Study: N.J. among best states at educating kids to face world Thursday, January 04, 2007 • BY GEOFF MULVIHILL • Associated Press Thanks as much to their parents' incomes and education levels as what happens in the state's classrooms, New Jersey students have a better shot at success than children in all but three other states, according to a report released yesterday. The Quality Counts study from Editorial Projects in Education, a Bethesda, Md.-based nonprofit that publishes Education Week newspaper, examines the demographics and education policies of every state, along with more conventional education measures such as test scores. It's one of several entities that produced reports on the quality of education. Though there's some variation among the reports, they generally find similar strengths and weaknesses in New Jersey. The Quality Counts study attempts to look beyond the public school system to assess how prepared children are for the world. The national picture was not rosy. "What we have in the United States is a leaky pipeline all along the education continuum," said Lynn Olson, executive project editor for Editorial Projects in Education. While New Jersey has extremes of wealth and poverty, it has the highest median household income. And its adults, on average, are well educated. More than half the state's children have at least one parent with a college degree and three-fourths of children have at least one parent working a full-time, year-round job. Those factors all give children a better chance of succeeding in college or the work force, the study said. State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said New Jersey's high rankings had much to do with the state's wealth, but that the education system also was recognized in the study. "We've made unprecedented investments in at-risk children," she said. "We are seeing the fruits of those investments begin to show now." The state did well in the assessment because it has a number of policies to line up preschool and elementary school standards and help students pursue trade industry licenses while still in high school. New Jersey ranked only 45th, though, in a measure of statewide policies dealing with academic standards, testing policies and how schools are held accountable for their performances. The study also found a higher portion of New Jersey students than students nationally are scoring at least "proficient" on national standardized tests. In terms of student achievement, New Jersey ranked second in the nation, behind Massachusetts and just ahead of Vermont. Like many studies, it praises New Jersey for its graduation rate, which was nearly 85 percent, according to the 2003 data it analyzed. John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at jmooney@star ledger.com, or 973-392-1548. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.