2014′s States with the Best and Worst School Systems | WalletHub®

2014′s States with the Best and Worst School Systems | WalletHub®:

2014′s States with the Best and Worst School Systems

by Richie Bernardo

Unless one is destined to assume the ranks of wildly successful college dropouts like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, education remains the traditional route to financial success for many Americans. Consider the median incomes for workers aged 25 and older in 2013. Those with a bachelor’s degree earned 59 percent more than those with only a high school diploma, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure grows — and chances of unemployment shrink — as a worker’s educational attainment improves.

And with school resuming session, many parents will seek the best school districts in order to secure the greatest chance for their children’s academic success — and higher future earning potential. In comparing schools, it’s important to recognize that though the amount of state funding a school receives can be helpful, it is by no means a determinant of quality.

In addition, states that invest more dollars in education benefit not only their residents but also their economies. The Economic Policy Institute, or EPI, reported that income is higher in states where the workforce is well educated and hence more productive. With higher incomes, workers in turn can contribute more in taxes to beef up state budgets over the long run.

In light of back-to-school season, WalletHub studied the quality of education in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to identify those with the best and worst school systems. We did so by analyzing 12 key metrics — from student-teacher ratios and dropout rates to test scores and bullying incident rates. By shining the spotlight on top-performing states in terms of education, WalletHub can encourage parents to help their children realize their maximum potential.

• 1Main Findings
• 2Ask the Experts

• 3Methodology

Main Findings

Overall Rank	State	School System Quality Rank	Education Output & Safety Rank
1	New Jersey	1	2
2	Massachusetts	2	12
3	Vermont	3	11
4	New Hampshire	4	15
5	Kansas	8	3
6	Colorado	13	1
7	Virginia	10	4
8	Minnesota	6	31
9	Wisconsin	7	20
10	Pennsylvania	5	43
11	Iowa	9	19
12	Texas	24	5
13	Connecticut	11	38
14	Maryland	16	27
15	Washington	14	50
16	Ohio	21	15
T-17	Illinois	20	24
T-17	Maine	12	42
19	Missouri	22	13
20	New York	27	7
21	Utah	28	8
22	Indiana	19	33
23	Nebraska	17	34
24	South Dakota	25	18
25	Wyoming	15	45
26	North Dakota	18	47
27	Idaho	26	34
28	Tennessee	32	6
29	Florida	29	22
30	Montana	23	48
31	Rhode Island	31	29
32	Georgia	35	13
33	Oregon	30	41
34	Delaware	37	21
35	Hawaii	36	25
36	Oklahoma	43	9
37	North Carolina	38	17
38	Alaska	42	23
39	California	33	51
40	Michigan	34	44
41	Kentucky	40	39
42	South Carolina	44	28
43	Arizona	41	37
44	Arkansas	39	49
45	West Virginia	45	26
46	New Mexico	46	10
47	Nevada	47	36
48	Louisiana	49	40
49	Alabama	48	46
50	Mississippi	51	30
51	District of Columbia	50	31

 

Note: Spendings Ranking refers to “Total Current Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Day Schools per Student” (Highest Amount = Rank 1)

Ask the Experts

Back-to-school season isn’t just about shopping for school supplies. Many parents also must consider the quality of education their children receive in order to succeed. To expand the discussion, we’ve asked a panel of experts to share their advice and thoughts on important back-to-school-related issues. Click on the expert’s profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

1. What tips can you offer parents for keeping their back-to-school budgets under control?
2. How can parents effectively use back-to-school to teach their kids about financial responsibility?
3. How effective is exempting various back-to-school items from sales taxes?
4. What are the most important characteristics of a top school?
5. When it comes to a student’s success, which is more important: the family environment or the student’s school?

2014′s States with the Best and Worst School Systems | WalletHub®:

Looking Back (Part 2) | Taking Note

Looking Back (Part 2) | Taking Note:

Looking Back (Part 2)

by CARMEN on 06. AUG, 2014 in 2014 BLOGS

(Last week I published a piece of my own story, a summer diversion.  Here’s a bit more.)

National Public Radio [1] was a wonderful place to work, and I stayed for 8 years, from 1974 to 1982.  Many of the voices you grew to know were there then: Susan Stamberg, Bob Edwards, Linda Wertheimer, Nina Totenberg, Robert Krulwich, Carl Kasell, Scott Simon and Ira Flatow, among others. Back then, one of the producers of “All Things Considered” was a guy named Bob Siegel–you know him as Robert Siegel, for many years a host of ATC.

“Options in Education,” my weekly series, became a fixture on NPR, and we managed to raise money from the Ford Foundation [2] and a couple of other places.  With my own weekly 1-hour NPR program and a mandate to report on ‘education,’ I had a pretty big tent to operate in, which I did for eight wonderful years, from 1974-1982.

Radio is a far more engaging and intimate medium than television. Listeners hear only a voice and apparently fill out the rest of the picture–height, age, weight, et cetera–in their minds (at least they did so before the internet eliminated secrets).  We would get somewhere between 75-100 letters a week, often very personal.  We answered all the mail.

