Some school district officials say their district should be judged on more than just MAP test scores. The St. Louis-based think tank, the Show-Me Institute, released the rankings. The group contends it is the most comprehensive and thorough list available to parents.

School districts downplay the ranking's importance, but say it still adds to their pressure to perform. The average MAP test scores at Lewis and Clark Elementary rank the school right in the middle of all the schools in the state. When it comes to school districts in Missouri, Columbia Public Schools edges out Jefferson City by one spot.

"Both of them were in about the top 20 percent of school districts in the state," Show-Me Institute policy analyst Justin Hauke said. "And when you look at large school districts they really were ranking near the top."

However, the Columbia elementary schools West Boulevard, Benton, and Field are all near the end of the pack.

The Show-Me Institute compiled all of these numbers. The group said its statistics are objective because it takes no money from the government, does not accept contract work and has qualified researchers.

"There wasn't an opportunity for parents to have a tool where they could go somewhere and quickly get a nice cut and dried picture of school performance across the state," Hauke said.

Hauke created the rankings by taking the weighted average of all map scores from schools in Missouri, then using that average to rank the schools.

"I'm sure a lot of the data is good data, but what I'd just say to parents take it for what it is," said David Luther, director of Jefferson City Schools. "There's a lot more to school districts and individual schools than just numbers."

Local parents agree.

"I try to stay real in touch with my son and what's going on at the school and communication with the teachers," Maridee Edwards said. "And they're extremely responsive. So that's my gauge, more so than some artificial ranking system."

Still, it's a ranking system where if this was a race, some schools in mid-Missouri would suffer a heavy defeat. This is the first time the Show-Me Institute has compiled state MAP scores into an overall state ranking.

For a comprehensive list of where your school district or individual school lies on the Show-Me Institute's list, please click the link to the left.