Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

The Comparative Guide to American Elementary and Secondary Schools, 2010, Sixth Edition. 1,530p. Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing, 2009. 978-1-59237-397-0. $145.

This comprehensive guide to American elementary and secondary education permits the comparison of all school districts in the United States serving 1,500 or more students. Information is arranged geographically by state. Each state section begins with summary statistics of the statewide number of schools, students, staff and expenditures on education. The graduation rates, ethnic make-up and average scores on college entrance exams are also noted. Additional tables document statewide performance on NAEP tests.

Profiles of school districts are listed by county, allowing comparisons of school districts in the same jurisdiction. Contact information for each district includes address, phone numbers and web sites. Standardized data includes the number and type of schools; the number gender and race of students; drop out and graduation rates; migrant students; school lunch program participants; diploma recipients; the number of teachers, librarians and counselors; student/staff ratios; and annual expenditures.  The school districts within each state are then ranked according to these same factors. Some states do not always provide statistics in each category. A final section of nationwide statistics compares states by performance on NAEP tests. Tables also list the top and bottom 120 school districts for each variable. Indexes provide access by school district names and city.

The information this guide provides allows the consistent comparison of school districts throughout the country. This allows parents, administrators, teachers, and prospective employees to compare performance levels of each school district. While this does not allow comparison of the performance of particular schools, the district data does provide an indication of the strength of school instruction. For those interested in judging the quality of education available in a particular part of the country, this title is an invaluable tool. This volume is highly recommended for educational administration, as well as academic and public libraries.