"States with the Smartest Kids"

[The Straight Story]

Every other year, 4th and 8th graders are tested in reading and math, and some states produce far more top achievers than others. The Daily Beast ranks which states are acing, and which are failing.

It’s already tough being a kid, from bullies to homework to mom and dad’s rules. Now mix in standardized testing, which has only increased in importance in the decade since No Child Left Behind.

The biggest standardized test is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which measures students based on their exam proficiency in reading and math. With 52 different school systems, NAEP testing is the only comprehensive, if imperfect, gauge for comparing how America’s children are educated.

So The Daily Beast decided to use this enormous amount of consistent data to try to figure out which states are collectively doing the best job educating their kids. The methodology for this list was created with guidance from a half dozen of the nation’s leading education research experts, and relied heavily on the research of Bert Stoneberg, NAEP State Coordinator for Idaho.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-23/states-with-smartest-kids-from-massachusetts-to-mississippi/?cid=hp:mainpromo7

Link to slide show of where states fell in the rankings

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2546/1/

[canoeist52]

1. What a surprise. Poverty affects educational performance.

"For instance, the top five performing states on this list have a median household income (not adjusted for cost of living) of roughly $60,000, and 21 percent of people over age 25 have a bachelor’s degree; the bottom five are at $44,000 and 14 percent, respectively, according to 2009 US Census figures. Children who perform better on NAEP tests also tend to come from states with lower levels of student poverty."


Who knew ??

[provis99]

6. that raises a causality question.

Does wealth cause good education, or does good education cause wealth?

[defendandprotect]

57. Well being creates good education ... well being of families, as well --

[cali]

46. Vermont's median household income for 2009 was just over #$51,500

making it 20th in the country.

[meegbear]

2. Number One: Massa-FUCKIN-chusetts!!

:woohoo:

[Deep13]

7. +1

[FSogol]

10. Oh yeah, Exam Question #1: Explain Scott Brown. Show your work.

:woohoo:

[meegbear]

14. Bitter?

[Yavin4]

25. It Was His Unashamed Male Nudity

It also worked for Arnold in CA. If you're a Republican that wants to be elected statewide in a blue state, drop your pants.

[Tatiana]

11. They've been #1 for quite some time now. I've attended a few seminars there.

Teachers are paid decently, are unionized, and there is a good level of parental involvment. Plus, there are some truly innovative programs that the schools have implemented that seem to be having good results. Mostly, I've really been impressed with the teaching staff I've met in Boston.

[RKP5637]

13. +1, n/t

[valerief]

51. I wonder how important abstinence teaching is in Mass.

Bwahahahahaha!
:rofl:

[provis99]

3. I'd like to see a linear regression of the results.

My guess is that the general trend is that liberal states score higher on education, while conservative or Southern states score lower (with obvious exceptions like California).

[karynnj]

16. I suspect that might be a factor,

but I assume that income and some measure of the number of kids from families where Spanish is the first language. The latter would explain CA and NM, which otherwise would not be where you expect them. Vermont is impressive in that they are second and they are nowhere near the richer states.

[walldude]

4. District of Columbia... #51

I'm sure that's all the fault of the teachers :eyes:

[BlueIris]

42. I first found out about the educational disparity in D.C. in 2004.

(I know, embarrassing for me.) It was the first time I started to understand this little concept called class war.

[moondust]

60. So apparently 3-4 years of Michelle Rhee didn't help?

Could this be why she quit?

[Electric Monk]

5. West Dakota?

;-)

[catabryna]

8. I don't know about you...

but, this really saddened me. It has nothing to do with whether the kids are smarter... it has to do with their access to a good quality education.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. There are too many problems with the NAEP test to list here

For starters, they don't test ALL our kids. Special ed and ELL are excluded. So it's not a valid standardized test.

