Recently released education rankings by U.S. News & World Report have given some state leaders across the country reason to crow ahead of this November’s elections, where voters in 36 states will elect potentially new governors.
But looking at these sorts of metrics to assess the quality of education only tells half the education story: to truly consider an education system top-notch, states need to be assessing student career readiness — a standard and a definition that’s changing rapidly.
While states and politicians are eager to tout where their education systems fall in these sorts of rankings, understanding what metrics are being used in these measurements is critical.
For US News & World Report, the outlet looks at things like preschool enrollment, high school graduation rates, eighth-grade reading and math performance, college readiness, and postsecondary completion and attainment. These are all worthwhile metrics that can point to how students are faring.
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