The Education Choice and Competition Index | Brookings Institution

The Education Choice and Competition Index | Brookings Institution:

The Education Choice and Competition Index

By: Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst and Sarah Whitfield

	Download Scoring Guide
	View ECCI Report

Exploring the critical role of school choice in the future of education reform, the Education Choice and Competition Index (ECCI) is an interactive web application that scores large school districts based on thirteen categories of policy and practice. The intent of the ECCI is to create public awareness of the differences among districts in their support of school choice, provide a framework for efforts to improve choice and competition, and recognize leaders among school districts in the design and implementation of choice and competition systems.

• District Table
• District Map

The Education Choice and Competition Index (ECCI) is an interactive web application that scores large school districts based on thirteen categories of policy and practice. Please view the report for more information and refer to the scoring guide for a more detailed description of the scoring procedure.

• The ECCI Report
• Scoring Guide

• Examine one district by clicking on the individual district
• Compare category scores for up to 3 districts by selecting corresponding checkboxes
• To sort by the headings, click the individual heading

		Rank Districts by Overall Grade                                                         Rank Districts by Availability of Alternative Schools Score                                                         Rank Districts by Virtual Schools Score                                                         Rank Districts by Popularity of Schools Reflected in Funding Score                                                         Rank Districts by Restructure or Close Undersubscribed Schools Score                                                         Rank Districts by Assignment Mechanism Score                                                         Rank Districts by Application Score                                                         Rank Districts by Comparable Standards and Assessments Score                                                         Rank Districts by Gain Scores Calculated Score                                                         Rank Districts by Accessible On-line Information Score                                                         Rank Districts by Relevant Performance Data Score                                                         Rank Districts by Understandable performance data Score                                                         Rank Districts by Transportation  Score                                                         Rank Districts by District School Quality Score
	Rank	School District	Grade	County	Student Population	No. of Schools
	1	Recovery District (New Orleans)	A	ORLEANS PARISH, LA	57,935	66
	2	New York City	B+	NEW YORK COUNTY, NY	1,174,564	1,463
	3	Washington DC	B	DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DC	77,336	112
	4	Minneapolis	B	HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN	45,890	62
	5	Houston	B-	HARRIS COUNTY, TX	219,090	302
	6	Orleans Parish	B-	ORLEANS PARISH, LA	54,625	18
	7	Milwaukee	B-	MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI	103,939	187
	7	Baltimore City Public Schools	B-	BALTIMORE CITY, MD	85,615	191
	7	San Diego	B-	SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA	146,727	222
	10	Dade County	B-	MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL	383,482	515
	11	Chicago	C+	COOK COUNTY, IL	433,871	638
	12	Forsyth County	C+	FORSYTH COUNTY, NC	58,288	81
	12	Denver (School District No. 1 in the County of Denver)	C+	DENVER COUNTY, CO	85,170	152
	12	Tucson Unified	C+	PIMA COUNTY, AZ	68,446	112
	15	Gwinnett County	C+	GWINNETT COUNTY, GA	167,985	131
	16	Newark	C+	ESSEX COUNTY, NJ	40,053	70
	16	Wake County	C+	WAKE COUNTY, NC	156,295	163
	16	DeKalb County	C+	DEKALB COUNTY, GA	103,967	142
	19	Pinellas County	C+	PINELLAS COUNTY, FL	111,931	163
	19	Hillsborough	C+	HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL	203,588	298
	19	Douglas County	C+	DOUGLAS COUNTY, CO	62,127	79
	22	Broward	C	BROWARD COUNTY, FL	277,459	320
	22	Duval	C	DUVAL COUNTY, FL	144,675	187
	22	Greenville	C	GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC	74,816	95
	22	Baltimore County	C	BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD	119,046	173
	22	Cherry Creek (No.5 in the County of Arapah)	C	ARAPAHOE COUNTY, CO	54,800	58
	27	Seminole	C	SEMINOLE COUNTY, FL	69,873	73
	27	Los Angeles	C	LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA	708,251	914
