Public Policy Research

How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?

Written By: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Staff
Published In: The Fordham Report 2006
Publication Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomas B. Fordham Foundatoin

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Based on data for nine indicators in three categories (curricular content, standardsbased reform, and school choice), Fordham’s education reform grade provides a glimpse at each state’s aggressiveness in improving its schools in recent years. (The Foundation would have examined state efforts at deregulating schools and educators as well, but there is so little movement on this front that reliable data are unavailable.)

Here, three states earn honor grades—Arizona, California, and New Mexico—while half receive D’s or F’s. The national average is a C-. The cellar is occupied by Vermont—once considered to be a forerunner in education reform due to its innovative assessments and standards.

In general, states’ strongest performances came in the standards-based reform category, where the average grade is a C and ten states earned B’s, undoubtedly the result of pressure brought by NCLB and close to two decades of state-level attention to this reform strategy. In many cases, however, the standards and curricular expectations underlying standards-based reform are themselves inadequate, as indicated by states’ average grade of C- in curricular content. Most states received their worst marks (D+ on average) for school choice, with 31 earning D’s or F’s; unfortunately, options such as charter schools are still scarce in most places.