Susan Stamberg’s office was across the hall, and one day I noticed that she had taped about a half dozen envelopes addressed to her on the door–and each envelope had a different spelling of her name: Stanberg, Steinberg, Stonehead and so on.  As it happened, I regularly received similar envelopes, and so I proposed a contest: a year of collecting different versions of our names, with lunch to the winner [3]. After a year, Susan had about 30 variations on her name, but I had nearly 40, including Bob Merrow, Joe Marrow, Ed Merrill (but, alas, never Ed Murrow) and so on. My favorite, however, was “John Moron.”[4]

I took full advantage of my freedom to report. I snuck into China with a group of Canadians in early 1977 or 1978, the first NPR reporter to get into that vast country. Because a Canadian physician, Dr. Norman Bethune, had cared for Chairman Mao during the Long March and thereafter, Canadians had special status, while Americans were viewed with suspicion. actions which gave Canadians special status.

Visiting schools and universities in (mostly rural) China was revealing [5]. This was in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, and we saw and heard first-hand the devastation that spasm of narrow Looking Back (Part 2) | Taking Note:

8-6-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Rahm Slashes Schools to Funnel Cash to Corporate Pals

The reptilian Rahm Emanuel has a conscious strategy to allow profiteers and privatizers to take over Chicago Public Schools, and he is using the money saved by starving the schools and cutting teacher pensions to provide corporate subsidies to his cronies.  David Sirota has the story:Months after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said budget constraints forced him to push for pension cuts and mass school

by Jim Horn / 47min 

8-4-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Campbell Brown Clip from Colbert ShowThe Colbert ReportGet More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archiveby Jim Horn / 3min 8-3-14 Schools MatterSchools Matter: From Korea to KIPP: "production, performance, and obedience"Reading the essay by Se-Woong Koo on the South Korean system of educational child abuse, I was struck by how much of wha

by mike simpson / 20h 

8-6-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

About the radio show

Join Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar 

LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST 

on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. 

Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. 

You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursday at 7PM EST.

Visit the @ the Chalk Face radio main page for more information on the show and syndication.

My 2014-15 “Back to School” Post

I started my 2014-15 school year on Monday, August 4. On Thursday, August 7 (which happens to be tomorrow), the students return.  Thus, the three days beginning this week have been faculty professional days. I planned to write a different, more research-based post in the days prior to my students’ return, but mentally, I feel […]

1 by deutsch29 / 24min

“Doing the Right Thing” for Teachers and Students

“Doing the Right Thing” for Teachers and Students.

1 by David Greene / 10min

What precisely is Klout worth, say, in education?

Mike Petrilli highlights the top twitter feeds in education for 2014 according to Klout. Alas, once again, yours truly and the host of other authors on our site fail to make this coveted list. But how important is this metric, really? You might detect some sour grapes on my part in evening taking the time […]

by Shaun Johnson / 7min 

My appearance on Empower DC’s We Act radio on my school’s co-location

Just in case you’re interested in a lengthy discussion about a public school co-location with a charter from the inside.

by Shaun Johnson / 2min 

Education is different than everything else

Just an observation. I saw some coverage on CNN about the Ebola epidemic. As with any medical story, this is typically what you see on screen: This guy’s everywhere, right? But at least he’s a doctor. We don’t see a lot of “experts” or those with expertise commenting on education We see a lot of […]

1 by Shaun Johnson / 0min

8-4-14 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: About the radio showJoin Drs. Shaun Johnson and Tim Slekar LIVE Sundays at 6PM EST and Wednesdays at 7PM EST on Blog Talk Radio for progressive, pro-public education talk radio. Call in to speak live with Tim and Shaun during the show, (805) 727-7111. You can also listen to our Monday "Sunday-Replay" at 7PM EST, and re-broadcasts of the archives every Tuesday and Thursd

by mike simpson / 22h 

Deeper Understanding in Common Core Math Not True | Missouri Education Watchdog

Deeper Understanding in Common Core Math Not True | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Deeper Understanding in Common Core Math Not True

inShare

The talking points of Common Core supporters have worn thin. Many have been blasted out of the water, but if you are still thinking about diving head first into using the standards, remember this image.

Professor emerita of mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley Martina Ratner wrotean op ed in the Wall Street Journal about her experience with the CC standards in California. Spoiler alert – it was not glowing.

She has the credentials to take on the standards themselves and pick apart their weaknesses. In particular she writes about the false claim that the standards are more “rigorous” and require “deeper thinking.”

It became clear to me that the Common Core’s “deeper” and “more rigorous” standards mean replacing math with some kind of illustrative counting saturated with pictures, diagrams and elaborate word problems. Simple concepts are made artificially intricate and complex with the pretense of being deeper—while the actual content taught was primitive.

Ratner provides examples from the standards themselves to illustrate this problem and examples of how this is playing out in her grandchild’s classroom.

