[mom2twindolls]

Many people want to know about schools when they are looking to move to a different area.

I see this one mentioned often:GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

But there is also the Florida Department of Education Accountability Reports for all public schools that can be searched by county. I have found both sites very helpful.

School Accountability Report...

[mquintana]

Great schools is based off of reviews from parents. I go off of acuracy and look up the school's grade through the county school website. It's like apartmentratings-you have to take things with a grain of salt because a lot of people go on these sites to complain.

[BioAdoptMom3]

Please do not judge schools by the grades they receive, unless you are aware that these school grades are almost always indicitive of what percentage of lower and lower middle class students attend there. And those who understand how tests like the FCAT works, will understand that it is, and this is putting it mildly, seriously flawed. For instance, your school's grade can drop from a B to a C just because two of the school's special ed students didn't improve enough to meet the goals set by the federal government. If your school had five more office referrals and one more suspension than what they were supposed to have, then they are considered to have NOT made adequate yearly progress, another rating which the federal government has mandated. These are just a few examples of how school grades are determined. The school grade is almost always related to the socio-economic status of the surrounding neighborhood and the areas from which it pulls. Just something to keep in mind when you judge a school by its grades and/or if its made adequate yearly progress. An A school is not going to necessarily produce an A student just as an F school is not going to to doom an individual student to failure. Keep in mind too that many of the schools with lower grades are Title One schools, schools which tend to have the latest technology on board, the computer labs, the math and science labs, the extra reading coaches, etc. There are many A and B schools (mine is one) who do not even have a full time Media Specialist or Guidance counselor, let alone reading coaches and learning labs. You have to look at the whole picture.

Nancy