Mass. ranks 5th in the nation for education, 1st for student success

Massachusetts has the fifth-best education system in the country for 2023, according to a report from Scholaroo. Four New England states made the top five list.

Scholaroo is a scholarship-finding service that also releases data reports related to education. Its 2023 Best and Worst School Systems scoring is based on three categories: student success, student safety, and school quality.

The state’s education system ranked first in student success, fourteenth in student safety, and sixth in student quality. It scored an 83 overall, putting it three points behind New Jersey, which ranked first overall.

Student success accounted for 25 points of the total, student quality for 35 points, and student safety for 40 points. To measure student success, Schoolaroo used 40 considerations, including test scores, high school dropout rates, and college-going rates. 

Schoolaroo calculated student quality using metrics including the amount spent on students, the student-to-teacher ratio, and the health education curriculum. It considered factors including bullying rate, exposure to illicit drugs, and sexual assault rates for determining student safety.

In a breakdown of these categories, Massachusetts was found to have the third lowest dropout rate, the second highest math test scores, and the fifth highest dollar spent per student. 

Teachers in the state also have one of the best compensation rates in the nation, and students have the second-highest average ACT scores across states, according to a release. The state also has the second-largest number of public high schools ranked among the country’s top 100.

Three other New England states — New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut — took spots two through four respectively in the ranking.

New Hampshire’s overall score tied with New Jersey’s – 86 – but the state ranked third in student success, sixth in student safety, and first in student quality, falling slightly behind New Jersey’s respective fourth, first and fifth rankings. New Hampshire also came in fourth for its math scores and ranked fifth for having the lowest number of students per teacher.

Vermont scored an 84 overall, ranking eighth in student success, fourth in student safety, and fifth in student quality. It ranked second for its high graduation rates.

Connecticut tied Vermont’s overall score, and even ranked second in both student success and student quality, but fell behind in student safety with a ranking of 25. The state was also third for math scores, second for its money spent per pupil, and fourth for having a low number of students per teacher in the classroom.

The remaining two New England states — Maine and Rhode Island — ranked seventh and 23rd respectively, with scores of 80 and 73. Maine also had the third-highest graduation rates and the second-lowest number of students per teacher.