Maryland Continues to Rank Among Top States in Latest Education Study

National Publication Ranks Maryland’s System Fifth Overall

BALTIMORE – Maryland’s public schools continue to rank among the nation’s highest rated school systems, according to an independent national report released today.

Education Week, a national education newspaper, ranks Maryland fifth among 50 states and the District of Columbia in its latest “Quality Counts” report. Maryland received a “B” grade for the third straight year, and while its ranking fell slightly from fourth place in 2016, its composite score improved (from 82.7 to 82.8 points).

Massachusetts held on to the top spot in the rankings, also with a B (86.5 composite score, down slightly from last year), followed by New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire. Other states receiving B grades were Connecticut and Wyoming.

The national average on the report was a C, with a 71.0 composite score.

Now in its 21st year, the Quality Counts report ranks states in a variety of indicators in three broad categories: Chance for Success Index, K-12 Achievement Index, and School Finance. Education Week has regularly altered its rubric, and cut two broad categories in 2015 (Transitions and Alignment, focusing on State policies; and the Teaching Profession, focusing on teacher training, tenure, and other policies). As a result of that change, Maryland dropped from the top spot in the rankings — a position it had held from 2009 to 2013.

Maryland remains a consistent top performer in Education Week’s annual study. The State is one of a handful of high-performing states to rank in the top 10 in all three general categories that comprise the Quality Counts formula. Maryland ranks 9th in Chance for Success with a B; fifth in school finance with a B+, and fifth in K-12 Achievement with a C+.

For more information, see the Education Week website, www.edweek.org.