s/o greatschools rankings

[Rachel]

Can anyone tell me if the Greatschools.org school rankings are useful in comparing schools in different states or if it is just useful in comparing schools in the same community? I'm just curious.

 

When I look at the 3 elementary schools in my town, the rankings seem correct based on the reputations of each school. The school we are districted for has a 9 which I find surprising but it is considered the best of the three options. When I look up the school where my niece and nephew attend in another state, their school has a 7. The data shows higher proficiency in math and reading at their school. My state is currently ranked 41st in the nation where theirs is ranked 21st in education. So does that mean their school is average for their state while my school is above average for my state? Can I compare my 9 against their 7?

 

Looking at 3rd grade proficiency my school has 62% in math and 60% in reading for my school. Theirs is 85% in math and 86% in reading. Other grades have similar proficiency differences. I would think based on that data their school would be ranked higher than my school, which makes me wonder if the rankings can only be compared within the state.

 

Edited to make clearer.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Rach

[Arcadia]

Great schools depends on people to vote. I did the ranking for my kids school when my oldest was in kindergarten. All they ask is that I checked a box to say if I am a current parent or student. One vote per email address I think.

 

At one time there was bullying and favouritism going on in that K-8 school. My kids were in the "favored" category but I have seen similar incidents to what parents reported on great schools. Right after the negative reports, there was a series of positive rankings claiming the naysayers were jealous parents. So take the rankings as not useful information. We look at the data for juvenile delinquency cases and expulsion cases which the dept of education has. Just need to dig for info. Or put in a request for info to the district.

 

My stats published statistics for each public school by grade level, race, socioeconomic status and parents education level. It is a big Excel data file. Looking at the data for the school my kids attended, White and Asians do very well on state testing. Latinos, African Americans and Vietnamese do badly. The achievement gap is consistently bad year after year regardless of before or after common core.

 

My kids are "above average" and contribute to the school's high test results. We are also a middle income family with graduate degrees. My kids teachers and school admin does treat us better.

[MistyMountain]

Yes I think it does vary by area when I look at schools in different areas. States have different exams too. I noticed scores really dropped in my district overall when they switched tests. Number rankings were based on tests scores not parental ranking.

Edited December 3, 2016 by MistyMountain