I would want to know who was rating it and what criteria was used before I would let a # bother me.
This. I'm not familiar with this rating and so I wouldn't worry until i knew more about it. My cousin's husband has been a school superintendent for many years in a nice area of CT and I remember him telling me not to worry about most school ratings because most are done with some sort of agenda behind it. I'm in PA and there is an annual rating by school district put out by the state and that's the only one I considered when house hunting.
I do put stock into the Great Schools Ratings, but also combine that with a review of test scores/%free or reduced lunch, etc. So many of those factors are area dependent. Within our entire city, only 2 schools have less than a 50% free or reduced lunch and some of the best schools (magnets) have close to 75% free or reduced. Test scores can be misleading as well- you really need to know what you are looking at. I've seen some reported as % of children who are proficient/pass the the minimum bar versus another district/state that reported actual percentage score on the exam (where a 70% was proficient). It's a huge decision, just make sure you are armed with accurate info!
At least here, the popular schools become overpopulated and then they redistrict and suddenly your child may end up at a lower ranked school. This happened here and it was a little funny listening to people complaining how they paid all this money for their house and now they were having to send their kids to school with low income kids. I felt like the diversity was a positive. I prefer that to my kid feeling like she needs to keep up with the Joneses.
Our current school is a 3 BUT to me it would depend on why it is ranked that way. I think great school is kind of crap. What it does is it looks at the school in the area and compares them to other schools in the area and ranks them against each other. So like our school is rated a 3, but the test scores are better than school in other cities because we have some very rich neighborhood schools here that consistently score in the 99th percentile. My school scores in the upper 80s. So not abysmal or anything.
Furthermore, school scores are so flawed IMO. Our school has low scores that correspond to a high low income and ESL population (which is sad but true). If you look at the state's breakdown of the scores and compared the same kids at the 3 school with the same kids at the 10 school you will see they score the same. So, you (in my case) are talking about difference in the student populace that impacts test scores vs. quality of education IMO.
Now, there is likely something to be said for kids going to school with people that are all highly motivated and have very involved parents, but that is a decision you have to make. If I sent my kid to a school that was a 10 (which we may do some day) the school would be 99% white with a 1% low income level. It is very hard to have true diversity and high test scores it seems (at least in my area).
Anyway, I would be fine with a 6.
This. The elementary school near us (in a very good district) gets like a 5, but lots of people say it's due to a lot of low income and ESL students, not a lack of quality from the school itself. It doesn't bother me. I don't want our child to go to school with all rich white kids. (I should say, the school's score doesn't bother me... The fact that across the board minority and poor students are not getting the support they need to do well bothers me, but that's unfortunately not especially school dependent.)
My children will go to public school in Baltimore. The two schools in the neighborhood we live in both currently have strong principals, and are both places that I feel my children will thrive. One is rated a 7 and the other is a 4.
We are zoned for and will go to the one rated a 4. They had a weaker principal for a few years, and are recovering from that. The people we know who stayed during the transition are happy with the new principal, and are now glad they stayed. The PTO is very strong and active. I think that despite the scores it is a good place for my children.
Also, I put more stock in high schools than elementary schools. A mediocre elementary education can easily be supplemented, and is meant to prepare kids for middle and high school. A good high school education is key, since your child's learning, success, and school ranking will determine college/career path.
I feel like this is almost backwards. Elementary is super important because of all the learning how to learn. If those earlier grades are shaky (especially 3rd and 4th), it can have long lasting effects. High schools are important, but there are perks to being a high achieving student at a lower (not lowest) rated school.
I was thinking this too. Diversity of geographic location and schools matter when applying to college.
We wouldn't go below a 7 when we were house hunting. I forget the exact ratings but the schools we ended up with were 9-10. We could have bought for cheaper 5 minutes down the road but those schools actually are worse, it's not just an artifact of testing issues or SES.
I do believe most kids can thrive anywhere with parental support. Our youngest is like that, as was I. However, our oldest is VERY peer driven and we thought she needed to be in an environment where academic achievement is the norm.
Our elementary school is ranked a 3 by Great Schools.
It's very diverse, DS will actually be a minority (like 10%). But I've heard awesome things about the principal and the VA teacher of the year was selected from it (out of all the grade levels). She was out of 4 finalists for teacher of the year for the whole country.
I really don't put a whole lot of stock into a website that ranks schools. I prefer anecdotal evidence.
I just looked now, and the schools in our district are 9s. It was the first time I ever looked. (We bought the house 6 years ago.) Although schools were important to us, the numerical rating obviously wasn't. The high school I went to is apparently a 4, and I did ok.
Ha Great Schools is ridic. Our local HS is a 6, but is among the top in the state based on performance.
But we are a small town and a "choice district," which means kids from anywhere can choose to go there. We have some rough surrounding cities, and I wonder if they take advantage. I'd wager a lot of money their ranking is due to this. This makes me like my school district more.
performance-wise, it does well above the state average, and our state average is well above the country average.
I also noticed the elementary schools are ranked much higher than the HS, and I don't think the choice program applies outside of HS.
Also, I put more stock in high schools than elementary schools. A mediocre elementary education can easily be supplemented, and is meant to prepare kids for middle and high school. A good high school education is key, since your child's learning, success, and school ranking will determine college/career path.
I feel like this is almost backwards. Elementary is super important because of all the learning how to learn. If those earlier grades are shaky (especially 3rd and 4th), it can have long lasting effects. High schools are important, but there are perks to being a high achieving student at a lower (not lowest) rated school.
