How we rank schools

The short version

Each school's score, out of 100, shows how its state test results compare with other schools of the same type in the same state. A score of 72.0 means the school's results are better than 72% of, say, Ohio middle schools. A score of 50 is the middle; scores run from 0.1 to 99.9.

We never compare schools in different states. Each state sets its own tests and decides for itself what counts as "proficient", so 60% proficient in one state can mean something quite different from 60% in another.

Which results we use

• The latest year the state has published (in most states, the 2024-25 or 2025-26 school year). Earlier years appear on each school page as a trend.
• All students, not individual student groups.
• English language arts (ELA) and math, weighted equally. Science counts for a smaller share (20%) where the state tests it at that kind of school. Social studies and writing are shown on school pages but don't count toward the score.
• The percentage of tested students who met the state's own standard ("proficient", "meets expectations", "mastery" and so on, as the state defines it). We use the figure the state publishes. Where a state publishes only the percentage at each performance level, we add up the levels the state counts as proficient (or, when one of those levels is hidden but the others are published, subtract the published lower levels from 100), and we say so on the page. In Connecticut, which publishes a 0–100 performance index for each subject instead of a proficiency rate, we use that index.

How we combine grades and tests

Most states test several grades, and some also give end-of-course exams in high school (such as Algebra I or Biology). Results differ a lot from one grade or test to another: in some states far more students reach the standard on the grade 8 test than on the grade 7 test, simply because the tests differ.

So that a school isn't helped or held back by which grades it happens to teach, we first compare each grade's (or each exam's) result with the state average for that same grade and test. We then combine those comparisons, giving each grade or exam weight in line with the number of students tested. Where a state doesn't publish how many students were tested, each grade or exam counts equally.

The results shown on school pages are always the state's published figures; this adjustment is used only to work out the score.

Comparing like with like

Elementary, middle and high schools take different tests, so we compare each school only with others of the same type in its state, based on the grades it serves:

If a state has fewer than 10 schools of a type with enough results, we compare those schools with all schools in the state instead, and say so on the page.

From results to a score

1. For each subject, we rank the school against the other schools of its type in its state and turn that into a percentile (for example, "better than 72% of schools").
2. We combine the subject percentiles: ELA 40%, math 40%, science 20%. Where there's no science result, it's ELA 50% and math 50%.
3. We rank the combined result again within the same group. That gives the school's overall percentile.
4. The score is that percentile, shown to one decimal place (from 0.1 to 99.9). A score of 97.4 means the school's results were better than about 97% of similar schools in the state.
5. The colour of a score shows its band of 10: dark green for 80 and above, then light green (60-79), amber (40-59), orange (20-39) and red (below 20).

When we don't give a score

• Results must be published. When a state hides a result to protect student privacy (usually because fewer than 10 or 20 students took the test), we leave it out. We never guess hidden results.
• Enough students must be tested. Where the state publishes how many students took a test, a subject needs at least 10.
• Both ELA and math are needed. A school with only one of them (for example, a high school in a state that doesn't publish high school results for one subject) gets its published results shown but no overall score.
• Schools with no tested grades (pre-K to grade 2 only) don't get a score.
• High schools in states where we don't yet have high school test results (Colorado, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin) don't get a score. In those states, schools that span elementary and high school grades are scored on their grades 3–8 results only, and the page says so.
• New Jersey: the results we have cover only grade 3 ELA and grade 11 math, which is too narrow for a fair overall score. School pages show the published results without a score for now.
• Washington: results are shown exactly as published by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) under its licence. We are not showing scores for Washington schools until OSPI confirms its licence allows them.
• States whose results aren't available as downloadable data (currently Alaska, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming) have a single page explaining that we're working on getting their results. We don't list their schools until we have results to show, and we'll add them when we do.

Rounded, banded or partly hidden results

Some states publish very high or very low results only as "95% or more" or "5% or fewer", or publish a range such as "40–49%". For the score, we use the middle of the possible range (for example 97.5 for "95% or more", 2.5 for "5% or fewer", 44.5 for "40–49%"). School pages show the figure exactly as the state published it, and we flag these results as approximate.

Trends

School pages show earlier years' results next to the state average. When a state changed its test or its standards between two years, we mark the break and don't describe the change as improvement or decline, because the numbers aren't comparable.

What the score doesn't tell you

• Test results reflect intake as well as teaching. Schools serving more disadvantaged communities tend to have lower proficiency rates. Each school page shows the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch so you can see this context.
• The score is based on one year of test results. It doesn't measure student progress over time (growth), graduation, attendance, school climate, teaching quality, extracurriculars or how a school suits a particular child.
• Small schools' results move around more from year to year, because a few students can change the percentages a lot.

Visit the school, talk to families and look at the state's own report card before making decisions.

Sources and updates

Every figure comes from the state education agency's published data files, and school directory information (addresses, enrollment, grades served, free and reduced-price lunch) comes from the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data (CCD). Each school page names the source and school year of every figure. We update the site when states publish new results. If you spot an error, please tell us at contact@compareschoolsusa.com.

Appendix: measures used in each state

"All grades" means the state's own all-grades figure for that test. "By grade" means grade or exam results combined as described above. n = number of students tested. "Equal" means the state doesn't publish n, so grades or exams count equally. Trend breaks are taken from our comparability review of each state's announcements.