For more than a decade, researchers at Education Next have graded state proficiency standards on an A–F scale. When the Common Core initiative began in 2009, not a single state had achieved, by today’s standards, an A for having a proficiency bar tightly aligned with NAEP. Since then, a number of states have made particularly dramatic improvements, and nine of 24 states with D- to D+ grades in 2009 received A grades in 2017.

You can learn more about our methodology for grading the states, view the rigor of your state’s proficiency standards using our interactive graphic, or read the full article by Daniel Hamlin and Paul E. Peterson.

—Education Next