Public School Ratings - What Do They Really Mean?

You can only tell what it means if you are in a homeogeniously ethnic community (hard to find in today's America). If all the town is WASP, or all black, all Hispanic--its easier to rate based on actual scores and nothing more. Otherwise, it is the number of ethnic minorities vs. WASP--high minority? automatic low rating. Sad but true.

I did not care how the school was rated. I cared that my (now adult) son would not be bullied, that the school had activities and that he would be TAUGHT!

The ones I've seen are primarily based on test scores. We have a couple of schools in my neighborhood, one is scored a 10 and the other (ours) is scored a 6. Why? Test scores. What is the primary difference between the two schools? Diversity. The first is primarily white, economically secure to upper middle class, with an active PTA bringing in serious secondary funding for the school. The second is more diverse, has more free lunch kiddos, and more ESL students. This population typically does not do as well on the standardized tests (at least in elementary schools), so the schools get a lower rating. My kiddos school, despite the rating, is absolutely great, so I pretty much think the ratings are not helpful. I love the diversity, I love the fact that it's an arts-infused school, the PTA is active, and I love that the principal and much of the staff have been there for a long time.

And this is in the Seattle public school system, which has had major problems in the past couple of years.

You as a parent are the best indicator of how your child will do in school.

Do you encourage reading as a pasttime?

Do you hold your child accountable for how they do in school?

Do you encourage independence and exploration?

Do you help with homework?

These 'yes' answers will be a better predictor of your child's education and success than any made-up ranking that is obfuscated by it's made-up labels.

This answer is superb. But not exemplary.

(But I also rebel against the 'venti' size of coffee - even though it's only italian for 20 ounces)

Unfortunately the test scores mean less than the actual teacher your child will get. My daughter went to a highly-rated public school and had a terrible teacher. She barely learned anything and hated school.

The best way to learn about a school is to visit it. You can get a feel for the school just by being there, observing the teachers and children and talking with the principal. We visited the school my daughter would have gone to now that we moved and I did NOT like it. It felt very chaotic, it looked like the teachers didn't have very good control over their classrooms. I could feel the chaos just visiting it. Later I talked to some parents whose children went there and they confirmed my "feeling." That was their big complaint of the school.

So use your mama instincts! I think they are the best indicator.

they factor in a bunch of stats that sometimes matter, and often don't. like how many kids are in need of free lunches, or how many shootings there have been within a 5 mile area, or how well the school performs overall on mandatory standardized tests, or how well they did on a satisfaction survey among participating parents.
it's pretty arbitrary, and most of the time has little to do with how any individual child will do in a given grade in any particular classroom.
the variables really can't be factored in. it's not a bad thing to use as a starting point, but don't assume that a blue ribbon school will be great for your kid, or that a school in an unrated or poorly rated district is the pits.
that being said, i've heard from all across the spectrum that TX is pretty horrid.
:/ khairete
S.

Don't pay attention to test scores alone. Many schools fail miserably on a broad scale because the ONLY thing they are teaching is the bare minimum to achieve exactly what's on the tests. This is a major national problem right now. My friend teaches high school in a very highly rated (test scores) school, but has seen the student body PLUMMET in comprehension and critical thinking in the past ten years. According to her they don't know how to think independently, and they always want to know the "right answer" even on questions that specify, "Use your imagination". Cursive has been cut, social studies, art and science have all been cut to practically non-existent. Math comprehension and mastery is way down. Lots of things aren't being taught, but the "test answers" are taught and the school has a high rating.

