Best School Districts In Michigan For 2018: Niche

As the 2017-18 school year kicks off, parents and students heading to their first day of school can see how their school district stacks up against others in the state as Niche.com has released its annual rankings of best schools and school districts in the country.

The 2018 rankings released this month rank elementary, middle and high schools as well as school districts.

According to Niche, the best school district in Michigan is the Birmingham Public School District in Beverly Hills. With an overall Niche grade of A+, the district received a grade of A+ in academics, teachers, clubs and activities, college prep and health and safety. In the category of diversity, Niche awarded the school district a B-.

To arrive at these rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data and ratings collected from Niche users. The methodology for each category of ranking varied. (Click here for more information on how Niche calculates its rankings.)

Niche assigns a standardized score for each factor, which is then weighted before an overall score is calculated for each school district. The overall scores are again standardized, and some districts are disqualified from receiving a final letter grade if there isn’t enough data. School districts are then ranked numerically and assigned grades.

According to Niche, these are the best school districts in Michigan:

1. Birmingham Public Schools, Beverly Hills (Overall Niche grade of A+)
2. Troy School District, Troy (Overall Niche grade of A+)
3. Bloomfield Hills Schools, Bloomfield Hills (Overall Niche grade of A+)
4. Grosse Pointe Public Schools, Grosse Pointe (Overall Niche grade of A+)
5. Okemos Public Schools, Okemos (Overall Niche grade of A+)
6. Novi Community School District, Novi (Overall Niche grade of A+)
7. Ann Arbor Public Schools, Ann Arbor (Overall Niche grade of A+)
8. East Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Rapids (Overall Niche grade of A+)
9. Oakland Schools, Waterford (Overall Niche grade of A+)
10. Northville Public Schools, Northville (Overall Niche grade of A)

Niche’s data for its K-12 school district rankings comes from various sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection. The rankings also rely on data that is self-reported by Niche users and schools. (Click here to learn more about where Niche’s data comes from.)

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

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