Several national organizations have recently released reports ranking or grading state educational systems or outcomes, and KASB has updated its own ranking system. Most rank Kansas quite high. The differences are in the data these groups use to make their evaluation.
KASB has been using a system to rank state educational outcomes called “Comparing Kansas.” It is based entirely on nationally reported data for 16 educational outcomes in three areas.
First is the percentage of 18-24-year-olds reaching three levels of educational attainment: high school completion, any postsecondary education and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Second area is the graduation rate for all students, for low-income students, for English Language Learners, for Students with Disabilities, and the drop-out rate for all students.
The third area is national test scores: the percentage of all students, low-income and non-low-income students reaching the basic level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading and math tests, and percentage of those groups reaching the proficient level; plus the composite ACT score and mean SAT score for each state compared to what would be projected based on the percentage of students taking the test.
All states are ranked on each of these 16 outcomes, which are then weighted so that each of the three areas has the same weight, and an overall ranking is determined. Based on the most recent data, mostly for 2021 and 2022, Kansas has weighted ranking of 13th among the 50 states.
This method may seem somewhat complex, but it focuses on three stages of education: how well students do while still in school (NAEP scores at 4th and 8th grade, ACT and SAT scores for high school students); how many students graduate in four years; and how many young adults complete high school and begin post-secondary education by age 24. That’s critical because the higher level of educational attainment a person reaches, the greater their average earnings, employment opportunities, lifelong economic security and avoidance of poverty.
The Kansas Education system ranked even high on CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business 2023 report. Kansas received an overall “business friendly” ranking of 23rd, but its educational ranking tied for 5th.
The CNBC report doesn’t give a lot of details on how calculated the education ranking, saying “We look at multiple measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending. We consider the number of colleges and universities in each state as well as long-term trends in state support for higher education. We also consider historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which companies are increasingly seeking to partner with. With the search for talent expanding to include employees with marketable, industry-recognized skills, we measure each state’s community college and career education systems.”
In other words, the report doesn’t just look at outcomes, but includes things like class size and spending, as well as the structure and funding of higher education system.
Another new report was released by SafeHome.org called The Smartest States in the U.S. Kansas was ranked seventh. This report based on the percentage of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree and the percentage of adults 25 and older with a graduate or professional degree and the change over four years; the graduation rate for public high schools in each state and change over five years; and average ACT and SAT scores, along with the percentage of students meeting ACT and SAT benchmarks. The formula “more heavily weighted educational attainment than test scores in an effort to help adjust for differences in things like bias in standardized testing or availability of test prep,” said the report.
Earlier this year, the Lumina Foundation released a report on the percentage of 25-65-year-olds in each state that had what it called a “high value” postsecondary credential: associate, bachelor’s or advanced college degree or a technical certificate or industry recognized credential. Kansas ranked 17th in that report.
The lowest Kansas was ranked on a national report is WalletHub’s 2023’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems report. Kansas came in 39th overall, with a “Quality” ranking 34th and a “Safety” ranking of 46th. Its methodology used 32 weighted factors, which can be viewed through the link to the report, but it does not give individual state rankings in each area.
Some of the WalletHub measures are clear outcomes like test scores and graduation rates used in KASB’s ranking and other reports, but others are not outcomes at all, such the number of Blue Ribbon schools and whether states have adopted certain school-related requirements.
The WalletHub ranking for Kansas has changed considerably over the past decade. Kansas ranked 5th in the 2014 edition and 15th in 2018. It is unclear how the methodology has changed over that time.
So, how does Kansas really rank on educational outcomes? Again, it depends on the measures. Kansas ranks highest on adult educational attainment, which means the percentage of the population that has actually gone on the success in college or technical training, which increases success in the workforce.
However, Kansas has slipped over the past decade in measures like test scores and high school graduation rates. That could mean such measures are not as critical to postsecondary success as some believe, and data shows that some students who score low on standardized tests go on to complete technical and academic credentials. But it may also be a warning that Kansas could be falling behind other states which have increased educational support more than Kansas. These results do not reflect the full impact of increased funding in the past several years under the Gannon school finance plan.
The State Board of Education’s Kansans Can vision and changing accreditation system is focusing on three areas: raising academic achievement, raising graduation rates and raising postsecondary success. These outcomes should be reflected in national rankings that focus on those areas.
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