Grading and Ranking Schools

The numbers are in that indicate how well the education system in the United States is serving its students. Education Week has released its 17^th annual ratings for the quality of education in each of the 50 states, awarding letter grades to schools similar to those found on student report cards. Unfortunately, the report card indicated there is still plenty of work to do for most states across the country, with an average national grade of a C+ overall. However, there were a number of bright spots across the survey as well, particularly in the top rated states where education appears to be thriving in many ways.

“Quality Counts”

The survey, titled, “Quality Counts,” uses six key metrics to grade the quality of education in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The metrics are as follows:

• K-12 Achievement
• Assessment and Accountability
• Transitions and Alignment
• Standards
• Students’ Chances for Long-Term Success
• The Teaching Profession

Within these six metrics are more than 100 indicators that include such factors as graduation rates, education funding and achievement gaps, according to a report on the survey at the Washington Post. Data was collected from sources like the U.S. Department of Education and the Census Bureau to compile these recent rankings.

Interesting Note on Findings

When discussions on education quality arise, many of them tend to center on school funding. The general school of thought is that the more money that is pumped into public schools, the higher the

A report from U.S. News & World Report reveals the top-rated high schools in America, but it is not without its share of accolades and controversy. Today, the rankings continue to attract national attention, with U.S. News annually evaluating thousands of public high schools using updated measures of college readiness, state assessment performance, graduation rates, and underserved student achievement. While some schools celebrate their inclusion on the list, others are left scratching their heads, wondering how and why they were selected among so many excellent high schools across the country.

Parents should remember that rankings are just one tool for evaluating schools alongside school culture, academic offerings, extracurricular activities, and student support services. For additional guidance, read 10 Tips for Choosing the Best High School for Your Child.

Three Steps to the Top-Ranked Schools

The creation of the U.S. News list was originally achieved through a three-step process implemented by the American Institutes for Research (AIR). While the methodology has evolved over the years, it continues to focus on objective measures of school performance and college readiness.

First, the publication looked at student performance by weighing math and reading scores on state high school proficiency tests against the percentage of economically disadvantaged students at the school. Schools that scored statistically higher than the state average were evaluated through the next step in the process.

Next, U.S. News and AIR looked at whether the least advantaged students were performing at a higher rate than

Most educators, parents, and students would agree that sexual harassment is a particularly devastating form of bullying that can negatively impact a student’s academic performance, as well as the physical, emotional, and mental health of the student. The definition of sexual harassment, according to the Free Dictionary states, “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive environment.” As one six-year-old Colorado boy discovered, sexual harassment also apparently knows no boundaries in terms of the age of the perpetrator or the victim.

This video explains what sexual harassment is.

The Story of D’Avonte Meadows

D’Avonte Meadows is a first-grader at Sable Elementary in Aurora. The six-year-old was recently suspended from school for three days, after being accused of sexual harassment and disrupting other students. The crime? Allegedly, Meadows was singing a line from an LMFAO song, “I’m Sexy and I Know It,” to a female classmate while waiting in the lunch line at his school.

According to a report at the Washington Post, Meadows was sent home from school after the incident, along with a letter from the school district to his mother, explaining why he was suspended. School officials would not comment on the case initially, but did point out the definition of sexual harassment according to school board policy, which

While finals week may still be a long way off for most of the schools across the country, report cards are out for Education Week’s annual assessment of the nation’s schools state by state. For the fourth straight year, Maryland has claimed the top spot in the publication’s yearly ranking of school systems. However, with a top grade of B+, it is apparent that most of the country’s school districts still have a long way to go when it comes to providing the highest possible education to their students.

This video explains Education Week’s annual Quality Counts report card ranks state school systems based on everything from academics and funding to socioeconomic factors that can affect student success in school and later in life.

Quality Counts

Quality Counts is the name given to the most comprehensive assessment of the nation’s schools conducted by Education Week every year. According to Education Week’s website, the rigorous evaluation process provides an in-depth look at the state of public schools across the United States today. In light of the recent recession that resulted in big cuts in education spending for many states, as well as efforts by states to put the education pieces back in order during the slow economic recovery, this assessment becomes even more relevant in providing a snapshot of where the quality of education is heading.

“If the turbulence and waves

There is no doubt that many high schools across the country have faced serious challenges in light of the current economic slowdown. With shrinking budgets and the pressures of standardized test scores, schools have made difficult decisions regarding staffing, programs, and resources. With attention to these circumstances, the annual ranking conducted by Newsweek made some significant changes to take the challenges into account. With an expanded advisory board and a wider range of criteria, the publication recently released its ranking of the top 500 high schools in America. We’ll examine the criteria used by Newsweek to make their choices and highlight some of the schools that made the top of the list this year.

In this TEDTalk, Elizabeth Daves peels back the layers of the practice of ranking students, exposes the negative impact that ranking has on those being ranked, and calls for a shift in mindset about what learning, and teaching, means.

How Best to Rank High Schools?

When Newsweek embarked on this project for the current year, it was no easy task. In previous years, the publication had ranked schools based solely on the number of AP tests taken by each graduate at the school, according to a report at the Huffington Post. This year, Newsweek wanted to focus less on mere achievement and more on the solutions high schools were using to ensure the