A quality education can be tricky to quantify, but the State Department of Education has done just that — ranking Idaho’s schools from best to worst. 

The data provided tells many stories about Idaho schools — purportedly, where the best and worst schools are. The latest ranking also highlights the most notable gains and slides since 2018. And it shows a stark difference among Idaho’s top and bottom schools.

The data that’s missing tells a story too — like geographical, socioeconomic, demographic, and social factors that aren’t accounted for, and that perhaps help drive the divide between the top schools and the bottom. 

In Idaho, where the constitution mandates the Legislature “establish and maintain a general, uniform, and thorough system of public, free common schools”, the rankings list counters that ideal with reality: inequity seems to persist in public education. 

The first-ever rankings list was created in 2018 when the federal government required states to identify the lowest-performing schools. The idea was that, once identified, the State Department could help lift those struggling schools by providing additional funding and support. 

But the rankings lists, meant to be compiled every three years, were pushed back in 2020-2021 due to the pandemic. The newest rankings are from the 2021-2022 school year and were just released. 

Read on to learn about the methodology behind the rankings and some of the stories they tell. 

To see where your school landed, search through the data here. 

Methodology: The formula behind the rankings

The State Department’s explanation of the federal school data requirements and how it meets them is complex — it’s a 99-page PDF. 

In case you don’t want to read it all, here’s a basic breakdown of how the rankings are calculated — which differs based on grade levels served.

K-8 schools’ rankings formula:

High schools’ rankings formula

*This rate lags the other reporting indicators by two years

**This is the percentage of first-time seniors who ever, in grades 9-12, participated in advanced opportunities; received industry-recognized certifications; or participated in recognized high school apprenticeship programs

The data above is turned into a number, called a composite value, that can be as high as 100 or as low as 0. That number is used to rank the schools. 

In the overall rankings list, schools are not sorted by their enrollment, grades served, type (charter vs. traditional), or any other differentiating factor. They are all tossed in the mix and measured up.

More than 600 schools are ranked. More than 100 were left out of the tally for a number of reasons, such as: the school’s enrollment was too low; the school didn’t serve the grade levels measured; or the school is new. 

Without further ado, here’s what the results say. 

At look at the data extremes: the best and worst 

Here’s a look at some of the best-performing schools in Idaho, according to the data measured:

And here are some of the worst performers:

But the rankings don’t tell the whole story. 

Do rankings measure privilege or academic achievement? Or both?

When considering a few demographic factors not accounted for in the rankings — such as a student body’s socioeconomic status and racial diversity — questions arise: do the rankings measure a school’s academic excellence or a student body’s privilege? Or both? To what degree do the two factors influence each other? 

All of the state’s top-ranked schools examined below have predominantly white students. And in all of the schools, a majority of the student body’s families have a higher socioeconomic status, as indicated by free and reduced-price lunch qualifiers. 

On top of that, all of the schools are located in relatively large urban areas. 

High performers’ demographic data

On the other end of the spectrum, most of the lower-ranked schools examined below have more racial diversity, and four primarily serve American Indian students. In most cases, a majority of these schools’ student bodies come from families with a lower socioeconomic status. 

Four of the schools are located on or near reservation land/in rural areas. The two schools in urban areas are alternative schools, which are designed to help at-risk students earn a high school diploma. 

Low performers’ demographic data 

These are just two additional data points that help tell a more complete story, but there are plenty more that haven’t been included — such as the amount of students with disabilities, with limited English proficiencies, or who are experiencing homelessness, to name a few.

Another way to consider the data: notable gains and slides

The 2022 rankings, when compared to 2018, also show the schools with the biggest improvements. Here are some of them:

Notable gains

Notable slides 

Some schools notably regressed from 2018 — and it’s worth noting that there was a global pandemic between now and then.

Progress and regression compared with privilege

All of the state’s top-improvers examined below have predominantly white student bodies, and all but one have student bodies that are primarily from families with higher socioeconomic status. 

Unlike the state’s top performers, the most-improved schools have greater geographical variety — three are in relatively rural areas.

Notable gains demographics

Three of the state’s backsliders examined below had a majority of students from families with lower socioeconomic status. And all have student bodies that are predominantly white. 

Four are located in relatively urban areas; one is an alternative school.

Notable slides demographics 

Idaho Education News Data Analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.