Reply to What metrics are parents using to find what the "good" schools are? The Good school districts, private, public, charter?

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[quote=Anonymous]Test results are strongly correlated with household income and other parental demographics.

I live in a non-DMV town where the school district somewhat outperforms its demographics.  It's because it's a suburban town with a real identity as a place (the mayor's kids and the judges' kids are in school with yours), and the teachers arw reasonably happy with the district, the families are probably a little more likely to be stable than average - % married, financially able to afford the basics even if lower income, etc.

So there are some small advantages that accumulate into statistical outperforming.

Most places, real estate cost is the proxy for parent demographics.  Then...the variables are...1) How good are the administrators and teachers in the school and 2) are there any student population controls that impact the schools (magnets, busing, schools of choice).

In my opinion, it's very difficult for parents to factually identify places where schools outperform based on statistics.  Great Schools and Niche are worthless in my area.  That is why in the end, you need to rely so much on vibes and personal discussions.

If you are insanely committed to evaluation, you can go to events or watch them online.  Things like PTA events, kindergarten welcome nights, school board meetings.  I went to two elementary school open houses before I had a kindergarten-ready student so that I could figure out if I wanted to move before kindergarten.[/quote]

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