Delaware · NCES CCD 2024-25
Best-Resourced School Districts in Delaware
Top 17 districts ranked by average school quality score, based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.
- 17
- Districts ranked
- 120,748
- Students enrolled
- 38/100
- Avg quality score
- D
- Top grade
The ranking in one line
Indian River School District in Selbyville leads Delaware's districts with an average school quality score of 45.2/100 across 15 schools.
- 45.2/100
- top district score (grade D)
- 15
- schools in Indian River School District
- 10,799
- students in the top district
- 38/100
- average across the top 17
| # | District | Grade | Avg Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian River School DistrictSelbyville | D | 45.2 |
| 2 | Red Clay Consolidated School DistrictWilmington | D | 45.1 |
| 3 | Cape Henlopen School DistrictLewes | D | 43.4 |
| 4 | Christina School DistrictNewark | D | 42.1 |
| 5 | Appoquinimink School DistrictOdessa | F | 39.6 |
| 6 | Lake Forest School DistrictFelton | F | 39.1 |
| 7 | Smyrna School DistrictSmyrna | F | 38.6 |
| 8 | Caesar Rodney School DistrictWyoming | F | 38.5 |
| 9 | Milford School DistrictMilford | F | 37.2 |
| 10 | Capital School DistrictDover | F | 36.8 |
| 11 | New Castle County Vocational-Technical School DistrictWilmington | F | 36 |
| 12 | Seaford School DistrictSeaford | F | 35.7 |
| 13 | Woodbridge School DistrictBridgeville | F | 34.5 |
| 14 | Delmar School DistrictDelmar | F | 34.5 |
| 15 | Brandywine School DistrictWilmington | F | 34 |
| 16 | Laurel School DistrictLaurel | F | 34 |
| 17 | Colonial School DistrictNew Castle | F | 31.2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best school districts in Delaware? ▼
The top-ranked district in Delaware is Indian River School District in Selbyville with 10,799 students across 15 schools. Average quality score: 45.2/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.
How are district rankings calculated? ▼
Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.
How many school districts are in Delaware? ▼
Delaware has 17+ school districts serving 140,539 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 13.9:1.
Explore More for Delaware
Methodology
Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.