Alabama Education Ranking: An In-Depth Analysis

Alabama's education system has been a topic of discussion and scrutiny, with recent rankings highlighting both challenges and areas of progress. This article delves into the state's education ranking, examining the factors that influence it, historical context, and recent initiatives aimed at improvement.

Understanding the Ranking

News & World Report's Best States rankings provide a comprehensive assessment of all 50 states based on eight key factors: healthcare, education, economy, infrastructure, opportunity, fiscal stability, crime & corrections, and natural environment. These rankings, which have been conducted since 2017, offer a broad overview of each state's strengths and weaknesses.

In the most recent rankings, Alabama finds itself near the bottom of the list, securing the 45th position. While this may seem discouraging, a closer look at the individual components reveals a more nuanced picture.

Breakdown of Alabama's Scores

Here's a breakdown of how Alabama performed across the eight key factors:

Crime & Corrections: 29th
Economy: 36th
Education: 44th
Fiscal Stability: 31st
Health Care: 40th
Infrastructure: 33rd
Natural Environment: 33rd
Opportunity: 26th

As the data indicates, Alabama's lowest rankings are in education and healthcare.

Education: A Closer Look

Alabama's education ranking is a composite of several factors, including higher education (42nd) and pre-K through 12th grade (43rd). Despite these low rankings, the state boasts a 90% graduation rate, which is above the national average of 85.8%. However, Alabama falls below the national averages in student debt and NAEP math scores. While the national student debt average is $13,720, Alabama students carry an average debt of $14,147.

Recent Progress and Initiatives

Despite the challenges, there are signs of progress in Alabama's education system. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as America’s Report Card, indicate that Alabama students are making significant strides in post-COVID academic recovery.

In 4th grade math, Alabama climbed to 32nd in 2024, from a low point of 52nd in 2019. Alabama’s 6-point scale score increase was the largest increase in the nation when it comes to 4th grade math. Notably, Alabama’s gains in COVID recovery comparisons surpass those of every other state. This places Alabama among a small group of five states to show recovery to pre-COVID levels in 4th grade math.

Alabama’s place in 4th grade reading has moved dramatically over the past five years, moving up to 34th in 2024. This comes after ranking 49th in 2019. Alabama is one of only two states (along with Louisiana) to exceed pre-COVID levels in 4th grade reading.

These improvements can be attributed to several factors, including:

Read also: US Education System Performance

Higher Expectations: The State School Board has set new, higher expectations for everyone from kindergarten through graduate education.
Increased Investment: The Legislature has invested more in education than ever before.
Strong Leadership: Governor Ivey, a former educator, values the importance of strong state leadership and effective instructional programs.
Dedicated Teachers: Teachers have gone above and beyond to get students to the next level, even amid the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic.

Efforts to incorporate the NAEP framework into Alabama’s Course of Study and laws like the Alabama Literacy and Numeracy Acts place Alabama on good footing for continued academic success.

Alabama students with special needs saw substantial growth in 4th grade math and reading. These students have seen consistent growth in math since 2019, with scale scores increasing from 196 in 2019, to 212 in 2024 (exceeding the national average). In reading, our students with disabilities moved up 12 points on their scale score, from 164 in 2019 to 176 in 2024.

Areas for Improvement

While Alabama has made progress in some areas, there are still challenges to address. State Superintendent Eric Mackey expressed concern about stagnant reading scores, particularly in middle school. In response, the Legislature has funded a new middle grades initiative focused on struggling readers. Mackey has also requested increased funding to expand that effort in 2025-2026 and plans to review middle-level math to see what adjustments are needed.

Preschool is not required in the United States, and the research shows 57% of young children in Alabama are not in school. She said that the pre-K program often has waiting lists.

Historical Context

Understanding Alabama's education ranking requires a look at its historical context. In 1822, Athens State University was established as a private institution called the Athens Female Academy. It did not become a public school until 1974. LaGrange College was established as a private college in 1830.

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The state's voters approved a referendum calling for free public schools for white children in 1852. The legislature approved funding for such schools in the 1854 Public Schools Act. By 1860, about a quarter of white school-aged children were enrolled.

The 1868 constitution required free, racially integrated public school funded by the state. During this period, it was a crime in Alabama to teach a slave to read. Slavery was abolished in 1865.

From the end of the Reconstruction era in the 1870s down to the 1940s, the state and local governments gave far less money to all-black public schools compared to the favored white public schools. (There were no racially integrated schools). However many private schools for Blacks were funded by Northern philanthropy well into the 20th century.

In 1880, a quarter of all whites over the age of ten were illiterate. The number was 18.84% in 1890 and 14.8% in 1900. The state's 1901 constitution prohibited both racially integrated schools and state aid to religious schools.

Eighty days of schooling per year was made mandatory in 1915, but the requirement could be waived for the very poor. The state began to require each county to have a high school, and by 1918 all but ten counties met the obligation. By the mid-1930s, two-thirds of the children of landowners reached high school, but only a third of the children of white sharecroppers.

In an effort to reduce illiteracy the state created "Opportunity Schools" in 1920. These schools enrolled young adults who had not completed fourth grade.

As a reaction to Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, both state and local officials took steps to preserve de facto educational segregation. In 1955, the state allowed public schools to use intelligence and other tests to assign students. Such tests were a method to keep schools segregated. The state also allowed public funds to flow to private schools that admitted only students of one race.

Since 2000, eleven school districts have been established by breaking away from the county schools.

Governance and Funding

Public primary and secondary education in Alabama is under the overview of the Alabama State Board of Education as well as local oversight by 67 county school boards and 60 city boards of education. Public school funding is appropriated through the Alabama Legislature through the Education Trust Fund. In FY 2006-2007, Alabama appropriated $3,775,163,578 for primary and secondary education. That represented an increase of $444,736,387 over the previous fiscal year.

Public School Rankings: A National Perspective

Finding the best public school is a priority for many families. There are about 51 million public school students in the United States. While far from perfect, public schools play a vital role in their respective communities. Public schools improve their communities and the welfare of children. Public schools welcome all children, no matter their income level, disability, or previous academic performance. Many schools provide school meals, which helps children from food-insecure families get nutritious food every day.

WalletHub ranked each state’s public schools for “Quality” and “Safety” using 33 relevant metrics. Metrics included high school graduation rate among low-income students, math and reading scores, median SAT and ACT scores, pupil-teach ratio, the share of armed students, the number of school shootings between 2000 and June 2020, bullying incidence rate, and more.

Here’s a glimpse of the top-performing states:

Massachusetts
Connecticut
New Jersey
Virginia
New Hampshire
Maryland
Delaware
Nebraska
Minnesota
Vermont

On the opposite end, the five states with the worst public schools are New Mexico, Alaska, Louisiana, Arizona, and West Virginia.

Child Well-being in Alabama

Alabama ranks 43rd in overall child well-being, according to the data. That ranking is determined by four sub groups: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.

The state’s largest fall compared with last year was in the health category, from 39th to 44th. The indicators for the category are low birth-weight babies, children without health insurance, child and teen deaths, and children and teens who are overweight or obese.

The second largest decline in the rankings was in education, from 34th to 38th. The Kids Count data showed that 82% of eighth graders were not proficient in math, which is 3% more than the 2019 data. Still, according to the Kids Count data, 72% of fourth graders are not proficient in reading, which is consistent with data from the NAEP scores released in January.

The state lost one rank in economic well-being over the year from 35th to 36th. More than 1 in 5 children in Alabama live in poverty.

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