Valley

Blackstone Valley Reg. Voc. Tech., Upton, MA

#43 Hopedale Jr. Sr. HS

Hopedale, MA

#42 Wahconah Reg. HS

Dalton, MA

#41 W. Wareham Academy

Wareham, MA

#40 Sutton HS

Sutton, MA

#39 Bay Path HS

Bay Path Reg. Voc. Tech. HS, Charlton, MA

#38 HS Learning Center

Lawrence, MA

#37 Shawsheen Valley

Shawsheen Valley Vocational Tech., Billerica, MA

#36 Nipmuc Reg. HS

Upton, MA

#35 Tewksbury Memorial HS

Tewksbury, MA

#34 N. Reading HS

North Reading, MA

#33 Joseph Case HS

Swansea, MA

#32 Gardner Academy

Gardner Academy for Learning and Tech., Gardner, MA

#31 Hampshire Reg. HS

Westhampton, MA

#30 Triton Reg. HS

Byfield, MA

#29 Medway HS

Medway, MA

#28 Apponequet Reg. HS

Lakeville, MA

#27 Pentucket HS

Pentucket Regional Sen. HS, West Newbury, MA

#26 Gateway Reg. HS

Huntington, MA

#25 N. Middlesex Reg. HS

Townsend, MA

#24 Scituate HS

Scituate, MA

#23 Norfolk County HS

Norfolk County Agricultural HS, Walpole, MA

#22 Masconomet Reg. HS

Topsfield, MA

#21 King Phillip Reg. HS

Wrentham, MA

#20 Norwell HS

Norwell, MA

#19 Norton HS

Norton, MA

#18 Charles McCann

Charles McCann Voc. Tech., North Adams, MA

#17 Westfield Vocational

Westfield Vocational Tech. HS, Westfield, MA

#16 Medfield Senior High

Medfield, MA

#15 Georgetown MS/HS

Georgetown, MA

#14 Hanover HS

Hanover, MA

#13 Carver MS/HS

Carver, MA

#12 Duxbury HS

Duxbury, MA