Reply to GreatSchools Ratings Downgrade for Top FFX Schools

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Reply to "GreatSchools Ratings Downgrade for Top FFX Schools "

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[quote=Anonymous]Great Schools ratings are based strictly on the SOLs.  That's it.  Nothing more or less.  They do make a "composite" pass rate of all the grades and subjects, so I guess you could say that is the basis for their "rating" but it is strictly on the test scores, NOT on what parents "rate" the school.

If the rating decreased, it's b/c the test scores decreased relative to other schools in the state.  There is one caveat that I know about... some FCPS schools do not have their "advanced math" kids take the 5th grade Math SOL.  They never take it (those kids take the 3rd grade SOL in 3rd grade, they take the 4th grade SOL in 4th grade, they take the 6th grade SOL in 5th grade, they take the 7th grade SOL in 6th grade).

For schools that do this, their 5th grade Math SOL scores never include the top 1/3 of the 5th graders.  So, their overall math passing rates look bad, especially in 5th grade.  Their best math students aren't counted.  That can drag down a school's overall Great Schools rating (unfairly).  There is also some inaccuracy for schools that are "secondary schools" b/c Great Schools doesn't count the "Jr. High" part of the school separate from the "HS" part of the school.  There are 4 or 5 of those secondary schools in FCPS, so they are not a true representation.

But, on the whole, if your FCPS ES was an 8 last year and now is a 7 on Great Schools, it's solely b/c the composite pass rate on all the SOL tests was lower compared to other schools in VA.  (Sometimes this means that the pass rate was only a couple of percentage points lower -- like 92% rather than 94% passing on several subjects/grades.  The differences in Fairfax county and the whole state are pretty marginal, but it looks better to have a GS rating of 8 rather than 6.).  Look at the demographics and a lot of times the overall passing rate is just a reflection of how many poor or minority kids are part of that school population.  It's not a reflection that the teaching is bad, it's a reflection of having a diverse school with diverse SES.[/quote]

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