Kansas and Missouri receive barely passing grades for their K-12 education performance, according to Education Week’s 22nd annual Quality Counts survey.
Both states scored less than the national average of 74.5 points, or a ‘C’ grade, on a 100-point scale. Kansas earned 73.3 points, or 27th among the states and the District of Columbia, and Missouri earned 72.2 points, or 32nd.
The survey uses about 40 indicators to grade states on three different indices a chance-for-success category, a school finance category, and a K-12 achievement index. Kansas earned its top grade, a B-minus, in the chance for success category. Missouri’s top score was also in the chance for success category, where the state earned a C-plus, good enough for 27th among the states. Both states earned their worst marks in K-12 achievement, where Missouri earned a D-plus, and Kansas earned a D. In the school finance index, Kansas earned a C and placed 25th. Missouri received a C-minus, or 34th, in school finance.
The national average ticked slightly upward after years of flat performance.
“The nation’s grade of C reflects continued struggles with achievement and funding gaps even as postsecondary participation and graduation rates are higher than they were last year,” said Holly Yettick, director of the Education Week Research Center.
The nation earns a C-plus on Education Week’s proprietary Chance-for-Success Index, with Massachusetts leading the pack with an A-minus. In the school finance category, the nation’s grade is a C for 2018. There, Wyoming earns the only A-minus and the nation’s top spot. Idaho ranks last on school finance with a D-minus. With a C-minus for the U.S. as a whole, the nation has its weakest showing on the K-12 Achievement Index, which was last updated in 2016.
