Reply to Did you leave a DCPS for North Arlington schools?

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[quote=Anonymous]Greatschools.com is a great resource, and it can be very helpful.  There certainly is a correlation between the numerical score and how good a school is generally considered, because the numerical rating is based on state exam pass rates, however there are a few things that can "distort" a greatschool score for example:

1. If the school has a magnet or IB program that isn't technically considered another school.  It could be that the magnet kids are testing way way higher than the average population, and the neighborhood kids are testing way lower.  If there is a fantastic magnet program that meets the needs of your kids, that shouldn't deter you from sending your kids there (in fact, it might be a far better choice than a higher ranked neighborhood school).  Likewise, if the scores are artificially higher due to the magnet kids, it would be a cause for concern for someone who had kids who would not test into the magnet or IB program.

2.  If the school is extremely socioeconomically diverse, and there is a lot of tracking to different levels of classes (honors, AP, etc. versus regular).  From what has been written on this board, it seems like Washington and Lee is like this, although I wouldn't know because I don't have kids there.  It could be the kids taking honors and AP classes get a great education on par with a higher rated school, just the overall scores are brought down on average by lower SES families with less resources.  Again, I don't think that is necessarily a reason to shy away from a good school as long as it meets your kid's needs.

3. The numerical scores between states are just not comparable.  You cannot compare Virginia to Maryland to DC, because the exams by which these scores are based on are different.  And "above average" differs from state to state.  A school with a numerical great schools score of 9 or 10 in, say, Hawaii, which has horrible public schools, is not necessarily better than a score of 5 in Virginia or Massachusetts.  This entire discussion of Washington and Lee versus Wilson is moot; different tests are being used to come up with that number.   Both Wilson and Washington DC are very diverse schools that have a large contingent of highly educated professional parents, and so I would consider more closely the peer group that *your* kid is going to be in, along with the course offerings/rigor of their curriculum rather than averages.

This is why you need to look at these numbers with a grain of salt.  They can be useful, but you have to look at the whole picture.[/quote]

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