Dive Brief:
- Using the 2014 Kids Count Report as a guide, the Huffington Post breaks down the differences between the education systems in the highest-ranked state — Massachusetts — and the lowest — Nevada.
- Using bar graphs, the website looks at everything from the difference in high school graduation rates to the percentage of eighth-grade students proficient in math.
- As the Huffington Post's Rebecca Klein writes, "Nevada and Massachusetts may only be a plane ride away from each other, but the level of student achievement in both states is vastly different."
Dive Insight:
While the Kids Count website is a bit clunky and lacking in visuals, the Huffington Post and its graphs really help readers conceptualize the national gap in the way children are being educated across the nation. For example, 70% of Nevada children did not attend pre-school in 2010-12, while only 42% did not in Massachusetts. Another example: In Nevada, 40% of students did not graduate on time in the 2011-12 school year, compared to 14% in Massachusetts. While one of these stats may influence the other, there are also a number of other factors (such as child poverty rates in each state) that aren't addressed in the Huffington Post comparison that may shed additional light on the differences.