I researched what a thorough education would look like internationally and from times when America's schools were highly rated globally. (50s-70s). You can find Classical Education guidelines (if you want the standard "all subjects taught in traditional schools" approach) and then find out what the school is teaching by meeting a teacher in the grade you're interested in. A super simplified version of this is the "Core Knowledge Series-What your Kindergartener, First Grader, Second Grader....Should Know" books. I took in a Kindergarten outline from The Well Trained Mind for Kindergarten and First Grade and the Core Knowledge Book info for those years and interviewed our local school to see what they would be covering in kindergarten and first grade: HARDLY ANYTHING. (and it's a very lowly rated school in a bad district so fair enough). Soooo, we're in our second year of homeschooling and my daughter is way ahead for first grade and loving reading ravenously on her own about the ancient Greeks, she's in an advanced math program and loves human body systems.. and she also has time for piano, violin and Tae Kwon do and French-all things people say are "frivolous and unimportant" in our town, but meanwhile, it's standard for kids in other countries to have those things in kindergarten. Our Australian friends have daughters learning violin and Mandarin AT SCHOOL in kindergarten. We have German, French and Canadian friends, all of which have second languages and instruments for their kids in early education.

A high rating for your state is a good start. Maybe the school is complete in all subjects with enough individual attention for students, and a high standard instead of keeping the entire class in step with slowest learners.. if so, your kids won't be behind any kids in your state. But dig deeper to see if you feel their education will be thorough enough for their future opportunities and then act accordingly. Asking other parents with kids in the school is not helpful. Any parent at any school they've decided to use pretty much says "My kid loves it, it's great" and that's really pretty meaningless if there isn't enough being taught there compared to schools with great educations.

To me, they mean nothing. My kids went to the top rated school in our county for two months and they were MISERABLE. I took them out and scrambled for a year to get them on and off the bus to put them back in the school in our district, but one of the not so desireable schools. I am VERY involved with my kids education and have good relationships with their teachers (minus one 3rd grade teacher last year), so I think that makes a big difference in their experiences. So the ranks mean nothing to me. What my kids are learning and their happiness means the world to me.

It also means the higher number of free lunch students = lower ratings. This is from my FIL who was a school adminstrator for years. We just had this discussion last week over Sunday dinner.

Probably depends on what you're looking at. If you're looking at GreatSchools then yes, the scores are based on state-wide tests (I think it's the TAKS test in Texas or it may be STARS - in Massachusetts, our tests are called MCAS). If the tests are not rigorous, then the scores will look higher than they really are if you were to compare those schools against those of other states where the bar is set higher. So it's all relative. That said, if you are where you are and aren't going anywhere or looking for private schools, then clearly a 10 on an inflated scale is better than a 4, even if that 10 would really be a 6 in another state.

I don't know of any resources that rank schools nationally.

The site that Heather described is the Oregon PTA sight, I suggest that Texas will have a PTA site. You can also look on the State Department of Education sight.

I just took a survey in Oregon about an Oregon school "report card" that they are updating. You might look online to see if you can find something similar for Texas. It showed how Oregon schools ranked compared to the nation and many more details about demographics, class size, what the specific school offers for foreign language and extracurricular classes, etc. Very helpful.

My daughter has been raised in the Texas (Plano system). The Plano system is rated highly and well deserved.

I also sub teach at her elementary and have over 10 yrs. I do believe the Exemplary and Blue Ribbon mean a lot and most importantly is how the school is run. The Principal and staff have a lot to do with it. There are some schools in Plano I would not allow my daughter to go to.

Right now she is a Senior at Plano West which is rated in the top 1% of high schools in the country by Newsweek the 2nd year in a row. The graduation rate is near 100% and the students who go on for further education is very high compared to some others. Colleges heavily recruit from Plano West because of the caliber of education these kids get.

I've not heard anything regarding Texas schools being near the bottom of the list. There are some VERY good districts in Texas and some lousy districts in Texas. Many people choose to live in Plano just because of the schools.

Go to the ISD website where you are interested in going and read about the school district, look at the sites where you are districted to attend and see the details of the school.

The schools my daughter has been involved in have all had heavy parental involvement with PTA, boosters and overall supporting the teachers and staff.

The best thing you can do is educate yourself on the district and specific schools your children will attend.

Have you gone to greatschools.org? They rate schools from 1-10 on a national scale based on test scores.

http://www.nea.org/home/54597.htm will give you tons of information. National Education Association. IF you have questions like these they have contact information.