[catabryna]

17. My son is in a special day class...

because he has HFA and he most certainly takes these tests. My son's district here in Oregon makes accomodations such as giving the children more time, or using alternate testing methods, such as taking their tests on a computer. My son took his 4th grade reading test on a computer earlier this year. He's in 4th grade and I'll express my pride in him by indicating that he passed and the school year isn't over.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Yes he probably does take the state test, but that's not what THIS test is

It's from the US Dept of Education, and is not given every year or to every kid. It's only administered in selected schools. There are also NO ACCOMMODATIONS allowed so your son wouldn't take this test.

[catabryna]

32. Thanks for letting me know...

If you don't learn something new everyday, you aren't paying attention. :hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. No problem.

:hi:

[salin]

47. that is *not* the experience at my school.

Just last week I sat through a two-hour meeting with NAEP folks ... and great deal of time was spent on addressing accommodations. No different than many standardized tests - text can be read if the specific test is not measuring reading comprehension, however on those tests measuring reading comprehension, only directions can be read - same as on state tests. There were forms to be filled out that allowed for individualized accommodations for each special needs student.

The test is administered via NAEP reps who work with the state Dept of Ed. In our state - what you describe has not been the case in the past testing cycle, nor in this testing cycle.

It sounds as if you have experienced something very different. Would be interested in talking about it by PM. The implications are pretty significant - as you suggest.

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. The accommodations were mandated and could not be changed

They didn't match most of our IEPs.

There were no accommodations allowed for ELL kids.

[salin]

58. No exp with ELL on NAEP - however,

the experience with exceptional learners was more accommodating, and no students were excluded at the tested grade.

[proud2BlibKansan]

62. Something to remember when comparing my state's scores with your state's

:)

[salin]

63. at a quick glance..

I think your state beat my state - despite testing differences :D

Your report does give me pause. I discount a lot of testing scores.... guess there are irregularities I hadn't realized. One more set of scores to read with a grain of salt, I guess.

[barbiegeek]

30. State test & MAP are NOT the same as this one listed

[catabryna]

33. See my reply above.... n/t

[barbiegeek]

28. Thank U. Only 1 out of 7 kids actually take the test & these aren't

2010 stats.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. A couple years ago Bush gave a big speech to praise the most recent NAEP scores

That was a big clue into the validity of this test.

[barbiegeek]

35. Doesn't his brother own the company that Distributes this test

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. Does he have an interest in this too?

I know he also owns the company that sells the computer carts paid for with NCLB money. $3800 for a cart on wheels that holds laptops, laptops not included. $3800

[barbiegeek]

39. I know his brother owns a test design company & got the contract

with no-child left behind $$.

[salin]

48. Not likely...

Some state tests, perhaps - but to my experience NAEP is federal - not privatized. For policy makers it is the only test that is used across all states - to give some kind of comparative data from state to state.

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. Does NAEP write its own test?

[salin]

54. In the past, I believe so. Is there documentation that a private enterprise

writes the Naep tests? If documented, this would be a serious concern.

[proud2BlibKansan]

56. Why? Most tests are written by publishers. What's the big deal?

[salin]

59. The test does not measure students, or schools performance. It measures states.

It is *not* a high stakes test. Students have no benefit or consequence per their performance on the test, and schools (no districts) have no benefit or consequence per the performance on the test.


The accusation that the test has been privatized, and that the test is invalid per excluding students from testing are claims that you have made. I am just asking for documentation of these claims.

[proud2BlibKansan]

61. You are right. It is a meaningless test being used to draw conclusions

that aren't valid.

Whether or not a publisher writes the test is a completely different topic. I have no idea who writes it but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a publisher and not written in house by NAEP.

[salin]

45. Perhaps that was true in past years...

but have just had a NAEP coordinating meeting - and a great deal of attention was spent on identifying those students and ensuring that they are tested (Sp Ed and ELL) - this was true two years ago, the last time NAEP tested an entire grade.

These students are expected to be tested. If they are not - it is either a state (the state DOEs coordinate with the feds the local testing) or a building issue. My guess would be state, as the data is not reported at the building level but at the state level.

[Hannah Bell]

12. these aren't the states with the "smartest" kids, but states where kids

score highest on standardized tests.

largely a function of income.

