What to Look For in School Rankings
The Internet boasts countless research when it comes to school reviews and rankings. But, can all schools in X County truly be ranked 10/10? Here, we show you how to read between the lines of the rankings —and better yet, how to make the data work for you.
Below are the school search comparison sites we recommend to start with in your research process:
Online Comparison Tools
PrivateSchoolReview.com
US News Education: Best School Rankings and Data
Know What You're Looking At
These comparison tools are great places to start, but parents can feel overwhelmed by all the data aggregated on websites such as these—academic grades, equity overview, college readiness index, AP/IB Track participation, extracurriculars, faculty/staff, diversity and culture, and resources and facilities. Read more about Niche’s ranking system here.
Make the data work for you. By knowing what you need to interpret in the catch-all of a school’s ranking, you can start checking off the boxes that are important to you—and your family.
Make the Data Work For You
By seeing just how the data is weighted, families are able to make an informed decision about whether or not this review methodology speaks to their specific goals. For example, if a family values culture and diversity, exposure to global and local service, language immersion, and social activism, Niche may not show the data that’s important to them—in fact, Niche only weighs their Culture and Diversity grade at 10%. So, seeing a school that ranks A or A- on Niche may not check all your boxes.
Our program helps parents and student identify their values and learning preferences. This way, we’re able to confidently help families navigate next steps in the school search process and discover just which schools could be “best fits” for their learner.
Our Favorite Sites
We’re partial to US News Education and their unique method of collecting and interpreting statistics of high schools, colleges, and graduate schools around the world. For the purpose of this topic, we’ll focus on high school rankings. Well, on US News, they provide insight into different types of schools—best magnet school, best STEM school, best charter schools, best high schools, and best rankings by state or nationally. This is the only resource we’ve found that organizes the stats this way.
What kind of learning environment excites you? Impresses you? Works best with your distinctive learning style? By narrowing that down (we can help you!), you can start to read between the lines of top school rankings. Does your student thrive in a structured, lecture-style environment? Or, would an innovative design-thinking atmosphere be conducive? What about a school that focuses on entrepreneurial experience and prowess? Or, are you looking for more of a STEM-emphasis with state-of-the-art labs and access to technology? Maybe you’re hunting for a strong Fine Arts curriculum with resources allocated to theater, dance, music, and the arts. Again, just because a school is ranked 10/10, it does not ensure that will be a 10/10 in your family’s book.
What You Should Pay Attention To (and Skip)
Know the breakdown of what you’re looking at, data you should zero in on, and what scores you should write off altogether.
By now, you’ve discovered that school rankings don’t tell the whole story. Now, we want to break down the factors that truly matter when you’re breaking apart the data. Below are a few data points we suggest that you pay attention to (and what to skip):
Watch Out For:
College Readiness Index (Compare to District and State Average) Where does this school rank in comparison to county and statewide average? You want this CRI to be higher than state average.
Math Proficiency Distribution (Compare Proficient Learner Rates with Underserved Students) It takes some hunting, but families can find out just what the math proficiency distribution rates are in a specific school. Pay attention to the bottom line and how it stacks up against underserved students (students within predetermined socioeconomic and racial/ethnic statuses).
Reading Proficiency Distribution (Compare Proficient Learner Rates with Underserved Students) Just like you researched with math, make the reading data work for you. The distribution shouldn’t be skewed here—as in, we don’t want to see schools with a strong proclivity towards serving the top 10% of students (accelerated and advanced tracks) without resources and support dedicated to the other 90%.
Gap Between Underserved and Non-Undeserved (Also called “Equity Index” or “Equity Overview”) This score is a bottom line to compare between that undeserved clientele base and those who do not fall within that demographic. Keep in mind, however, that the underserved population just has to make up 5% of the total student body population to show up in the data. So, know what you’re comparing—is it the 5% versus the 95%? That’s a completely different story.
AP Passing Rate AP classes are back on top. Dual-immersion and joint-enrollment tracks were popular in the early 2000’s, but colleges are now wanting to see more and more AP courses on high school transcripts. The national AP exam is scored out of 5 possible points and a score of a 4 or 5 will earn that student college credit, if applicable. But, guess what? A “passing rate” of just 3 will include them in the over high school data bucket. I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in knowing how many kids merely “passed” the exam. Do some hunting and you’ll be able to see the breakdown of just how many students scored a 4 or 5 on the exam—to make it count.
Data to Skip:
Graduation Rates Georgia’s public school education goal has embraced increasing the overall graduation rates in public high schools. But, guess what? Even the #1 ranked Georgia High School (Gwinnett School of Math, Science, and Technology) doesn’t have a graduation rate of 100% (they’re locked in at 99% as of February 28, 2019). So, don’t put stock in this data point—the college readiness index is much more pertinent to your student’s success.
AP Participation Rate Skip this data point, as well, because it just doesn’t tell you enough. If any students take just a single AP class, they end up in this data set. This doesn’t speak to the average AP classes taken by high school students at the time of graduation, the expected course/HW load, the breakdown of AP scores, or what colleges want to see. If you see a school with a high AP Participation Rate (80s or 90s), don’t be fooled. Again, this is just telling one part of the story.
We hope that this information adds value as you begin your school search process. Don’t be intimidated by the data—make it work for you!