Top School Districts

Various organizations compile lists of the top school districts in the country every year.

These are based on various factors like performance at examinations and facilities offered.

The top school districts in various states are motivated to improve their performance and thus their ranking in the top hundred.

These indicators are converted into a single set of rankings which enables you to compare the quality of the various public school districts easily.

The comparison of raw statistics of individual school districts would be a difficult task indeed.

The main factors taken into consideration when ranking the top school districts are

The SAT and ACT scores
The percentage of high school students taking college entrance exams and going to good colleges
The results of the standardized test scores such as the ISTEP+ examination
The cost of living and property value in the neighborhood
Amount spent by the school district per student on academics
Student to teacher ratio, since smaller classrooms mean more individual attention to the pupils
Rates of graduation

The researchers also consider the basic income and classified school districts as either being high, medium or low income districts.

These socio-economic indicators served as one of the criteria.

They looked at the money being spent per student by the district and the academic results.

Many school districts use the top school districts rankings to develop and implement a plan of action for the entire school district to improve the scores at all grade levels.

They give more attention to curriculum and improved teaching methods.

This pays dividends in the form of better results from students. It increases standardized test scores quite dramatically. The teachers too are motivated to update their teaching methods.

The top school districts ranking system also acknowledges the performance of the sports team and other extracurricular activities. A good rank brings recognition to the district within the community.