Dallas-based School for the Talented and Gifed calims the title of the No. 1 public school in the country for the third year!

With criticism over standardized tests, drop out rates and graduates being unprepared for college, public schools have become the nations scapegoat with it comes education. While national headlines may discourage parents and students, there are also great things happening in classrooms across the country.

After analyzing more than 31,200 public schools in all 50 states as well as the District Of Columbia, U.S News has released the 2014 Best American High School rankings, allowing parents to identify standout schools in their state and nationally.

U.S News teamed up with American Institutes for Research to evaluate schools in three phases:

Steps 1 & 2: An overall look at student performance on state-mandated assessments as well as how effectively schools educated their black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students.

Step 3: Participation as well as performance on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams to evaluate student preparation for college level courses.

With 500 high schools earning gold medals, 1,519 taking home silver and 2,688 awarded bronze - See where Georgia ranks and the full list HERE!

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