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Education Week
No state received an A in Education Week's annual survey. Click the image for the full-size chart.
For the fifth straight year, Maryland schools were rated best in the nation in closely watched annual rankings released Thursday, which overall gave America's schools a C+.
The biggest improvements across the country last year were in preparing pupils for college, according to an analysis by Education Week, which compiles the survey each year with the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, the nonprofit research center that publishes the magazine.
The study, called "Quality Counts," which Education Week has conducted annually since 1996, assesses a wide range of data, including funding; long-range education policy; standards, assessments and accountability for teachers; and safety and security. It also incorporates the results of a survey of 1,300 educators from across the country.
Education Week characterized national progress as "spotty." While many states made significant strides in preparing pupils for college-level courses, funding levels and equality were static. Wyoming and West Virginia led in improving funding, earning A grades, but overall, the national grade held steady at C.
As a whole, the U.S. earned a C+, up from a C last year. But comparisons aren't exact because the study placed added emphasis on what it called schools' climate for learning — safety and security, peer interaction, and positive approaches to discipline.
Related: Interactive state-by-state map
Related: Data analysis by Education Week
The authors explicitly framed those data in the context of the shootings last month that killed 20 pupils and six teachers and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
While teacher quality was called the leading factor in a school's success, cited by 92 percent of the educators, school climate also scored high, cited by three-quarters as being "very important."
"For the past couple decades, education reform has concentrated on the obviously academic factors that define schooling," like curricula, accountability and teacher assessments, said Christopher Swanson, vice president of Editorial Projects in Education
"While these issues are clearly important, there is growing agreement that a school's broader climate profoundly affects student achievement and serves as a precursor for effective instruction, deep engagement in learning and academic success," Swanson said.
Across all categories, no state earned an A, Education Week found. With a B+, Maryland was No. 1 for the fifth straight year.
"It's just wonderful," Betty Weller, president of the Maryland Education Association, told NBC station WBAL of Baltimore. "It's historic for our educators. It's historic for the state, and it's just fabulous for our students."
State school Superintendent Lillian Lowery said Thursday that she would use the data "to help make certain we have better classrooms for every student."
One of the biggest jumps was in Florida, which rose from 11th in 2011 to sixth last year, even though it was in the bottom third in the funding assessments.
Florida got high marks for closing the gap on math scores for the poverty disadvantaged but its overall achievement gains got just a "C" minus, and it was AP or advanced class performance that saved the state from a worse ranking.
State schools Chancellor Pam Stewart told NBC station WJHG of Panama City that while she was proud of the recognition, "we're never satisfied. We're always moving forward."
The full report is available here at Education Week.
Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com
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- Racial divide seen in Mississippi debate over charter schools, reform
- For teachers, school security jumps to forefront after Newtown shootings
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I don't know if we really are #1 but I can say that my son likes the schools here compared to the school in Jersey he had to attend for two years. I can also say I get what I pay for. My taxes are higher than other nearby towns, but we have excellent middle and high schools. With that said I think the biggest factor in our children's education is me and my wife being actively involved in their education.
I grew up in MD and went to school there. The school system isn't special at all. We actually moved our family to Pennsylvania because the school system here was better.
Tests don't mean squat. A lot of brilliant people do not score well on them.
My bad, but considering the subject, and your comment, I thought it was kind of funny. I'm sorry Sow your seeds, not mine!, but I had to chuckle a little at the grammar.
"Is our children learning?"
This is pretty much meaningless. They make up their own criteria, weight them the way they want, then rank the states. I think that the the only part that matters is the student achievement and chance for success, forget the rest of the feel good nonsense. Who cares about the other nonsense if what they are doing is working from the standpoint of the students doing well.
@Sow your seeds, not mine!
I would agree that the PA school system is very good in the suburban areas. Without going into a whole lot of history, we lived in PA for nearly two years, and during that time my son enjoyed school and the curriculum was challenging. NJ was a bummer for him and they were always bombarding us with fund raisers. And my taxes were through the roof!
Now, I have made a careful assessment of the study, and it is absolutely meaningless junk.
They do grade US schools low overall though, which sounds about right.
All lies--the best schools are in the south--you might say a red neck school--a Confederate should fly over all schools
A Confederate flag should fly over all schools in the south--God bless the red necks and our southern heritage
Maryland was below the Mason-Dixon line
Actually it was within Maryland by Marylands claims, and inside Pennsylvania by Pennsylvanias claims. It's actually quite an interesting part of our history if anyone cares to look it up.
Hey Alan, you do know where the term redneck comes from? If so, thank you for supporting the unions!
Geez Alan, you do realize the war is over? You guys got your butts kicked for attempting treason, but hey you got the Alman Brothers and NASCAR........
Kev.. he. And awful schools, apparently...
Congratulations to MD. Well done. But I'm seeing a size differential. States the size of TX, AK and CA have lower scores than some states, though on average with most, but they have more and/or larger districts to manage. I notice most of the higher scoring states are smaller states with much smaller school districts. Just a thought.
Actually, that's kind of the reverse of Maryland's system. Instead of each town having it's own school district (excepting Baltimore), every school district in Maryland is a county-wide system. So, me, teaching in Maryland's 5th largest county, taught in the nation's 36th largest school district.
I see your point. But the size of MD counties and the size of TX and CA's counties are vastly different.
