[JayCT]

I do not trust greatschools.com. As has been noted on this forum many times their criteria is questionable at best. I have seen them give low ratings to good schools and high ratings to p[oor schools. Using SAT scores is not a good way to judge a school either. Not every student takes the SAT's so it is not really an accurate way to compare schools. I generally recommend looking at Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Test scores. This is a standardized test that all students must take so it gives you an idea of how the school stands in comparison to others in the state. New Milford schools generally perform above the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests. Class sizes are reasonable so I would say the schools are good. Bethel schools perform modestly higher in some categories but also score lower in others so I would say the school systems are comparable. The link below gives you more information on schools in each town. Jay

State Department of Education - CEDaR

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I do not trust greatschools.com. As has been noted on this forum many times their criteria is questionable at best. I have seen them give low ratings to good schools and high ratings to p[oor schools. Using SAT scores is not a good way to judge a school either. Not every student takes the SAT's so it is not really an accurate way to compare schools. I generally recommend looking at Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Test scores. This is a standardized test that all students must take so it gives you an idea of how the school stands in comparison to others in the state. New Milford schools generally perform above the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests. Class sizes are reasonable so I would say the schools are good. Bethel schools perform modestly higher in some categories but also score lower in others so I would say the school systems are comparable. The link below gives you more information on schools in each town. Jay

State Department of Education - CEDaR

In the better school systems, though, a vast majority of the students do take the SATs. (in New Milford, 86.5% of students take the SAT, in Bethel, 85%, Brookfield at just over 90%, statewide the average is over 77%). So, while it's not 99% like the CAPT, it's still a pretty good determiner of how well the vast majority of the student body is doing.

Additionally, as another poster who said they were a public school teacher, the CMT tests are pretty good and pretty thorough, but the poster thought the CAPT tests were a joke and not good at determining school or teacher quality at the high school level.

I agree 100% on greatschools.com. One or two bad reviews for a smaller school system, of which many in CT are smaller, and your ratings are sunk for years.