Education Report Card

By Dr. Matthew Ladner

The 20th edition of the Report Card on American Education is a comprehensive overview of educational achievement levels, focusing on performance and gains for low-income students, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Report Card details state-by-state grades in the following policy areas:

State Academic Standards

Low-income student performance

Curricular policies

School Choice Programs

Quality and availability of school choice

Private school options

Charter school policy

Teacher Quality

Delivering well-prepared teachers

Expanding the teaching pool

Identifying effective teachers

Retaining effective teachers

Exiting ineffective teachers

Online Learning

Multi-District, Full-time Online School

Digital Learning

Home School Regulation BurdensAuthor Dr. Matthew Ladner analyzes student scores, looking at state education rankings and improvement over recent years. When combined, these policy measures build the state’s overall policy grade. Furthermore, the Report Card highlights education policies states have enacted and provides a road map to best practices, allowing legislators to learn from each other’s education reforms. This year, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker writes an inspirational forward citing his experience implementing innovative reforms like school choice, merit-based pay and retention for teachers, and charter school expansion to the Badger State’s education policy.

Historical Report Cards:

19th Edition | 18th Edition | 17th Edition | 16th Edition | 15th Edition | 14th Edition