“The students were constantly told to draw models to answer trivial questions, such as finding 20% of 80 or finding the time for a car to drive 10 miles if it drives 4 miles in 10 minutes, or Deeper Understanding in Common Core Math Not True | Missouri Education Watchdog:

8-6-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

Conservatism vs. Ed Reform (Pt. II)

Andy Smarick continues his examination of the uneasy interface between conservatism and ed reform. I took a look at Part I of this series previously, but this time I'm going to skip over the bulk of his post to look at his conclusion, where he posits four issues that he is chewing over.Why doesn’t ed reform seem to appreciate dispositional conservatism?Why doesn’t ed reform ever discuss what shoul

2 by Peter Greene / 8min

NYC Looks For Teachers on Craigslist

The NYC Teaching Collective (formerly the NYC Teaching Residency) seems to be have hatched from a simple idea-- why pay TFA to provide us with underqualified, undertrained teacher bodies when we can just do it in house?If nothing else, their mission statement is more direct:The mission of the NYC Teaching Collaborative is to recruit and prepare talented, committed individuals to become effective t

3 by Peter Greene / 7min hide  //  save

Power Social Marketing for Teachers

Patti Fletcher's credentials would not necessarily lead you to take her seriously. She is the global leader of the Cross-Portfolio Marketing and Social Marketing Center of Excellence teams at IHS, and is the Co-Founder and CEO of PSDNetwork, LLC, which sounds like a huge gobbledygook salad with jargonaisse dressing. Fletcher's work "centers on enablement and culture change with a particularly

1 by Peter Greene / 42min

8-5-14 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Without Tenure...Yesterday, twitter blew up with responses to Whoopi Goldberg and the View having one more uninformed discussion of tenure (and, really, we need to talk about why education discussions keep being driven by the work of comedians)."#WithoutTenure I can be fired for...." was the tweet template of the day, and even though I rode that bus for a bit, it occurs t

by mike simpson / 34min 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm's Walgreen cronies now say they're not moving HQ to Switzerland after all

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm's Walgreen cronies now say they're not moving HQ to Switzerland after all:

Rahm's Walgreen cronies now say they're not moving HQ to Switzerland after all

Wesson oils Rahm

INVERSION -- Rahm's union-hating pals and campaign funders at Walgreen's now say they won't re-incorporate in Switzerland as planned. The re-incorporation — in which a company’s headquarters relocates overseas for tax purposes — is called a corporate inversion

With political pressure mounting from the White House down, Walgreen Co. is poised to announce Wednesday that it will keep its corporate headquarters in north suburban Deerfield...Last month, Obama called companies that re-incorporate overseas to avoid taxes “corporate deserters.”

It seems like Walgreen CEO Greg Wasson likes to pop into Chicago every once in a while to help Rahm push one or another of his hair-brained corporate school-Schooling in the Ownership Society: Rahm's Walgreen cronies now say they're not moving HQ to Switzerland after all:

Back to School Lesson Plans and Classroom Resources - Lesson Plans & Resources - Share My Lesson

Back to School Lesson Plans and Classroom Resources - Lesson Plans & Resources - Share My Lesson:

Back to School

Students may be enjoying the last few moments of summer vacation, but all too soon they will be heading back into the classroom. Meanwhile, educators all over the country are preparing for the new school year and getting ready to meet their new students.

The Share My Lesson team has created this collection of free resources to help educators get ready for the new school year. There are also back to school lessons, activities and handouts for your students.

General materials for educators

Classroom management
This collection of resources will help you create a positive environment in your classroom.

Setting up your classroom
Check out these helpful hints for getting your classroom ready for the new year.

Common Core Information Center
Find up-to-date information about the Common Core State Standards, including aligned classroom materials, to help plan for the school year.

Working with parents
Parents are an important part of any classroom. These resources will help teachers successfully work with parents.

Setting and achieving high expectations
In this video from Teaching Channel, a teacher models effective management techniques that become classroom routines.

Classroom materials

Wacky Wayne’s back-to-school ‘I Spy’
Students help Wacky Wayne find his back-to-school items as they identify numbers, letters and shapes.

Who I am
Help introduce yourself to students on the first day of school.

All about me
Have your students create booklets about their favorite things.

Fact file
Learn about your students as they answer questions about themselves.

Beginning of the school year – pre-kindergarten
This resource contains a variety of classroom materials to help teachers plan for a new year of pre-kindergarten.

The first day of school
Join Count Von Count on his first day of school with this video from Sesame Street.

Flat Stanley
In this activity, students will create their own “Flat Stanley” that looks just like them to serve as a name tag for the first days of school.

‘About me’ questionnaire
This graphic organizer helps teachers learn more about their students.

Rapport-building activities
This resource contains activities that will help create a positive class environment during the first days of school.

Icebreakers
Get to know your new students by using these icebreakers in class.

Autobiography and life map
In this creative assignment, students tell their autobiographies through pictures.

First day lesson plan
This middle school lesson plan and materials helps teachers get to know their students during their first class together.

Elementary class starter kit
Transition effortlessly between vacation mode and the classroom with this back to school selection of getting to know you activities, target-setting worksheets and classroom organization materials.

Back to School Lesson Plans and Classroom Resources - Lesson Plans & Resources - Share My Lesson: