Maryland schools rank No. 1 in nation for third year in a row

Ed Week gives state a B+ and gives high marks to policies, preparation of youngest students and achievement

January 10, 2011|

By Liz Bowie, The Baltimore Sun

For the third year in a row, Maryland's public schools have been ranked No. 1 in the nation by a leading education newspaper, which gives the state high marks for its policies, the preparation of its youngest children and overall achievement.

"What makes Maryland stand out is that it is on the one hand a strong achiever and has shown improvement, but it is also a real leader in terms of policy," said Christopher Swanson, vice president of editorial projects in education at Education Week, which produced the rankings. He said some states that have high student achievement have coasted, but Maryland has kept the pressure on schools to improve.

The rankings, which Gov. Martin O'Malley and other state leaders mentioned frequently in campaign speeches, give the state a B+ while the average grade across the nation was a C. New York and Massachusetts both ranked just below Maryland with a B average, while South Dakota, Nebraska and the District of Columbia had grades of D+.