Dive Brief:
- The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) used 2012-13 school year data to analyze the students-to-teacher ratio in each state, finding that variations are great across the nation.
- According to the NCES, America has an average of 16 students to every one public school teacher.
- California had the most students per teacher (24:1), while Vermont had the least (11:1).
Dive Insight:
Looking at the map created by the Huffington Post, some very obvious trends stand out. For example, the entire west coast (minus Alaska and Washington state) has the greatest ratio of students to teachers. There are at least 20 students to every one teacher in California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon. The states with the smallest ratios are in the Northeast and the heartland. North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine all have 14 students or less for every one teacher.
According to the Huffington Post, is it unclear whether or not the student-to-teacher ratio effects academic achievement. When they compared ratios to eighth grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, they did not see a strong relationship.
