“Leaders and Laggards: A state-by-state report card on educational innovation”
The report, which comes at the heels of the federal Race to the Top Fund, explores the future of education and what states are doing to prepare for upcoming challenges. Its grading system is based on innovative educational practices, which it argues are vital to laying the groundwork for continuous and transformational change. This means that some states with positive academic results receive poor grades on measures of innovation, while others with lackluster scholarly achievement earn high marks for policies that create an entrepreneurial culture in their schools.
The report is accompanied by an interactive map that grades each state in eight areas, including school management, finance, staffing and technology. Data is derived from a wide variety of sources, including federal education databases and state surveys conducted by the Center for American Progress.
