Are the schools in your state any good? Some people seem to think that any and all public schools anywhere in America are horrible. There are many schools that are not doing a good job educating student but there are also many schools that are doing a very good job. The quality of education varies greatly across the nation from state to state and city to city. One starting point for comparison is to look st the average test scores for schools in each state. Some states score well above average and some are below average.
The Dept. of Education's National Report card has data on test scores students at the state level. Below are the average test scores for math and reading plus their sum.
2009 test scores for 4th graders:
| math | read | sum | |
| National Public | 239 | 220 | 459 |
| Massachusetts | 252 | 234 | 486 |
| New Hampshire | 251 | 229 | 480 |
| Vermont | 248 | 229 | 477 |
| New Jersey | 247 | 229 | 476 |
| Connecticut | 245 | 229 | 474 |
| Minnesota | 249 | 223 | 473 |
| North Dakota | 245 | 226 | 471 |
| Maryland | 244 | 226 | 470 |
| Virginia | 243 | 227 | 470 |
| Kansas | 245 | 224 | 469 |
| Montana | 244 | 225 | 469 |
| Colorado | 243 | 226 | 469 |
| DoDEA | 240 | 228 | 469 |
| Maine | 244 | 224 | 468 |
| Ohio | 244 | 225 | 468 |
| Florida | 242 | 226 | 468 |
| Pennsylvania | 244 | 224 | 467 |
| Indiana | 243 | 223 | 465 |
| New York | 241 | 224 | 465 |
| Delaware | 239 | 226 | 465 |
| Wyoming | 242 | 223 | 465 |
| Missouri | 241 | 224 | 465 |
| Kentucky | 239 | 226 | 464 |
| South Dakota | 242 | 222 | 464 |
| Iowa | 243 | 221 | 464 |
| Wisconsin | 244 | 220 | 464 |
| Washington | 242 | 221 | 464 |
| North Carolina | 244 | 219 | 463 |
| Idaho | 241 | 221 | 462 |
| Rhode Island | 239 | 223 | 461 |
| Nebraska | 239 | 223 | 461 |
| Utah | 240 | 219 | 460 |
| National Public | 239 | 220 | 459 |
| Texas | 240 | 219 | 459 |
| Illinois | 238 | 219 | 457 |
| Oregon | 238 | 218 | 456 |
| Michigan | 236 | 218 | 455 |
| Oklahoma | 237 | 217 | 454 |
| Georgia | 236 | 218 | 454 |
| Arkansas | 238 | 216 | 454 |
| South Carolina | 236 | 216 | 452 |
| Tennessee | 232 | 217 | 449 |
| Alaska | 237 | 211 | 448 |
| West Virginia | 233 | 215 | 448 |
| Hawaii | 236 | 211 | 446 |
| Nevada | 235 | 211 | 446 |
| Alabama | 228 | 216 | 444 |
| California | 232 | 210 | 441 |
| Arizona | 230 | 210 | 440 |
| Mississippi | 227 | 211 | 438 |
| New Mexico | 230 | 208 | 438 |
| Louisiana | 229 | 207 | 437 |
| District of Columbia | 219 | 202 | 421 |
2009 scores for 8th graders:
| math | read | sum | |
| National Public | 282 | 262 | 544 |
| Massachusetts | 299 | 274 | 572 |
| New Jersey | 293 | 273 | 565 |
| Vermont | 293 | 272 | 565 |
| Minnesota | 294 | 270 | 564 |
| New Hampshire | 292 | 271 | 563 |
| North Dakota | 293 | 269 | 562 |
| Montana | 292 | 270 | 562 |
| South Dakota | 291 | 270 | 561 |
| Connecticut | 289 | 272 | 560 |
| DoDEA | 287 | 272 | 560 |
| Pennsylvania | 288 | 271 | 559 |
| Washington | 289 | 267 | 556 |
| Maryland | 288 | 267 | 556 |
| Kansas | 289 | 267 | 555 |
| Wyoming | 286 | 268 | 554 |
| Ohio | 286 | 269 | 554 |
| Maine | 286 | 268 | 554 |
| Wisconsin | 288 | 266 | 554 |
| Colorado | 287 | 266 | 553 |
| Missouri | 286 | 267 | 553 |
| Indiana | 287 | 266 | 553 |
| Idaho | 287 | 265 | 552 |
| Virginia | 286 | 266 | 552 |
| Nebraska | 284 | 267 | 551 |
| Oregon | 285 | 265 | 550 |
| Utah | 284 | 266 | 550 |
| Iowa | 284 | 265 | 549 |
| Delaware | 284 | 265 | 549 |
| Texas | 287 | 260 | 547 |
| Illinois | 282 | 265 | 547 |
| New York | 283 | 264 | 547 |
| Kentucky | 279 | 267 | 546 |
| North Carolina | 284 | 260 | 544 |
| Florida | 279 | 264 | 544 |
| National Public | 282 | 262 | 544 |
| Alaska | 283 | 259 | 542 |
| Michigan | 278 | 262 | 540 |
| Rhode Island | 278 | 260 | 538 |
| Georgia | 278 | 260 | 538 |
| South Carolina | 280 | 257 | 538 |
| Tennessee | 275 | 261 | 536 |
| Oklahoma | 276 | 259 | 535 |
| Arizona | 277 | 258 | 535 |
| Arkansas | 276 | 258 | 534 |
| Hawaii | 274 | 255 | 528 |
| Nevada | 274 | 254 | 528 |
| Louisiana | 272 | 253 | 526 |
| West Virginia | 270 | 255 | 525 |
| New Mexico | 270 | 254 | 524 |
| Alabama | 269 | 255 | 523 |
| California | 270 | 253 | 523 |
| Mississippi | 265 | 251 | 516 |
| District of Columbia | 254 | 242 | 496 |
Keep in mind that these are just average test scores and that every state will have variations. Each state has a large variation in school quality from city to city and between school districts. The very best school in a state with low average scores may be a very good school even compared to most schools in a state with very high averages, and vice versa.
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