For parents navigating the educational landscape in California, comprehending school ratings is pivotal in making informed choices. GreatSchools, a national nonprofit, and the both offer diverse metrics to evaluate school quality. This comprehensive guide aims to explore how California school ratings and reports are determined, the factors that influence them, and the significant impact these ratings can have on parental decision-making.
Understanding the ratings
How California school ratings and reports are determined
GreatSchools and the develop their school quality assessments based on distinct measures. GreatSchools鈥� Summary Rating of California schools is based on our themed ratings, including Test Scores, Academic Progress, College Readiness, and Equity. The compile exhaustive data provided by districts, including information about academic performance, demographics, school facilities, teacher preparation, and per-pupil expenditure.
Factors impacting California school ratings
Several factors influence GreatSchools ratings in California, including state test scores, academic growth in comparison to peers, equitable support for historically disadvantaged students, and, for high schools, college readiness metrics, such as high school graduation, college entrance exam participation and scores (ACT/SAT), and access to and attainment in advanced courses, including enrollment in International Baccalaureate courses (IB), dual-enrollment courses, and Advanced Placement (AP) courses and IB/AP exam passing rates. In addition, the California school profiles also provide safety and school culture information in the form of chronic absenteeism and suspension rates, class size, and parent reviews of schools.
Interpreting California school ratings
Interpreting these ratings demands a comprehensive understanding of the diverse indicators used. Parents must analyze and interpret these indicators to understand a school’s strengths and areas needing improvement across various educational metrics. But it is important to note that data can never tell the whole story about a school and not all data is equally important to all families. Nevertheless, when parents understand what goes into these ratings and how they align with their own family鈥檚 priorities, they can offer a valuable touchstone for making informed decisions.
Finding California school ratings and reports
Where to access California School ratings and reports
Access to California school reports is available through the provided by the California Department of Education, but can be a little tricky to access all the information. An initial search will only provide general information about the school鈥檚 demographics; clicking the 鈥淰iew Full Sarc鈥� button leads to a new search directory that leads to yet another school profile page that includes a link to the full SARC for that school. This link leads to a Google Drive with SARCs available in the dominant languages for that school community.
Using online resources
The GreatSchools’ platform provides accessible and parent-friendly information designed with easy-to-understand data visualizations and tips, including the overall Summary Rating, as well as the component ratings: Test Scores, Equity, Academic Progress, and (for high schools) College Readiness. GreatSchools also has a wealth of learning resources to support parents in your journey with your children鈥檚 education. Finally, there are a host of other valuable resources for California parents who want to explore California鈥檚 schools in more depth, including , a journalistic publication about California鈥檚 K-12 schools, and , a nonprofit dedicated to helping California parents understand how California’s school system works.
Why school ratings matter
The importance of California school ratings for parents
GreatSchools鈥� California school ratings offer various ways to assess a school, thereby allowing parents to weigh objective data against their priorities and values. By offering insights on everything from school quality, student performance, equitable support, and learning progress alongside parent reviews of schools, parents can get a nuanced idea about how schools align with your own concerns and your children鈥檚 needs.
Case studies on how families can use ratings
Case study 1: The Garcia family
The Garcias utilized GreatSchools to evaluate a variety of California schools. They found that School A demonstrated significant Academic Progress compared to statewide averages even though its average test scores were lower than average. In contrast, School B had high test scores and low Academic progress. They read the parent reviews of each school and began to understand how the data reflected two very different schools with different strengths and challenges. They visited both schools and ended up choosing School A because their high Academic Progress rating was based on a high percentage English Learners who were learning exceptionally quickly. This influenced their decision to choose School A for its academic excellence and growth-focused approach.
Case study 2: The Nguyen family
The Nguyens, concerned about equitable support for disadvantaged students, used the Equity Rating on GreatSchools. They found that School B had a higher rating in this area, and discovered from the parent reviews that the school had extra supports for children with learning differences like their daughter. The combination of strong support for students from diverse backgrounds and the special services for children like their daughter influenced their choice of this school for its inclusive educational environment.
Case study 3: The Robinson family
The Robinsons explored the SARC reports provided by the California Department of Education, focusing on specific indicators such as teacher preparation and overall school performance, and identified multiple schools in the county they were moving to. They then looked up all of these schools on GreatSchools and compared them using the online tool. Although there was one charter school that was farther from where they would be living, they decided to apply to their school because it met most of their priorities for their three children.
Understanding California school ratings and reports can help all parents, no matter where they live in California and what their educational priorities are. As long as parents can understand the various indicators that inform these ratings and reports, they can use this data to support their research, spark their conversations with other parents, and ultimately, inform their decision-making.
