massachusetts is about as good as it gets when it comes to setting standards for public school teachers and holding schools accountable for outcomes, according to Quality Counts 2006, the latest annual report compiled by Education Week. The report’s editors gave the Bay State an “A” in those areas, the same grade as last year, citing academic standards that are “clear, specific, and grounded in content” (as determined by the American Federation of Teachers), and approving the two-pronged strategy of using both sanctions and additional aid in dealing with lowperforming schools.
In other areas of education, the Bay State was closer to the national norm. It got a “C” for “efforts to improve teacher equality,” along with a scolding for its lack of mentoring programs for new teachers and its inadequate funding of professional development programs. Worse was a “C-” for “resource equity,” thanks to wide disparities in per-pupil funding among school districts.For “school climate,” Massachusetts got high marks for providing choices to students and parents (in particular, through the availability of charter schools) but lost some ground on school safety, for an overall grade of “B-”.That was the only change in the four major grades since the 2005 report,when the state received a “C+” for school climate and was criticized by the report’s authors for not doing enough to reduce class sizes.
While not providing a letter grade in student achievement, Quality Counts did include a good amount of data in that area. For example, at an even 70 percent, the 2002 high school graduation rate in Massachusetts was virtually identical to the national rate (69.4 percent), but there were noticeable differences within two ethnic groups: The graduation rate was 66 percent among Asian-American students in Massachusetts, versus 78 percent nationally, and 42 percent among Hispanic students, versus 55 percent nationally. (Graduation rates of 55 percent among black students and 75 percent among white students lined up pretty closely with rates at the national level.)
STATE GRADES FROM QUALITY COUNTS 2006
| State | Standards and Accountability | Improving Teacher Quality | School Climate | Resource Equity |
| ALABAMA | B | B | C – | C + |
| ALASKA | C – | D | D + | D + |
| ARIZONA | B | D | C + | D + |
| ARKANSAS | C + | A – | C + | B – |
| CALIFORNIA | B + | B – | C | B – |
| COLORADO | B | C | B | C – |
| CONNECTICUT | B – | A – | B – | C |
| DELAWARE | B + | C + | B | B – |
| FLORIDA | A | C | C | B – |
| GEORGIA | A – | C + | C + | C |
| HAWAII | B + | C – | C | * |
| IDAHO | B | D | C + | F |
| ILLINOIS | B + | C | C + | D + |
| INDIANA | A | B – | C | B – |
| IOWA | F | C + | B – | B + |
| KANSAS | C | B + | B – | C + |
| KENTUCKY | B + | B | C | C |
| LOUISIANA | A | A | C – | B |
| MAINE | C | D | B | C – |
| MARYLAND | A – | C + | D + | C – |
| MASSACHUSETTS | A | C | B – | C – |
| MICHIGAN | B | D | C – | C – |
| MINNESOTA | C + | C | B | B |
| MISSISSIPPI | C + | C | D+ | C – |
| MISSOURI | D + | B – | B | C |
| MONTANA | D | D + | C – | D – |
| NEBRASKA | D | C | C + | C + |
| NEVADA | B – | C | C – | A – |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | C | C – | B – | D |
| NEW JERSEY | B + | B | B – | C – |
| NEW MEXICO | A | B | C | B + |
| NEW YORK | A | B – | C | C |
| NORTH CAROLINA | B | B | C + | C – |
| NORTH DAKOTA | C – | D + | C | D – |
| OHIO | A – | B | C + | C |
| OKLAHOMA | B + | B | C + | B – |
| OREGON | C + | D | C + | C – |
| PENNSYLVANIA | B – | B | C | C – |
| RHODE ISLAND | C | C – | B | D |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | A | A | C + | C |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | B – | D + | C+ | C + |
| TENNESSEE | B | C + | C + | C |
| TEXAS | B – | C – | C | C – |
| UTAH | C + | C – | C | B + |
| VERMONT | B – | C – | B – | F |
| VIRGINIA | B | B + | C | D + |
| WASHINGTON | B | C | C + | C |
| WEST VIRGINIA | A | B | C + | B |
| WISCONSIN | B – | C + | B | B – |
| WYOMING | D | D + | B | C + |
Source: Quality Counts 2006, from Editorial Projects in Education, publisher of Education Week (www.edweek.org)
* Hawaii has a single school district for the entire state and is not counted in this category..