States With the Best (and Worst)Schools
By Evan Comen, Michael B. Sauter, Samuel Stebbins and Thomas C. Frohlich
January 20, 2017- http://247wallst.com
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Few concerns facing the United States — or any nation — are more
important than ensuring children receive a first-rate education. At her
confirmation hearing on Tuesday, U.S. education secretary nominee Betsy
DeVos answered questions about school proficiency. Policymakers and
observers disagree as to how to spend public education funds and how
exactly schools should be improved. At the very least, however, most
agree that school proficiency must be measured.
The nation’s education system has remained steady through poor
economic times as well as policy changes. But steady is not enough and
there remains considerable room for improvement.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed education data for each state from the 2017
edition of the Quality Counts report, released annually by Education
Week. The report assessed metrics in three broad categories that can
determine the strength of a school system: school finances, student
achievement, and environmental factors. Massachusetts schools are rated
best of all states, while Nevada’s school system has the lowest score.
According to Sterling Lloyd, assistant director at the Education Week
Research Center and coauthor of the Quality Counts report, the grading
framework rewards states with a “well-rounded approach to education.”
Broadly speaking, in states at the top end of the ranking, parents have
the resources to support their children’s learning in well-funded
schools; students report high academic achievement in the classroom; and
graduates are able to pursue careers in an economy where opportunities
are available to them.
Family income levels can play a major role in the quality of a
child’s education. As Lloyd explained, “it certainly helps for parents
to be able to provide stability and resources.” A child from a
high-income family may enjoy greater access to books and a personal
computer, as well as access to extracurricular activities that require
some monetary investment. These educational tools and learning
experiences are generally less available to poorer children.
In the United States, 57.2% of children are raised in households with
incomes at least double the poverty level. In all but two of the states
in the top half of the rankings, a larger share of children live in
such households. Conversely, in only six of the 25 lower ranked states
the share is greater.
Because school budgets are funded largely by property taxes as well
as extensive private fundraising, a child from a high-income family is
also more likely to attend school in a well-funded school district.
Children attending such schools benefit from a range of additional
advantages, including teachers with higher pay and greater
qualifications.
By contrast, “children living in low-income areas [may not] have the
resources to help them get off to a good start,” Lloyd said. Citing
research indicating the benefits to all children of pre-K programs,
Lloyd went on to say that “preschool can help to counteract certain
disadvantages and is especially important for children in poverty.”
Despite the higher stakes for low-income families, the likelihood of a
child attending preschool is lower across states in which more families
face financial instability.
Other socioeconomic measures, such as parental educational attainment
and having fluent English speaking parents, can also have a significant
bearing on a student’s chances for academic success.
To identify the states with the best and worst schools, 24/7 Wall St.
used Education Week’s Quality Counts 2017 report. The report is based
on three major categories: chance for success, finances, and K-12
achievement. The chance for success category includes data on family
income, parent education and employment, child schooling, and employment
opportunities after college. Graduation rates are defined as the
percent of public high school students who graduated on time with a
standard diploma for the 2014-2015 school year. All other data are for
the most recent available year and are based on Education Week’s
analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, among other sources. The
finance category incorporates metrics on cost-adjusted per-pupil
spending and how equitably spending was distributed across school
districts in the state in 2013. The K-12 achievement category uses 2015
test score data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Each category was weighted equally in determining the final ranking.