	27	San Francisco Unified	C	SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY, CA	78,159	116
	30	Lee	C	LEE COUNTY, FL	82,201	120
	30	Fairfax County	C	FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA	188,733	211
	30	Sacramento City Unified	C	SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA	54,634	86
	30	Anchorage	C	ANCHORAGE MUNICIPALITY, AK	44,039	97
	34	Pasco	C	PASCO COUNTY, FL	67,466	108
	34	Volusia	C	VOLUSIA COUNTY, FL	64,799	92
	34	Omaha	C	DOUGLAS COUNTY, NE	55,414	95
	34	Washoe County	C	WASHOE COUNTY, NV	67,132	106
	34	North East ISD	C	BEXAR COUNTY, TX	75,523	75
	34	Fresno Unified	C	FRESNO COUNTY, CA	76,676	106
	40	Cobb County	C	COBB COUNTY, GA	116,620	116
	41	Albany	C-	Albany County, NY	13,724	15
	41	Prince George's County	C-	PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD	132,847	207
	41	Boston	C-	SUFFOLK COUNTY, MA	63,366	131
	41	Jefferson County (Colorado)	C-	JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO	105,952	174
	41	Seattle	C-	KING COUNTY, WA	57,571	103
	46	Jefferson County (KY)	C-	JEFFERSON COUNTY, KY	95,373	164
	47	Montgomery County	C-	MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD	163,039	205
	47	Garland ISD	C-	DALLAS COUNTY, TX	57,496	74
	47	San Juan Unified	C-	SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA	57,686	74
	47	Charlotte-Mecklenburg	C-	MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NC	151,927	173
	47	Orange	C-	ORANGE COUNTY, FL	192,076	240
	52	Granite District	C-	SALT LAKE COUNTY, UT	76,948	112
	52	Indianapolis	C-	MARION COUNTY, IN	49,423	63
	52	Philadelphia	C-	PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, PA	225,207	266
	55	Albuquerque Public Schools	C-	BERNALILLO COUNTY, NM	108,664	164
	55	Dallas	C-	DALLAS COUNTY, TX	181,879	232
	55	Henrico County	C-	HENRICO COUNTY, VA	52,034	78
	55	Brevard	C-	BREVARD COUNTY, FL	76,278	123
	55	Clark County	C-	CLARK COUNTY, NV	327,310	364
	55	Palm Beach	C-	PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL	190,353	247
	61	Memphis	D	SHELBY COUNTY, TN	117,645	213
	61	Polk	D	POLK COUNTY, FL	95,775	159
	63	Lewisville ISD	D	DENTON COUNTY, TX	52,374	67
	63	Prince William County	D	PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA	81,812	85
	65	Detroit City	D	WAYNE COUNTY, MI	107,854	175
	66	Corona-Norco Unified	D	RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA	52,721	51
	66	San Bernardino City Unified	D	SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CA	54,198	78
	66	Wichita	D	SEDGWICK COUNTY, KS	55,201	91
	66	Capistrano Unified	D	ORANGE COUNTY, CA	58,142	61
	66	Aldine ISD	D	HARRIS COUNTY, TX	64,022	81
	71	Osceola	D	OSCEOLA COUNTY, FL	53,159	66
	72	Jordan	F	SALT LAKE COUNTY, UT	59,402	54
	72	Elk Grove Unified	F	SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA	54,606	66
	72	Davidson County	F	DAVIDSON COUNTY, TN	92,266	138
	75	Cypress-Fairbanks	F	HARRIS COUNTY, TX	104,354	82
	75	VA Beach City	F	VIRGINIA BEACH CITY, VA	74,341	85
	75	Fulton County	F	FULTON COUNTY, GA	103,625	107
	75	Arlington ISD	F	TARRANT COUNTY, TX	65,660	77
	79	Plano ISD	F	COLLIN COUNTY, TX	59,084	78
	79	Chesterfield County	F	CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VA	60,794	63
	79	Conroe ISD	F	MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX	52,407	56
	82	Fort Worth ISD	F	TARRANT COUNTY, TX	84,631	141
	82	Davis	F	DAVIS COUNTY, UT	70,712	100
	82	Santa Ana Unified	F	ORANGE COUNTY, CA	63,203	60
	85	Fort Bend	F	FORT BEND COUNTY, TX	70,781	75
	85	Long Beach	F	LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA	88,261	91
	85	Shelby County	F	SHELBY COUNTY, TN	87,249	51
	88	Mesa Unified	F	MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ	79,810	90
	89	Columbus City	F	FRANKLIN COUNTY, OH	59,856	119
	89	Austin ISD	F	TRAVIS COUNTY, TX	92,238	124
	89	Anne Arundel County	F	ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD	84,327	125
	89	Katy ISD	F	FORT BEND COUNTY, TX	59,869	56
	93	Cumberland County	F	CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NC	55,890	85
	94	Atlanta	F	FULTON COUNTY, GA	61,226	109
	95	Pasadena ISD	F	HARRIS COUNTY, TX	51,644	64
	95	Howard County	F	HOWARD COUNTY, MD	53,514	73
	97	Clayton County	F	CLAYTON COUNTY, GA	50,110	66
	98	El Paso ISD	F	EL PASO COUNTY, TX	68,562	96
	98	Alpine	F	UTAH COUNTY, UT	71,491	76
	100	Mobile County	F	MOBILE COUNTY, AL	70,969	109
	100	Knox County	F	KNOX COUNTY, TN	63,638	87
	102	Guilford County Schools	F	GUILFORD COUNTY, NC	80,072	120
	102	Garden Grove Unified	F	ORANGE COUNTY, CA	52,746	68
	104	Northside ISD	F	BEXAR COUNTY, TX	94,676	109
	105	San Antonio ISD	F	BEXAR COUNTY, TX	59,912	100
	105	Loudoun County	F	LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA	65,507	79
	107	Brownsville ISD	F	CAMERON COUNTY, TX	50,875	59

