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Since people always talk about "excellent schools" wherever they may be (especially around here if they've moved away from NY), I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of the best states with great schools - based on the latest US News & World Report rankings' top 500, separated by state. I stopped at top 500 because I had to scroll down for each state individually.
Of course you'd have to consider the population of each state driving the number of schools and so I've derived a ranking based on that ratio - number of schools in the top 500 / state population.
Interestingly, some states often mentioned such as NC & SC were found to have few schools in the top 500. NY is the best state with an appreciable population (over 10 mil). CT, ME, and MA also deserve high commendations. And generally speaking, the northeast seems more focused on education. Many will state that rankings aren't everything, but this is a quick study of statistical figures. Let me know if other things should be considered from a statistical perspective.
This list would be a lot more useful if separated into specialty and general high schools. Of course "Goober State High school for Science Geniuses with Twelve Hobbies" would score well..
This list would be a lot more useful if separated into specialty and general high schools. Of course "Goober State High school for Science Geniuses with Twelve Hobbies" would score well..
This is a good point - seems like several of the states in the top third are states that are known for much more extensive use of specialized high schools, which would obviously skew the results.
Also, I don't know that lists like this ultimately matter, except to make people feel better about choosing to live in a HCOL area - unless your kid is actually enrolled in one of the high-performing schools identified, you're not really going to see any benefit from being in a state that happens to have more of these schools. It's absurd to think that the presence of neighboring Jericho is somehow rubbing off on or raising the quality of nearby districts like Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, Hicksville, etc. that are historically much lower-performing.
This list would be a lot more useful if separated into specialty and general high schools. Of course "Goober State High school for Science Geniuses with Twelve Hobbies" would score well..
With magnet schools taken out, the top few remain, NY dropped several places and CA still surprises. FL also fell off a cliff.
Schools are only one part of the equation in bringing up a kid. Well-adjusted kids also benefit by not having two strung out parents who have to work all the time and who return at 9 pm every night on the LIRR hell train to keep up with their ever inflating property taxes. If the kid is smart and well-adjusted, he/she will excel regardless of where he went to school. I attended a well-regarded Long Island high school, and I have to say that I wasn't very impressed. Several teachers pulling in well over 100K a year used to "phone it in" everyday by handing out a ditto and then socializing with the class. My classmates & I excelled not because of the teacher, but because we were raised to be motivated and taught ourselves the material. I imagine the skyrocketing cost of living and property taxes increases are causing a lot more families to fall into the 2 income trap. Maybe that explains the increase in teenage heroin use.
I just think it's interesting data. We may not even see a lot of NYC schools as being good but it seems some even do better than the top few % of schools in many other states. If you said your school is in the top 10% of your state when your state doesn't have a school in the top % of the list, it tells us it's not that good to begin with.
I just think it's interesting data. We may not even see a lot of NYC schools as being good but it seems some even do better than the top few % of schools in many other states. If you said your school is in the top 10% of your state when your state doesn't have a school in the top % of the list, it tells us it's not that good to begin with.
All these studies are subjective. One study ranks Pennsylvania public education as #5, higher than New York at #10. Report Card on American Education - State Education Rankings Regardless, I am content that the school district that I am in is ranked in the top 10% of the state. In addition, my property taxes are only $1,600 per year, so I can afford to be a one income family and have one spouse stay at home to help the kid with homework and make sure that the kid doesn't become a heroin addict. Throwing money at education unions is no substitute for good parenting.
All these studies are subjective. One study ranks Pennsylvania public education as #5, higher than New York at #10. Report Card on American Education - State Education Rankings Regardless, I am content that the school district that I am in is ranked in the top 10% of the state. In addition, my property taxes are only $1,600 per year, so I can afford to be a one income family and have one spouse stay at home to help the kid with homework and make sure that the kid doesn't become a heroin addict. Throwing money at education unions is no substitute for good parenting.
Data is clear, but methodology differs. That report you cited states in the first paragraph it is for low-income students and goes on to talk about the white-black and white-hispanic gap.
I agree parenting is a major factor but if you are comparing the schools in 2 states like you did, the data for all high schools on a national level does not support your suggestion that you're doing at least as well as people here just because it's a top 10% school within your state. Nobody here claims to be letting the schools do all the work like you make it sound. If they were, the scores would be lower, wouldn't it? If you are content, more power to you.
As long as we're on the subject of value - which of the top states on the list is known to be affordable? You kind of get what you pay for.
Since people always talk about "excellent schools" wherever they may be (especially around here if they've moved away from NY), I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of the best states with great schools - based on the latest US News & World Report rankings' top 500, separated by state. I stopped at top 500 because I had to scroll down for each state individually.
Of course you'd have to consider the population of each state driving the number of schools and so I've derived a ranking based on that ratio - number of schools in the top 500 / state population.
Interestingly, some states often mentioned such as NC & SC were found to have few schools in the top 500. NY is the best state with an appreciable population (over 10 mil). CT, ME, and MA also deserve high commendations. And generally speaking, the northeast seems more focused on education. Many will state that rankings aren't everything, but this is a quick study of statistical figures. Let me know if other things should be considered from a statistical perspective.
I do not know who is the intended audience for this list.
Is this list suggesting that move anywhere in New York state and the chances of finding quality education is very high ?
I think personally NY has the fewest Metro areas (that has abundant jobs) where you can move to be in proximity of these excellent schools.
Now lets zero in on the NYC - LI area....
You will see that this area has the highest # of high schools per sq mile in the entire nation.
So its easy to make the numbers up, but its not a reflection of the entire state, thats what I'm getting at.
Also what if I tell you that on an average the number of students enrolled per high school in a state that scores very poorly in your list (say PA) is more than NY....
Overall, there is no doubt that if you are in the NYC metro area it provides you with the best alternative with choosing from a cluster of top 500 school in the country (not necessarily value for money) but regardless a top school. But I think taking it to the state level is not fair, and I think most states should probably be pretty even on that list.
If you want to talk about affording a excellent school, then I think your list is probably upside down. The reason being that in general the area that a top 500 School covers in NY (hamlet) is very small compared to a top 500 school in other states rendering them more affordable.
I do not know who is the intended audience for this list.
Many weeks back (likely in one of the many "why move here" or "I'm leaving" threads) I had asked if anyone could compile a list grouping places with the best schools to verify what we always claim... "LI has good schools". Are we being fleeced? Well now we at least know NY qualifies (15 of the 33 NY within top 500 are LI). CA has even more. And with this I considered population size as mentioned.
I would've never known CO, MA, or OH could claim they had great schools and be correct. On the same token, people moving/moved to the Carolinas should never be talking about their schools like they're similar to here.
Last edited by ovi8; 05-14-2014 at 04:52 PM..
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