Georgia’s public schools can’t get no respect. However, a nationwide report on school quality just released by “Education Week” places Georgia in surprisingly good standing compared with other states.
Georgia’s overall grade in “Quality Counts 2012” was a 79.7 or B-, seventh in the nation. Maryland finished first overall with an 87.8, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Arkansas and New Jersey. We finished above neighboring/competing states Florida (11th), Tennessee (21st), South Carolina (24th) and Alabama (32nd). “Quality Counts” evaluates states using many different measures, rather than single factors such as once-a-year test scores.
Let’s not throw a party for this better-than-expected outcome. The report simply gives a clearer picture of where Georgia stands and where we still need to go with public education. When we break down the overall score to its six components and their sub-components, Georgia is all over the place, from 37th to sixth. I won’t go into every category because of space; instead, I’ll cover a few points that stand out in my mind.
Let’s look at “standards, assessment and accountability,” (18th, but an A- at 91.1) which covers what we teach, how we teach it, and how well we evaluate how/what we teach and the people who teach it. On “standards” alone, Georgia received a perfect 100 or A. This means the experts who worked on “Quality Counts” believe the statewide curriculum is as good as it can possibly get. There are two other components to this category: “assessments” for which the state received only a B or 83.5, and “school accountability,” for which we received an A- or 90.
Note also that in this category, a lot of states scored very high, with even perpetual underachiever Mississippi outscoring Georgia with a 92.8, and the national average at 85.3 (it’s in the 70s for other categories). This tells us that most states are pretty good at policymaking — we all have a handle on what we should be teaching, but run into trouble with actually teaching it.
The proof of this point is in Georgia’s “k-12 Achievement” score, in which we fall to 22nd (C- 70.5), with the “status” subcomponent a dismal F (58.1). To put it bluntly: We ain’t doing too hot with actually teaching that perfect curriculum. This isn’t really a surprise; smart people who did well in school should be able to do a good job deciding what everyone needs to learn to become more smart people, but how to teach that good stuff — well, there’s room for improvement.
The top “Quality Counts” state in k-12 is Massachusetts, with a relatively modest 85.9. That state was second overall and ranked eighth in “school finance.” Massachusetts outscored Georgia by about 24 points on spending (but scored 10 points lower on “college readiness,” odd for a state with so many prominent colleges).
Massachusetts is a predominantly “blue” state that conservatives love to bash for its high taxes; they’re not entirely wrong on that issue, but it does appear, at least with public education, that the citizens of the Commonwealth are getting something for their higher tax dollars. To be fair and comprehensive, I will also point out that higher spending alone doesn’t automatically lead to better outcomes.
Let’s flip the question: Does anybody argue that spending less on education is a good thing? I don’t see any hands.
This is no call to be more like Massachusetts (especially if that means rooting for the Red Sox). I am simply offering information that can help all of us, policy wonks and lay people alike, get a clearer picture of what’s working and what’s not with the state’s public education system.
According to “Quality Counts 2012,” it’s not as bad as many people think, but it could be a lot better. Let’s roll up our sleeves and keep rising in the rankings.
Victor Kulkosky is news editor at the Leader-Tribune in Peach County, where this column originally appeared.
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