How do you evaluate schools? (Atlanta, Forsyth: how much, neighborhoods, elementary schools)

[jgooner22]

Hi everyone, as we plan a move to Atlanta, we have been looking at schools in that area. Like almost everyone moving there, schools in Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth, and Gwinnett counties are at the top of our list. Given the highly competitive market, we are trying to see what makes sense to us if we don't end up in one of the top rated neighborhoods.

I wanted to ask a generic question to all the wise heads here - what criteria do you look at to evaluate a school, and how much emphasis do you give to the greatschools or niche ratings. If, say, Cobb county has two elementary schools rates 7/10 and 9/10 on greatschools, would you think they are more or less the same? Same thing for schools rates 8/10 and 10/10 (just an example). My wife and I are talking about it and trying to see how much weightage we should give to these ratings, and what other resources we can use to come to a decision.

Many thanks.

[bu2]

When we moved in, we picked a general area (inside 285 northern half) and asked around.

Great schools used to mean more. Now they have more nonsense criteria so good schools can be rated low and poor schools can be rated high. But it is a start. I would look at detail data such as passing rates on the Georgia Milestones.

There are a lot of good schools in North Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth and Gwinnett. I would narrow it based on where you will work and how important the commute is.

[Citykid3785]

I’d say for me a school needs to have a baseline of 6/10 or greater. I went to amazing schools in MN that are somehow rated a 6/10 on great schools, so they are flawed for sure.

I would also consider if the district as a whole is rated well

[ATLBraves]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

I’d say for me a school needs to have a baseline of 6/10 or greater. I went to amazing schools in MN that are somehow rated a 6/10 on great schools, so they are flawed for sure.

I would also consider if the district as a whole is rated well

Keep in mind a 6/10 in another state doesn't equate to 6/10 in Georgia. The greatschools.org ratings are based on how the school compares within the state.

[ATLBraves]

I think the scores are heavily based on how the students at that school do on standardized tests. Much of that is based on the demographics of the population in that area. In my opinion, there isn't much a difference between 8, 9 and 10 on Greatschools.org.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jgooner22

Hi everyone, as we plan a move to Atlanta, we have been looking at schools in that area. Like almost everyone moving there, schools in Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth, and Gwinnett counties are at the top of our list. Given the highly competitive market, we are trying to see what makes sense to us if we don't end up in one of the top rated neighborhoods.

I wanted to ask a generic question to all the wise heads here - what criteria do you look at to evaluate a school, and how much emphasis do you give to the greatschools or niche ratings. If, say, Cobb county has two elementary schools rates 7/10 and 9/10 on greatschools, would you think they are more or less the same? Same thing for schools rates 8/10 and 10/10 (just an example). My wife and I are talking about it and trying to see how much weightage we should give to these ratings, and what other resources we can use to come to a decision.

Many thanks.

These greatschools things are pretty much based on standardized test scores, which will probably soon be a thing of the past. They don't really measure human potential or the quality of education.

[ATLBraves]

arjay57 - i agree, the general trend seems to be to move away from standardized test scores but then how do you measure human potential and quality of education in a fair way? seems like a lot of power in the hands of teachers and their perspectives on who has potential and what to teach..

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by ATLBraves

arjay57 - i agree, the general trend seems to be to move away from standardized test scores but then how do you measure human potential and quality of education in a fair way? seems like a lot of power in the hands of teachers and their perspectives on who has potential and what to teach..

I think we have to start looking at education in a more holistic way. How do kids actually perform in life? Are they happy, knowledgeable, active, inquisitive and well-rounded? Does the educational process strengthen the family and the community? Do young people people grow up seeing their future as unbounded by class or other social stigma?

[hereticiam]

I have been using Schooldigger.com
It provides information about demographics, rankings, test scores.
It lists ranks for districts and schools.
It shows the ranking for the past 5 plus years so you can determine how the school has done over time.
I don't have great schools numeric ranking helpful.

I have seen schools that are not even in top 10% of the state public schools and greatschools is giving them 9 out of 10.

[Smocaine]

Originally Posted by arjay57

These greatschools things are pretty much based on standardized test scores, which will probably soon be a thing of the past. They don't really measure human potential or the quality of education.

This sounds nice but isn't even remotely true. There is, generally, going to be a pretty meaningful difference between someone who scores in the 99th percentile on the SAT and someone who scores in the 70th percentile. You can wax on about outliers and so on, but it's wishful thinking to think that they'll be a 'thing of the past'.