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California continued to rank poorly in an annual report that grades how states are educating their students, scoring a total score of D+ and an overall ranking of 42nd in the Education Week’s “Quality Counts” report.
Education Week is published by the nonprofit organization Editorial Projects in Education, and its annual report is often cited and analyzed by major media organizations. This year’s report uses per-pupil spending, K-12 achievement and indicators that point to a student’s “chance for success” to issue its grades, but uses three-year old information, making the 2015 grades reflective of data from the 2011-12 school year.
After taking a year off from issuing grades as it reassessed the educational landscape, the new report updates the criteria used in issuing the grades, including an assessment of early-education enrollment, giving report in a “newer, leaner form that focuses on outcomes rather than on policy and processes,” according to an Education Week press release.
Overall, the 50 states and Washington D.C. earned an average C grade, with no state earning an A.
In 2013, California ranked 36th in the report, and despite its drop in this year’s grades, did show some signs of improvement. In particular, the state moved from last in education spending to 46th, and had more students enrolled in preschool than the national average. Also, with Gov. Jerry Brown‘s recent announcement of billions of more dollars in education spending on its way, it is likely the state’s ranking in education finance will rise in the coming years, Ed Source pointed out.