Congratulations are in order for our local schools. We knew we had great schools, but it’s validating to be recognized by an organization that has nothing to do with Saline County – one that ranks schools throughout the entire nation.
The 2017 Best School Districts ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Ranking factors include:
- state test scores,
- college readiness,
- graduation rates,
- SAT/ACT scores,
- teacher quality,
- public school district ratings,
- and more.
So let’s see how our schools did. You can probably guess that Benton & Bryant Schools did better, because they are much larger than Bauxite & Harmony Grove Schools. You’d be right about that.
Starting in the Little Rock metro area, Benton comes in at #1, Bryant is #4, Harmony Grove at #9, and Bauxite at #13. Click to see all the LR Metro rankings.
In the state of Arkansas, Benton ranks #9, Bryant ranks #17, Harmony Grove ranks #102, and Bauxite ranks #191. Click to see all the state of Arkansas rankings.
Finally, I told you this is an organization that ranks schools across the nation, so let’s see how we did against all those contenders. Benton came in at #794, Bryant at #1,424, Harmony Grove at #4,455, and Bauxite at #8,227. Click to see all the national rankings.
These are all very respectable numbers! Think back to what any Arkansas school district was like 50 years ago, in comparison to the rest of the nation. To have achieved this much success with public education in our small state is phenomenal. Great job, Saline County schools!