Wayland Named a Top 10 Public School District

have earned the distinction of being named “Boston” magazine’s seventh best public school district in the state. It’s a recognition that Wayland Superintendent Paul Stein said is appreciated even if it doesn’t evaluate the full scope of what takes place at schools.

“Clearly when you look at being ranked seventh, you have to be proud of what’s been accomplished in Wayland,” Stein said. “What we’ve got here is a reflection of the community’s positive relationship with the schools.”

In particular, Stein said he’s glad that staff is being acknowledged in a positive way for the work it does.

“Faculty is applying the resources the community gives it to [encourage] the success of the kids,” Stein said. “Although this is not an exact measure, this is good news in acknowledging the school system and the support of the community.”

“Boston” magazine looked at 135 school districts in the state. The rankings took into account “test scores from elementary, middle, and high schools … per pupil spending, student to teacher ratio, number of AP classes, graduation rate, percent of students who continue to college, as well as the amount of sports teams and clubs,” according to a press release from the magazine.

Stein said those criteria basically measure two elements of a school system: the resources put into the system, including teachers, sports teams, the number of AP (Advanced Placement) classes, etc., and achievement scores.

“The important part to me is not about the ranking itself,” Stein said, adding he generally isn’t a big proponent of rankings of this sort. “Education is not about competition. No matter what district you’re talking about, we’re all trying to use the resources we have to get the kids to maximize to their potential.

“It’s not the end all and be all of measurement, but as a measurement, it is good to know that we fall in the range that we fall in, which is the top 10.”

Other nearby districts that made the top 10 include Concord-Carlisle (No. 2), Weston (No. 3) and Lincoln-Sudbury (No. 4). The full list is available here.

Babson College’s Math Resource Center Director George Recck served as statistician for the rankings. The districts were ranked based on a weighted average of each school data point’s difference from the mean score in each category.

The rankings are featured in the September issue of “Boston” magazine.