Help me understand the great schools rankings?

[Anonymous]

How big of a difference is there between schools that are 6 vs 8 or 8 vs 10? What are they factoring in?

[Anonymous]

The rankings are based soley on the state's standardized test scores in comparison to other schools in that state. The scores are averaged for the entire school (i.e. what percentage of kids passed each grade level/each subject) and then compared across schools in that state.

The great schools site then ranks the schools so that a school that has a "5" is right in the middle of all the schools in that state (as a composite average for all kids in that school). A "10" would be a school that is in the top 10% of all the schools. A "1" would be in the bottom.

You are left to conclude why the average pass rate is a 6 vs. an 8. More often than not, a "6" school has more "diversity" -- be that black/brown kids, ESOL kids, and/or low-income kids. Typically, schools that are an 8, 9, or 10 have very low percentages of black/brown kids, eng. lang. learners and/or low income families. It's a lot easier to have most everyone pass most every test when they come from families that speak Eng. from birth, have mostly intact families with college educated parents and the household income to afford tutors and enrichment classes/experiences.

It's possible that a 6 school is uniformly lack-luster in pass rates, but more often, what you see if you look at the subgroup data is that several groups are passing the tests at as high of rates as the 9 or 10 GS rated schools, but the schools that are a 6 have some groups that aren't passing the tests at as high a rate.. and therefore the overall school rating goes down.

[Anonymous]

We're at a school that is a GS 6. When you look at the sub-data, white, Asian, and biracial kids do as well at our school as they do at any other, higher ranked, school. Kids of color do less well, but they do less well everywhere.

I wish the kids of color were doing better at our school, but I wish they were doing better all around the county. The specific mix of kids who test well and kids who don't is going to differ between a GS 6 and a GS 8 school, but I'm not convinced it has much to do with the actual education kids are receiving. My children are getting a good education, with really solid teachers, and peers that are well behaved and respectful, if testing kind of poorly due to language and cultural issues.

[Anonymous]

I forgot to mention that depending on the state and district, there could be other reasons for a school to have a high or low score.

For instance, in FCPS, we have Adv. Academic Centers in some schools. Those kids in the AAP centers are selected because they are good students (like G/T or TAG centers). Obviously, those kids bring up the overall pass rate of the school. Those schools should be a 9 or 10 since they have a big proportion of kids who are the brightest. If a school with a T/G or AAP section is only a "5" -- you can be sure that the rest of the school (not AAP or T/G kids) are doing really bad on the tests.

The opposite is also true.. some schools are known as centers for special ed issues more than others and that can have a downward push on the overall pass rate. You have to look at the subgroup numbers to know if this is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The rankings are based soley on the state's standardized test scores in comparison to other schools in that state. The scores are averaged for the entire school (i.e. what percentage of kids passed each grade level/each subject) and then compared across schools in that state.

The great schools site then ranks the schools so that a school that has a "5" is right in the middle of all the schools in that state (as a composite average for all kids in that school). A "10" would be a school that is in the top 10% of all the schools. A "1" would be in the bottom.

You are left to conclude why the average pass rate is a 6 vs. an 8. More often than not, a "6" school has more "diversity" -- be that black/brown kids, ESOL kids, and/or low-income kids. Typically, schools that are an 8, 9, or 10 have very low percentages of black/brown kids, eng. lang. learners and/or low income families. It's a lot easier to have most everyone pass most every test when they come from families that speak Eng. from birth, have mostly intact families with college educated parents and the household income to afford tutors and enrichment classes/experiences.

It's possible that a 6 school is uniformly lack-luster in pass rates, but more often, what you see if you look at the subgroup data is that several groups are passing the tests at as high of rates as the 9 or 10 GS rated schools, but the schools that are a 6 have some groups that aren't passing the tests at as high a rate.. and therefore the overall school rating goes down.

Sometimes true, but not really. I've found it's also the case that an 8-9-10 school may also house a magnet program, and a lower rated school might have a special learning center for students with special needs. You might also find that a higher-rated school teaches to the standardized test being administered. I worked in a school like that several years ago. It was a 9 on GS, but I wouldn't have wanted my kids to go there--they didn't learn anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at a school that is a GS 6. When you look at the sub-data, white, Asian, and biracial kids do as well at our school as they do at any other, higher ranked, school. Kids of color do less well, but they do less well everywhere.

I wish the kids of color were doing better at our school, but I wish they were doing better all around the county. The specific mix of kids who test well and kids who don't is going to differ between a GS 6 and a GS 8 school, but I'm not convinced it has much to do with the actual education kids are receiving. My children are getting a good education, with really solid teachers, and peers that are well behaved and respectful, if testing kind of poorly due to language and cultural issues.

This seems to be the norm sadly. A high rating is often simply a measure of a school's lack of diversity, and when anyone bothers to dig deeper, they find that lower rated schools perform exactly the same accounting for demographic differences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a school that is a GS 6. When you look at the sub-data, white, Asian, and biracial kids do as well at our school as they do at any other, higher ranked, school. Kids of color do less well, but they do less well everywhere.

I wish the kids of color were doing better at our school, but I wish they were doing better all around the county. The specific mix of kids who test well and kids who don't is going to differ between a GS 6 and a GS 8 school, but I'm not convinced it has much to do with the actual education kids are receiving. My children are getting a good education, with really solid teachers, and peers that are well behaved and respectful, if testing kind of poorly due to language and cultural issues.

This seems to be the norm sadly. A high rating is often simply a measure of a school's lack of diversity, and when anyone bothers to dig deeper, they find that lower rated schools perform exactly the same accounting for demographic differences.

Sounds like the schools need to figure out how to teach students of color, because the current methods are not working for them.

[Anonymous]

So is the reason hat the schools in NW DC are 6 - 8s because they are being compared to the private schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is the reason hat the schools in NW DC are 6 - 8s because they are being compared to the private schools?

no. GS ratings are only based on state-required testing. So, if the private schools are not using the state-required tests (and usually they aren't), then they would not be part of the GS comparison ratings.

IF they are a 6-8, it is probably because there are some kids of a lower SES who are not passing the tests as well as other kids in the school. But, any school that is a 6-8 is still ABOVE AVERAGE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is the reason hat the schools in NW DC are 6 - 8s because they are being compared to the private schools?

no. GS ratings are only based on state-required testing. So, if the private schools are not using the state-required tests (and usually they aren't), then they would not be part of the GS comparison ratings.

IF they are a 6-8, it is probably because there are some kids of a lower SES who are not passing the tests as well as other kids in the school. But, any school that is a 6-8 is still ABOVE AVERAGE.

DC is tough. Those 6-8's are being compared with 2's across town...