SUMMARY

Exploring the critical role of school choice in the future of education reform, the Education Choice and Competition Index is an interactive web application that scores large school districts based on thirteen categories of policy and practice.

SI&A Cabinet Report – Ed Trust-West criticizes state for snail’s pace on common core

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Ed Trust-West criticizes state for snail’s pace on common core
By Tom Chorneau
Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Thought Tank

The state’s much-delayed implementation of common core curriculum standards puts thousands of minority and English learner students at risk of falling further behind, a new report released Monday concludes.

The analysis, developed by researchers from Education Trust-West – a nonprofit think tank based in Oakland – criticizes state officials for failing to provide school districts the broad-based professional development, instructional materials and school technology infrastructure needed to integrate the standards into the classroom.

Arun Ramanathan, executive director of Education Trust-West, noted that students face new assessments based on the common core in two years – and there remains a lot of work to be done getting the system ready.

“Common core implementation is certainly going to be a major lift for districts, but at this point there is no room for excuses,” he said in an interview. “The stakes are way too high.  What we need is leadership from the state and the critical supports for districts to ensure that they successfully make the transition to the common core.”

Paul Hefner, spokesman for state schools chief Tom Torlakson, noted that some districts have made significant progress despite the enormous budget challenges.

“It’s hardly a surprise that it is a challenge to implement the common core standards in the mist of the deepest fiscal 

BIG CHANGES IMMINENT FOR HEAD START - Report Explains Reforms to Federal Pre-K Program for Children in Poverty

Reforming Head Start | NewAmerica.net:

Reforming Head Start

What ‘Re-competition’ Means for the Federal Government’s Pre-K Program

• By
• Maggie Severns,
• New America Foundation

December 11, 2012 |

As research continues to highlight the benefits of early childhood education, the Obama administration’s reforms to Head Start are shaking up the 45-year-old preschool program for children in poverty. This issue brief explains why some Head Start programs are competing for funding for the first time, how quality teaching is emphasized in future grant awards, and what to watch for in 2013.

The brief, Reforming Head Start: What ‘Re-competition’ Means for the Federal Government’s Pre-K Program, provides a view of re-competition set in the context of Head Start’s history and limitations. Before now, much of this information has not been available for public viewing nor has it existed succinctly in one place for policymakers and the public to digest. The paper explains the inner workings of the new grant-making system – known as ‘re-competition’ -- and discusses Head Start’s role as states and the federal government work to build a higher-quality system of publicly funded early learning programs.

