BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The mystery of why one of Alabama’s highest-performing high schools was left out of U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools rankings has been solved.
The Loveless Academic Magnet Program, or LAMP, was left out of the rankings because of Alabama’s rules and practices for protecting student privacy when publishing test data.
The data were not missing. Some of the numbers U.S. News needed were suppressed in the downloadable version of Alabama’s federal report card, even though LAMP’s performance was visible on the state’s public-facing report card.
U.S. News initially told Alabama Daily News that LAMP was unranked because it “did not receive ACT state assessment data for the school from the Alabama Department of Education.”
The Alabama State Department of Education pushed back on that explanation, saying it does not send data directly to U.S. News or its research partner, RTI International.
U.S. News later told state officials that it got Alabama’s assessment data from the state’s federal report card website.
Now, U.S. News is offering a more specific explanation.
“For Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) and certain other Alabama schools, some data were suppressed to protect student privacy, particularly where exceptionally high performance could make individual students identifiable,” U.S. News said in a statement to ADN.
U.S. News acknowledged that LAMP’s performance was visible on Alabama’s public report card. The problem was that some of the numbers needed for its ranking formula were suppressed in the downloadable data.
“As such, LAMP and certain other schools were not included in the rankings,” U.S. News said. “Their exclusion should not be viewed as a reflection of their academic performance.”
LAMP was one of 98 Alabama schools that did not receive a state rank in the 2026-27 rankings.
LAMP’s public-facing 2023-24 report card shows that 100% of students participated in English language arts, math and science assessments. It reports proficiency rates of 100% in English, 92.78% in math and 94.85% in science.
This is where things get tricky (and possibly harder to see).
The downloadable data behind the report card do not always show the same information in the same way.
For LAMP, several fields are replaced with asterisks instead of numbers, including the number of students tested, the number proficient, the participation rate and the proficiency rate.
Alabama uses those symbols to protect student privacy.
According to the state’s report card, an asterisk is used when a student count is 10 or fewer, or when subtracting that count from the total would leave 10 or fewer students. A separate symbol is used when a percentage is 95% or higher or 5% or lower.
LAMP’s participation data show how that can work.
The downloadable file shows 97 students enrolled at LAMP, but replaces both the number tested and the participation rate with asterisks.
Because all 97 students participated, there were zero students who did not take the test. Under the state’s suppression rules, that zero can trigger the privacy protection because it is 10 or fewer.
So the downloadable file hides the number tested and the participation rate.
But the public-facing report card shows LAMP’s participation rate as 100%.
That is not the only odd result.
The state can also suppress a student count in one place while publishing enough information elsewhere to figure out what that count is.
For example, LAMP’s report card shows that 8.25% of its 97 students scored at Level 3 in English, but it suppresses the corresponding number of students.
Eight students represent about 8.25% of 97.
So a person looking at Alabama’s online report card may be able to see or work out information that is not available as a usable number in the downloadable data file.
That difference mattered for U.S. News.
U.S. News said some of the data it needed to calculate its Performance Index were not available in a form it could use, even though the schools’ performance appeared on the public report card.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey said the suppression was intentional and followed federal reporting requirements and student-privacy protections.
“The integrity and security of student data are among the Alabama State Department of Education’s highest responsibilities,” Mackey said in a statement to ADN.
He also emphasized that LAMP’s exclusion was not caused by an error or omission by the department.
“We appreciate U.S. News & World Report acknowledging that ALSDE accurately reported its school-performance data and that the exclusion of LAMP and certain other Alabama schools was not caused by any error, omission, or deficiency on the part of the department,” Mackey said.
“No ranking or recognition is more important than protecting the privacy and safety of Alabama’s students.”
U.S. News, RTI International and ALSDE said they are working together to improve data review and sharing so eligible Alabama schools are accurately reflected in future rankings.
Full response from U.S. News & World Report
“To calculate the 2026–2027 Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with RTI International, used assessment and graduation-rate data publicly reported by the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE).
“For Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) and certain other Alabama schools, some data were suppressed to protect student privacy, particularly where exceptionally high performance could make individual students identifiable. Please refer to U.S. News’ methodology and technical appendix for more detailed information on data suppression.
“Although the schools’ performance was displayed on Alabama’s public report card, certain data required under the U.S. News methodology were not available in a form that could be used to calculate a Performance Index. As such, LAMP and certain other schools were not included in the rankings. Their exclusion should not be viewed as a reflection of their academic performance.
“U.S. News, RTI International, and ALSDE are working together to improve data review and sharing.”
Full response from State Superintendent Eric Mackey
“The integrity and security of student data are among the Alabama State Department of Education’s highest responsibilities. We appreciate U.S. News & World Report acknowledging that ALSDE accurately reported its school-performance data and that the exclusion of LAMP and certain other Alabama schools was not caused by any error, omission, or deficiency on the part of the department.
“ALSDE appropriately suppresses certain data in accordance with federal reporting requirements and established student-privacy protections. No ranking or recognition is more important than protecting the privacy and safety of Alabama’s students.
“We also appreciate the recognition that these schools’ exclusion should not be viewed as a reflection of their academic performance. ALSDE will continue working collaboratively with U.S. News and RTI International to strengthen data-review and communication procedures so that student information remains protected and eligible Alabama schools are accurately reflected in future rankings.”