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The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success ..... Irving Berlin, Theatre Arts www.alexjkrzyston.com
Sorry folks, but if Maryland is number one than we are in trouble as a country. Maryland only teaches for the test. Maryland schools no longer teach kids how to tell time on an analog clock or even how to write cursive. My son is in 9th grade and still prints his "signature". I remember when I was a kid we were taught that kind of stuff in elementary school. Whatever happened to teaching kids the basics? They don't even teach kids how to balance a checkbook anymore! Maryland schools also fudge their grades. My son has struggled in math since the 5th grade, yet the schools continue to move him along, changing his math grades to high D's so he can "graduate" to the next grade. Every teacher I have talked to (or argued with) thinks this is totally acceptable. We have FINALLY been able to get a tutor (trying to find one is a whole other story), but again my son was passed this semester when the school upped his grade again. Whatever happened to no child left behind? How many other kids are being treated just like mine and how many other schools are fudging their students' grades to look good?
And for the record this is my experience with Washington County, MD schools.
Mean Girl: you are right, but this is nationwide problem forced on us by No Child Left Behind, NOT the Maryland Public School System. For example, to pass the tests No Child requires, lower-ability kids have to take courses in "Elements of Geometry" and learn that "when two parallel lines are crossed by a transversal, alternate interior angles are equal." Instead of course, they'd be better off learning to keep a budget, comparison shop, reconcile a checkbook, and do short-form income taxes. WE TEACHERS are ANGRY about that. But YOU, the parents, by electing people pushing No Child on us, are the reason we have to teach what we teach!
Mick -- I won't argue with that. I am just beyond frustrated with the school system. I have argued until I am blue in the face and I have been ignored. In my county it just seems like the school administrators know best and for me to keep my mouth shut. If this is what makes us number one, I'm truly worried about the future of our children.
I'm in MD and my 2nd grader is learning cursive, and both my kids have been taught to tell time (started in Kindergarten). So it isn't a Maryland-wide situation.
I'm very glad we don't live in Washington County.
I, as a retired Maryland public school teacher, would point out that Maryland's school districts are all county-wide, so you gain in efficiency over the ridiculous small-town-sized districts I see in adjoining states. If I was short a few chemistry books one year, I could call around to my county's other 11 high schools and find one with excess books, instead of spending $375 to order new ones. And, of course, a large organization gets an edge in costs of books, raw foods for schools, healthcare costs for employees, and needs just one board of education and one superintendant to run the whole system. If one school lost a teacher, another school might have lost students and an excessed teacher, who the county had invested much training time, could be transferred to the new school since the teachers work for the county school system, not the individual school. And while county areas with high incomes still tended to get better materials (mainly due to parental generosity), the poor areas of the county still have good schools.
I find this study much more meaningful....
B- for New Jersey schools. As for my kids HS, it is a great school here in NJ, with majority of students going on to college.
Zannie - I agree. If you look at best high schools individually, NJ certainly has some of the best in the rankings; however, as a whole, the average is impacted by the schools that don't do so well. I know my high school ranked consistently near the bottom in SAT scores and graduation rates compared to other schools in NJ. I apologize, as we probably brought down the average ;) I fared well enough to graduate and get out of that town, thankfully.
Oh, and by bad, I mean that my high school ranked 368 out of the 389 high schools in NJ :) I can only laugh at the misery now that I am in grad school and have a decent job.
This report is garbage. States like Iowa and Wisconsin that have the highest graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, and best tax dollar per student ratios scored lower than Georgia and Oregon, 2 states with the highest dropout rates. Obviously, they didn't use any data from the Baltimore Public School District or or the state as a whole would have been drug down to a C-. I have an odd feeling the people at Education Week are financially motivated to churn out data showing Maryland scores so well.
[sorry.. accidentally posted twice, see below]
Let's see.. the list of states below a C (C- or less):
Alaska, Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota (worst)..
I'm seeing a lot of red here.. well, excluding WDC, which is also rated and in that league but not a state.
So congrats, red states, for once again demonstrating your capacity for management and your commitment to our nation's future.
Wisconsin is number 1 in graduation rate, and is tied for 2nd for the highest SAT scores. Iowa is 5th in graduation rate, and number 1 in SAT scores. Minnesota is 3rd in graduation rate, and tied for 2nd in SAT scores. In this study all three states finished behind Florida, Arkansas and Georgia. Georgia is 45th in graduation rate, and 48th in SAT scores. Florida is 44th in graduation rate, and 45th in SAT scores. Arkansas is 36th in graduation rate, and 23rd in SAT scores.
I'll bet the taxes in Maryland are really high, too!
It's a Communist plot to dumb down America through its schools via the NEA.
There is a very simple reason that Maryland ranks #1. In Maryland there are a few wealthier counties where the parents of the students are involved, insist that homework and other schoolwork be completed, encourage and stress academic importance, and in general make sure that their children know that they care about their future and will do anything they can to help make sure that their children understand that to get ahead in this world you must earn it. It is sad that we continue to pretend that throwing more and more money at the schools with no results because it would be considered not "politically correct" to face the real reasons that our education system is rated so low by world standards. If a child has no one to read to them, encourage them in their studies or even make time to get involved with the schools, this is the outcome. Money can not change that outcome, no matter how many millions is thrown at it.
I agree with you that parental involvement is incredibly important, but even you point out that it's parents in "wealthier counties" so money IS a factor.
Hockeymom1111- You are correct in assuming that our taxes are high. Probably some of the highest in the nation. Maryland politians have never heard of a tax increase that they didn't fall in love with and plan far in advance on how they will spend it on their giveaway programs to get them selves elected for another decade! They always sing the same tune tune also. "This money will go to the children's education" or "This money will go for road construction and infrastructure", but it never seems to get there.