The grant system is a departure from the way Head Start operated in the past, in which a Head Start provider generally did not have to compete for renewed grants or risk losing funding except in extreme circumstances, such as if a provider lost its child care license. Under the new re-competition policies, Head Start grantees are awarded grants for a five-year period, and grantees found to have low-quality programs during that period will have to compete with outside applicants for their next five-year grant.

“If successful, re-competition could make Head Start more effective by making its providers truly accountable for the education, health and family services they provide,” wrote Maggie Severns, 

Is the US education system failing children? Blame poor thieving parents | Kristin Rawls | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Is the US education system failing children? Blame poor thieving parents | Kristin Rawls | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk:

Is the US education system failing children? Blame poor thieving parents

Nicholas Kristof is wrong. To help students with disabilities by taking benefits away from their parents will not solve poverty

• Share21
• inShare0
• Email

• 
• • Kristin Rawls
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 December 2012 08.51 EST
  • Jump to comments (8)

It's not just students who are permitted to fail. Schools are. Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe

The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof recently weighed in on a previously unreported – and highly exaggerated – phenomenon he wants Americans to consider as "fiscal cliff" negotiations come to a head in Washington: a brand new kind of social security income (SSI) disability fraud. He alleges that parents in poor areas may systematically remove children from literacy programs in order to keep that SSI disability check coming in every month. Kristof provides neither research nor anecdotal evidence supporting the claim, but he nevertheless thinks Americans should seriously consider the very real problem, especially as we think about slashing social safety net provisions this month.

Kristof is no stranger to earnest "social good" trolling. He's known for applying the white man's burden of social consciousness to the world's problems, especially when it comes to rescuing sex workers (he reallywants to rescue sex workers). This time, his theme is saving the children: "Almost anytime the question is poverty, the answer is children."

UPDATE: Michigan. Illinois. Injustice doesn’t take a winter break and neither can we. « Fred Klonsky

Michigan. Illinois. Injustice doesn’t take a winter break and neither can we. « Fred Klonsky:

Michigan. Illinois. Injustice doesn’t take a winter break and neither can we.

by Fred Klonsky

Debbie Nault from the Michigan Nurses Association stands with other members of the association on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012,  protesting right-to-work legislation. Organizers say the gathering was meant to symbolize the silencing of unions that nurses say will happen should the legislation become law.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Thousands of Michigan union members and supporters are marching on the state capital in Lansing this morning.
It is cold.
But the fight against injustice doesn’t take a winter break.
You can call Michigan Governor Rick Snyder at 517-373-3400 and tell him you stand with Michigan’s working

Ten minute drawing. Sound fiscal policy.

by Fred Klonsky

Click on image to enlarge.

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Charter schools continue to grow

Education Headlines

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Charter schools continue to grow

Once a novelty on the landscape of public education, independent public charter schools have become the choice for more families locally and nationwide. For the first time, more than 100 school districts nationwide have at least 10 percent of all students enrolled in charter schools, according to a study by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

LAUSD workers union endorses both school board incumbents

An important labor group is backing two incumbents and a newcomer for the Los Angeles Board of Education, days after the powerful teachers union issued its endorsements for the March election.

Frey: Legislative support elusive for adult ed funding plan

California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office says the state’s embattled adult education system needs a dedicated and permanent funding stream that can’t be appropriated for other school programs when the state budget goes south.

Competitors sill beat U.S. in tests

American schoolchildren continue to lag behind those of major competitors in math and science exams given globally, despite progress on some of those tests, according to results from international achievement exams to be released Tuesday.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Change in the wind as Stockton USD nears 2013

A variety of factors appears to make conditions ripe for change in a wide range of central-office and school-site leadership positions in 2013, say several Stockton Unified officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Long Beach USD high school projects will exemplify `smaller is better'

For a string of new high schools slated to open in the Long Beach Unified School District in the coming years, the motto is "smaller is better."

Survey says about 20 percent of Claremont students struggle with depression, contemplate suicide

The Claremont Unified School District learned last week up to one-fifth of its students in three grades had struggled with depression or contemplated suicide.