Boise (670 KBOI News) – We keep hearing it said that Idaho is #48 in the nation for education…but what does that really mean?
According to Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra, not much. She says this year’s “National Report Card” from the National Assessment for Education Progress is out, and Idaho’s students are performing at or above the national average in reading and math.
Education Week, a Washington DC based education news outlet, gave Idaho the #48 ranking this year, but Ybarra says it’s based on a lot of things that have nothing to do with how our students are learning and performing.
“What is rolled into that ranking is about 30 other points of data, that are largely not related to achievement,” said Ybarra. “From these test results, you can see if you strictly base it on achievement, Idaho is certainly not 48th in the nation. We are doing quite well for our students, thanks to our educators.”
Education Week takes into consideration parent’s income, whether the parents went to college, and so on. Ybarra says the rankings are also meant to push a political agenda.
