If it takes a village to raise a child, then educators — and access to a good education — certainly plays a large role in ensuring a kid’s success.
In a recent report, financial news and opinion website 24/7 Wall Street looked at the school district in every state where students are most likely to succeed.
To compile the list, the website looked at data from the U.S. Census Bureau and National Center for Education Statistics.
The analysis also considered factors like teacher-to-student ratio, high school graduation rates and how much a district spends per student.
The report also considered data from Niche on college entrance exam performance and other district outcomes.
Although, as the report notes, one of the most critical factors in determining a student’s success is outside of a child’s control: whether or not he or she lives below the poverty line.
"Childhood poverty increases the likelihood of low test scores and reduces a student's chances of completing high school," the 24/7 Wall Street report notes.
Because of its pervasive impact on learning, the report also considered the poverty rate in its index.
The report points to the fact that most education policy is set on a state level, which means state by state comparisons can be fraught.
“A district that ranks as the best in a given state will not necessarily rank favorably among districts in other states,” the report reads.
In Georgia, the report says students at City Schools of Decatur are most likely to succeed.
In part, that’s because the Decatur school district spends $11,657 per student annually, which surpasses the state average of $10,205.
“The greater school spending likely contributes to the smaller class sizes, as the district has about one teacher per 14.2 students — well below the one teacher per 15.2 students ratio across Georgia,” the report notes.
Decatur students are also more likely to graduate high school (85.5 percent of students) than the state average (69.9 percent).
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