I suppose my attitude is that it's easier for parents to supplement learning in the earlier grades. Elementary level reading, math and science is not difficult for a parent to help with, or to get tutoring for, or to supplement with things like trips to libraries and museums. But once my kid gets to 8th/9th grade, don't ask me to help with quadratic equations. There's a lot of less formal learning that can be very beneficial early on. I mean, even kindergarten should probably be mostly play-based, although sadly that's no longer the case.
Also, there are many, many social pressures in the higher grades that can affect performance. I went to a college prep school where everyone took grades and learning very seriously. If a high school is poorly rated and most of the students aren't doing well, I'd want to know why. ESL students: totally understandable and not really a problem. Lack of parental involvement? If the other kids my kid is hanging out with have parents who don't care whether or not their kid graduate, what kind of effect will those expectations have on my kid? What kind of expectations will the teachers have for my kid? In a low performing school, will my kid be praised for skating by at a mediocre level just because that's better than what most of the other students are doing?
I know that some colleges and scholarships aren't going to concentrate all of their resources on students from only the top schools, and a student can have more weight placed on having graduated from a lower-ranked school. But I always liked that I wasn't the TOP student at my school - I had something to reach for and some high expectations, if that makes sense.
As an aside, my husband used to do alumni interviews for his undergraduate college when we lived in LA, and he said that it was painfully obvious that the kids who went to Harvard-Westlake (not public of course, but still) just knew so much more about the process and were so much more well GROOMED than the kids who were brilliant (often valedictorians) but went to low-ranked public schools. And it kind of broke his heart to know that the kids from the low ranked schools weren't nearly as prepared and were likely not going to be accepted (his school obviously also has a diversity problem).
Post by whitepicketfence on Jul 22, 2014 9:06:43 GMT -5
I can't say that this was a major consideration when buying our home. The schools in our district are all rated as a 5 except for the high school which is rated a 6. We are sending our kids to an unranked private school for elementary and middle school. We'd also like to send them to an unranked private school for high school (college prep school) as well depending on our finances at the time.
I would want to look at more than greatschools for the reasons mentioned by PP. If the overall picture of a school was less than stellar though, i still might be willing to buy there if I was also willing to explore other options. I'm not opposed to private school if necessary so although our local schools are good, that was not my #1 priority when buying - well, not for DS.
good schools WERE a priority for us from a resale value. We dont know how long we will be in this house and I didnt want to buy in a bad school district knowing that we might be moving in 5 to 10 years and having issues selling the house because of the schools.
I didn't even look at any school ranking sites when buying a house. Our school district is not considered good, and I picked a neighborhood known for having better than average schools for the district. Schools were important, but we weren't willing to live in the suburbs for the "best" schools. I agree with others that have pointed out that low scores can often track with demographics. You have to really look at the data yourself to make any conclusions, IMO. My state has a "growth" measurement in addition to test scores. A school can have lower than average test scores and a high growth score, meaning in general that the kids are making large gains but still haven't caught up to the average. I think that showing growth is more relevant to evaluating the quality of instruction. A school that can bring kids from behind has to work a lot harder than a school that's just coasting with a class full of middle class students with highly educated parents who would do well regardless of the quality of education.
I also think it can backfire to put too much stock in the local schools to make housing decisions. Boundaries can change, and you might end up at a different school than you expected. Or, that fabulous school you were so excited about no longer looks so great 5 years later.
Post by mollybrown on Jul 22, 2014 10:04:18 GMT -5
This thread inspired me to look up the rating for the schools closest to me, and it was certainly entertaining. Both schools are 9's, but the comments on one are pure gold. A combination of 1's and 5's. There is apparently an in clique that the principal favors (5 stars), and everyone else that feels the principal should be fired (1 star). It sounds like middle school, and these people have enough free time on their hands to battle this out on Great Schools. I would take a 5 school with good growth scores over this nonsense any day.
7 is usually where I had my cut off. My school cycles between 8,9,10 depending on the year.
However it really depends where you live. In some locations the range is small (no school gets a 10) or the overall test schools don't reflect the teaching quality due to high student churn or other issues (lots of ESL, rapid curriculum changes that take a few years to shake out)
Elementary wise we're at a 7, which is the lowest I think in our surrounding area. Knowing what is behind the scores (we have very high ESL % and have the largest special education population) I'm ok with it. We have very high parental involvement and very active PTA. I love our school (even though we get "looked down upon" by our surrounding area--which is very snobby).
It also would depend on your kids. Are they resilient, self motivated high achievers? Do they need more one on one attention etc? Some kids may thrive in a 6 where others may need a 9 for example.
It also would depend on your kids. Are they resilient, self motivated high achievers? Do they need more one on one attention etc? Some kids may thrive in a 6 where others may need a 9 for example.
We don't have kids yet. We may not stay long in the house anyway, maybe around 5-10 years. So K-8 schools are my main concern at this point.
Also, I put more stock in high schools than elementary schools. A mediocre elementary education can easily be supplemented, and is meant to prepare kids for middle and high school. A good high school education is key, since your child's learning, success, and school ranking will determine college/career path.
I feel like this is almost backwards. Elementary is super important because of all the learning how to learn. If those earlier grades are shaky (especially 3rd and 4th), it can have long lasting effects. High schools are important, but there are perks to being a high achieving student at a lower (not lowest) rated school.
And, in my area anyway, scores start to dip after elementary school. All the elementary schools in my town are decent-excellent but there's only one middle school and one high school and they're both 7's. Decent, but it's lower than the elementary average of 8.