The website, Intelligent, has published a report comparing the performance of American states in various metrics. The best performing states (including the District of Columbia) are mainly on the East Coast and in the Mid-West while those who do less well tend to be in the South.

The top five states overall (combining academic performance, safety, community, academic investment, class size and attendance) are:

1. New Jersey
2. Massachusetts
3. Connecticut
4. Minnesota
5. Wisconsin.

The bottom five are:

47. Idaho
48. Louisiana
49. South Carolina
50. Mississippi
51. New Mexico.

The best and worse states for indicators relevant to higher education are:

SAT Scores; Minnesota highest, DC lowest

ACT Scores; Connecticut highest, Nevada lowest

College enrollment; Rhode Island highest, Alaska lowest

Bachelor degrees; DC highest, West Virginia lowest

High school graduation rates; Iowa highest, New Mexico lowest.

The report also notes the less than impressive showing of American students on the PISA and TIMSS international tests.

Something that is very disturbing about these rankings is the extremely poor performance of California. The state is ranked 34^th for academic performance despite ranking 2^nd for class size and attendance and 3^rd for academic investment.

Source

Intelligent