Best: Mississippi.
Worst: Oregon.
The Urban League performed this calculation to create “apples to apples” comparisons between the states by normalizing age, demographic, and income groups’ representation in the sample. It is intended to measure the effectiveness of schools in improving outcomes vs just measuring the absolute values, which are distorted by vast differences in the number of different demographic groups who, on average, perform differently on tests regardless of where they go to school.
You would expect areas with few English as a second language learners and lots of upper-middle class parents, for instance, to perform better because the student body is better prepared. The parents would supplement the school’s instruction where necessary with tutors, individual attention, and parental pressure to perform. On the other hand, a poor, rural…
