In an annual survey of each state’s public-education system, Washington state ranked near the bottom when it came to narrowing the gap in performance between low-income students and their wealthier classmates.
Washington state ranked second to last in that category in the Quality Counts ratings, produced by Education Week, a national news outlet. The District of Columbia placed last.
Yet Washington state ranked 13th in overall K-12 achievement. That indicator combines the numbers from 18 different measures like graduation rates, reading and math performance and Advanced Placement test scores.
Overall, Washington state earned a C in the survey, with the 20th-highest score of 75 out of 100 possible points. That’s slightly higher than last year’s score, when the state was ranked 22nd.
Overall, the analysis looked at three main indicators: school finance, K-12 achievement and “chance for success.”
The chance-for-success index looks at a number of factors, including a state’s average family income, preschool enrollment and percentage of adults with postsecondary degrees. Washington state earned a B- in “chance for success,” and ranked 23rd. Washington state scored a C- in school finance, which looks at school spending patterns and equity in how money is distributed among districts.
Massachusetts ranked first for the third year in a row. Though Washington state and Massachusetts’ student populations are comparable, a Seattle Times Education Lab story found that the two states approach funding in very different ways. Oregon and California both received a C- grade and ranked 40th and 42nd. Idaho ranked fourth from the bottom with a D+ grade.
