School Rankings Websites (Arlington, Springfield, West Springfield: income, bill, activities)

[LiveAction]

When looking at school rankings what is your source?


https://k12.niche.com/

SchoolDigger.com - the Easy Way to Evaluate K-12 School Performance


GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community


Are there any other sources that are better?

[Ashley Tauzier]

I normally use GreatSchools when we have moved.

[gomason]

My special formula is test scores divided by number of privileged white families (Hint: Loudoun, North Fairfax, and Arlington do very well!!).

[airjay75]

I don't know much about schooldigger. I've looked at that website a few times and found it to be rather lacking. Greatschools is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that, I believe, receives significant amounts of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among other sources.

While I personally think greatschools does more harm than good, I think it is at least a somewhat reputable source for what it does. It gives you a 1 to 10 number for any given school which is basically a dumbed down percentile ranking of a school (within that state) as to how students, on average, are performing at that school compared to other students in the state, on average (typically, by reference to state performance tests, which, in Virginia, are the SOLs). Thus, a school with a "5" is somewhere around the 50th percentile statewide, meaning that roughly half of the schools in that state are performing worse, on average, than that school and roughly have of the schools are performing better, on average, than that school. And that is really all greatschools tells you - nothing more, nothing less.

If you want additional information about a particular school, I would visit the school district website or the VA Dept of Education website. I believe there are school report cards there that will give you more detailed information about a particular school.

[Deluusions]

Originally Posted by gomason

My special formula is test scores divided by number of privileged white families (Hint: Loudoun, North Fairfax, and Arlington do very well!!).

West Springfield is one of the top highschools in the state and is very diverse.

[Shelborne_22033]

You did not mention how old your children are. If < 3rd grade, focus on middle schools, if < 6th, focus on high schools. I hate saying this but family income (% of kids eligible for reduced/free lunch) plays a part of overall school effectiveness. I'm not a fan of the 3rd party rankings so I go straight to the source such as FCPS.edu and review demographic data.

What is important to me is the level of parental involvement at the ES level (how often do you visit the schools during school day; how often do you parent volunteer?) and MS/HS level (how involved is your child in extra-curricular activities and do you parent volunteer?). Being a member of your school's PTA is a good start but it is not the same thing.

Good luck with your search.

[fcyolo]

Originally Posted by gomason

My special formula is test scores divided by number of privileged white families (Hint: Loudoun, North Fairfax, and Arlington do very well!!).

Hmmm, how do you get the white privileged number and what does that mean.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by fcyolo

Hmmm, how do you get the white privileged number and what does that mean.

I think the poster was making a funny. Guess you didn't find it so....

[fcyolo]

Originally Posted by spencgr

I think the poster was making a funny. Guess you didn't find it so....

hilarious, hold on, let me put on my stupid hat, har har har har