Globally, the United States is renowned for its education system. America consistently ranks highly in comparisons of school systems around the world.
Not all states are equal in this regard, however. A new study by WalletHub has ranked the education systems of each U.S. state and the District of Columbia.
The research concluded that the states with the best school systems were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin. They were first, second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Conversely, New Mexico was the state with the worst public school ranking.
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Oklahoma, Arizona, Alaska and Louisiana joined New Mexico at the bottom of the list.
The study cited high dropout rates and low math test scores as part of the reason behind New Mexico’s ranking.
WalletHub said the rankings were calculated by comparing all 50 states and the District of Columbia on two main areas – “quality” and “safety.”
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A state’s school system’s quality and safety was determined using 32 metrics, some of which include graduation rates, math test scores, reading test scores, existence of digital learning plans, bullying incidence rate, youth incarceration rate and number of school shootings.
Data used to compile the study came from a wide range of publicly available sources, including the Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Having kids come to school prepared to learn is huge, including being nourished, healthy, well-rested, having a supportive family, etc. Letting them know that they are in a safe, supportive environment is important. Of course, good teachers and relevant curricula matter. The ‘peer effect’ has an impact; that is, the mix of kids in the classroom,” Christopher Lubienski, a professor and director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University Bloomington, said in the study.
“On the other hand, instability at home and school can have negative impacts. And research is now showing that transfers to private schools in voucher programs have huge negative impacts on learning,” he added.
While New Mexico ranked worst in the quality category, it placed 42nd in safety. Mississippi was the worst in this regard, according to the study, followed by Missouri, Nevada and Louisiana.
Newsweek has also mapped states with the best universities, and which states are most popular with college-educated Americans.
California was home to the most top universities, with the California Institute of Technology, Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley, all located in the Golden State.
Other higher education institutions featured on the list were the University of Chicago, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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