2 Seattle-area schools among tops in U.S.

Two Seattle-area schools have landed on a list of the country's 100 best public schools, as determined by U.S. News & World Report and School Evaluation Services, an education data research business of Standard & Poor's.

The International Community School in Kirkland ranked 14th, while Newport Senior High School in Bellevue ranked 44th.

Seattle Public Schools' Garfield High School and Roosevelt High School both earned silver medals, indicating the magazine ranked the schools in the top 500 nationally. Bainbridge High School, Issaquah High School and Mercer Island High School were also designated as silver medal schools.

To determine the rankings, the organizations reviewed 2005-06 public-school scores on standardized tests in reading and math to find which high schools performed above their state's average. Then, the test scores for students at those schools who were black, Hispanic or poor were reviewed, to make sure their scores were also above the state's averages.

Public schools in 40 states were reviewed. In Washington, the organization reviewed schools' performance on the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

The organizers also created a "college readiness index," which ranked schools based on factors such as how many students took Advanced Placement classes and how many later passed AP exams.

For the complete rankings, visit usnews.com/highschools.