Vermont was named the country’s smartest state in a report released last month. But the rankings wouldn’t make my list of the smartest studies.
The education rankings are determined by Morgan Quitno, a small publisher that specializes in compiling statistics from government and other sources about education, health and crime. The rankings are based on data about attendance, class size and other characteristics of primary and secondary public schools. Vermont ranks in the top 10 in nearly all of the 21 factors Morgan Quitno includes. The Associated Press, Barre Montpeiler (Vt.) Times Argus and Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle were among those that covered the rankings. In its package on the list, Netscape News ran the subheadline, “The smartest state is Vermont. The dumbest is Arizona.”
The above from The Numbers Guy at the Wall Street Journal. He — Carl Bialik — disconstructs the study.
Last year New Mexico was last.