Wyoming Is the Best State for Racial Equality in Education, Study Finds
A new study has declared Wyoming the best state for racial equality in education.
The study, conducted by WalletHub, compared the "difference between white and black Americans in areas such as high school and college degrees, test scores and graduation rates."
Using a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most equality, the personal finance site said they compared 50 states across six relevant metrics: Share of adults (ages 25 and older) with at least a high school degree, share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, standardized-test scores, mean SAT score, average ACT score and public high school graduation rate.
In order to determine each state's level of equality, researchers subtracted the values attributed to white and Black people for a metric, using the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Education Statistics and ACT and College Board.
In cases where Blacks scored as high or better than whites on a given metric, WalletHub said they awarded the state with the maximum number points.
Each state's weighted average across all metrics was then determined to calculate its total score, which was used to rank the order of each state's racial equality.
Their findings determined that Wyoming placed first in racial equality with a total score of 75.03 while West Virginia, Montana, New Mexico and Idaho followed behind, with scores ranging from 74.91 to 71.52.
Florida finished directly in the middle of the pack with a score of 45.67. Indiana and Washington placed higher, in spots 23 and 24, while North Carolina and Rhode Island fared worse in spots 26 and 27.
At the bottom of the list, Wisconsin placed last with a total score of 13.44. New York came in at 46th place with a score of 28.48, followed by Pennsylvania (28.29), Connecticut (23.88) and Minnesota (21.58).
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When it came to standardized testing, the lowest score gaps were seen in New Hampshire, West Virginia, Vermont, New Mexico and Hawaii, while the highest score gaps were found in Nebraska, California, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Wisconsin.
The study also determined that Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin had the highest gap in public high school graduation rates. In comparison, Alabama, Hawaii, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Georgia had the lowest gap.
Though New Hampshire ranked sixth on the overall list, it topped the lists for the lowest standardized test scores gap, the lowest mean SAT score gap and the lowest average ACT score gap.
To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:
• Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
• ColorofChange.org works to make the government more responsive to racial disparities.
• National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help Black youth succeed in college and beyond.
