How to Research Schools
By Elizabeth Wasserman
When Bill Jackson was a middle school teacher in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s, families needed to dig deep to get information about potential schools for their children. Parents had to contact public agencies to look for standardized test score results, which involved thumbing through reams of paper. But these days, thanks to web sites like the one Jackson founded in 1998, Great Schools, information on most schools is available with a few clicks of the mouse.
"If you're moving, researching schools online is a very practical way to target your neighborhood," Jackson says. "You can't obviously visit schools in person in a very large number of neighborhoods."
Researching schools online is a great option whether you have a son entering kindergarten in the fall, a daughter who is making the leap to high school or you're torn about which educational avenue is best for your family -- public or private. Here are some guidelines for earning an 'A' on your assignment to research quality education online:
Assignment 1: Find schools based on test scores or other qualities Since the U.S. "No Child Left Behind" requirements, public schools -- and teachers -- have been increasingly measured based on student test scores. If it's raw baseline data with a historical perspective that you want for comparing schools, the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics keeps tabs on data such as a school's average score in reading for fourth graders, or mathematics performance of 17-year-olds by highest math course taken, from 1978 to 2004.
But test scores are only one component of a top school. "Take into consideration whether they are doing a good job of teaching all the students in that school," advises Susan Shafer of School Matters, a service of Standard and Poor's. "If they have a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, or students with special needs, that school has more challenges."
School Matters tracks not only math and reading proficiency by school, but also provides insight into the student body -- economic status, race/ethnicity, percent of disabled students and percent of students for whom English is a second language. In addition, School Matters compares school figures by district and state and provides links to reports, including detailed district-by-district spending.
Assignment 2: Learn your options for private and boarding schools The Internet is also a great tool if you are looking to rank private or boarding schools. Maybe you'd like your daughter to go to an all-girls school. Maybe you come from a long line of prep school graduates and you want your children to continue the tradition. On web sites such as privateschoolreview or admissionsquest, you can develop criteria for evaluating a private school, apply to schools or estimate the cost of private tuition. The Association of Boarding Schools operates the web site Schools, which touts the benefits of prep schools, how to apply and the financial aid options.
Assignment 3: Gather information about a specific school To learn more about a school, go to the source itself. Most schools have their own web sites where you can get information about the school, its programs, the facility, the student body, as well as contact information for administrators and staff. Increasingly, schools or school districts also have email lists parents can join to receive emergency announcements, such as weather-related closings or minutes from school board meetings. In many districts, parent-teacher organizations also operate sites to provide parents with information about volunteer positions, upcoming events and fundraisers, and educational seminars in the community.
Assignment 4: Move to a good school district Relocating for schools -- let alone jobs -- is increasingly common as parents try to give their children an educational leg up. Many real estate web sites now contain links to information about local schools, such as Yahoo Real Estate, which is published by Great Schools and can be searched by city or zip code to get an overview of enrollment and student-teacher ratio. Some contain parent reviews, too. Other sites, such as Realtor or ziprealty, have sections on how to find a good family neighborhood that narrows home searches based on crime rate or schools. ZipRealty also provides data on school districts that includes graduation rates, student-teacher ratios, spending per pupil on instruction and more. Neighborhood Scout offers a one to ten ranking system for neighborhoods relative to the quality of other schools in the country.
Elizabeth Wasserman is a freelance writer and editor based in Fairfax, Va. She writes for a variety of publications including Congressional Quarterly, Inc magazine, and she edits the online publication CIO Strategy Center.
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