[OHdem10]

18. Thank you for pointing out --it is not the student's ability but

the education in each state.

There is a serious cultural implication here. It is not
all money. Sure money helps --I would be stupid to argue
otherwise.

States like Mass have held this position or very close
for years. There is a factor that might be hard to measure
Certain areas seem to value education more than others.

The Republicans constantly belittling any candidate who
is "educated" esp if in NE. has impact that I believe
is negative. Putting down the more educated as if this
disqualifies one for public office.

[Supersedeas]

23. good ponts....households which value education may be a better

indicator than income.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. And only kids who speak English and have no disabilities

The NAEP is crap. Its results are crap.

[murielm99]

15. It is interesting that overseas military bases are in the

top twenty-five. I have known some great teachers who have taught at overseas military bases. It makes sense to me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. At one time, those were great jobs

I have no idea if they still are. Hope so.

I've had a couple co-workers teach at overseas bases. They loved it and said it was the best teaching job they ever had. One went to Korea and the other was in Germany.

[laylah]

19. My girls ALWAYS scored in the

98-99 percentile when in school...but that was when education was a priority.

Jenn

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

21. First red state (and its redness is dubious) is Ohio at #10.

Then Colorado at #11 (also far from reddest).

[Odin2005]

22. We're number 5!!! We're number 5!!!

[cali]

24. the top 3 states are all in New England.

[XemaSab]

26. We're number 41! We're number 41!

:woohoo:

[Raksha]

53. Yeah, California is number 41. Sucks, doesn't it?

[dkf]

29. I'm beginning to think tests are a bunch of bs.

Sadly some here have convinced me there is too much pressure on educators to perform, leading to crooked teachers and crooked principals.

It seems that everybody is buckling under pressure, on wall street and in Government.

###half tongue in cheek and half serious###

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. I'm more concerned about the pressure on our kids

These tests are incredibly stressful and some kids really freak out. It's sad that we waste so much of their educational time on a stressful meaningless test. Very sad.

[dkf]

40. The question is how much pressure will they be under when their Chinese counterparts are

Out innovating us.

We can't expect a superior standard of living to people who out work and out smart us.

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. In Shanghai?

LOL

[dkf]

44. China is the most successful anti poverty program in history.

You may not be able to appreciate it yet but they are now the second largest economy in the world. Their government puts a high importance on education and they have a populace eager to enter the middle class.

It scares me how short sighted so many are. Thank goodness President Obama is smarter than that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. One of my dearest friends lives in China

They pay their workers pennies an hour. Many kids drop out of school as early as age 12 so they can go to work in a factory and earn those big salaries.

The government requires permits for everything and is involved in "everything its citizens do" - quoting my friend.

It took 3 years for the paperwork to be approved for my friend to buy a house. His wife is a banker so they didn't have to wait as long as most home buyers.

The pressure on high school students to achieve is so great that my friend and his wife are moving back to the US when their daughter is ready for high school. His wife's nephew killed himself when his grades dropped.

I know enough about China.

I don't understand why Obama's smartness is relevant to this discussion.

[dkf]

52. I bet when their daughter comes back she will be leagues ahead of her American counterparts.

[MrSlayer]

41. Seven is not too bad.

PA.

[delightfulstar]

64. I'm not surprised that AZ is #40, however...

It depends on your district, too. When we moved here several months ago, we examined the schools very carefully, and actually got into a top-notch district, so we were lucky. The biggest consideration was our 9 year-old son, who has Autism; he is in a school with one of the best ASD-focused programs in the Southwest, and is doing very well. The schools they went to in KS were highly-touted, but severely lacking, even though there was a decent tax base, and we were nickel-and-dimed for everything from fees to supplies. We paid between $50-100 a year for enrollment fees there, and had to buy another $200+ in supplies off a district-supplied list, right down to boxes of tissues for the classrooms. Here in AZ, we don't have to pay a dime for any of that, aside from the regular property taxes, and the quality of the teachers and buildings is much better.