Anonymous wrote:School Digger just gives the results of the state exams, at least in California, and ranks the schools by that criteria. In California, at least, areas that have high percentages of Asians are most likely to be
highly ranked. Great Schools adds other criteria such as diversity (If the reviewer thinks that the school is not diverse enough, for example too many Whites, the points may be deducted), also if certain minority groups are not doing as well then points are deducted. For example, a school ranked 9 from test results can be downgraded to an 8 if it does not have enough minorities. My daughter teaches in a school which has mostly poor Hispanics, but Great Schools cannot deduct any points, because it is already rated one.
Anonymous wrote:It doesn't tell you whether the school is top performing. It is mostly a commentary on the demographics of an artificially bounded area. One needs to compare apples with apples for an actual rating. These sites don't attempt to do this, but rather serve as a means to fluff real estate values and promote segregation.
Anonymous wrote:Neither. They are not websites designed to carefully evaluate schools they are basic tools used as a guide for real estate. They were both designed and maintained for this purpose.
Anonymous wrote:Neither. They are not websites designed to carefully evaluate schools they are basic tools used as a guide for real estate. They were both designed and maintained for this purpose.
Anonymous wrote:I find school digger more reliable because its based on exam results. I believe and I'm happy to be proven wrong, that Greatschools is entirely based on the ratings given by individual reviewers - so you could have a bunch of folks plumping it up for you with 5 stars, or some disgruntled parent who goes back 10 times with 2.