Scale scores and proficiency levels provided here are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  NAEP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education with the results provided on The Nation’s Report Card.  The exam is given to randomly selected students from every state in the country to provide an accurate and representative sample of each state’s student population.

Demographic and socioeconomic differences are known to impact achievement levels; comparing states with significantly dissimilar student body compositions is invalid.  You can, however, compare achievement levels of separate demographic groupings across states. The following reports rank each state based on proficiency level and scale scores for multiple demographic cohorts based on the 2011 NAEP results.  States that do not have enough students in the specified demographic cohort to meet reporting standards are scored and ranked 999.

Spending Per-Pupil is based on 2009 data reported by the Census Bureau (most recent available data) for current spending, which does not include expenditures for Capital and Debt.