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My apologies if this has been discussed in the past, but my family and I are considering a move to the Raleigh area from Louisville, KY. I'm a UNC alum, so I'm somewhat familiar with the area but in terms of schools, mostly just in recalling the alma maters of my college classmates. As we browse home listings online and begin to look at school "rankings," I've seen sites such as GreatSchools.org rank schools like Broughton as a 4/10. It was my impression that this was the *the* Raleigh high school in terms of churning out top notch students. Yes, I know it's not just the school but parental involvement, etc. that accounts for student performance - but I'm not looking to launch that conversation, just seeking some specific guidance.
I know Wake County has an assignment structure that could contribute to overall numbers - and I know Broughton is designated as a magnet school, although I'm not entirely clear on how this might affect its particular stats. But could someone shed light on why this site's (GreatSchools) numbers might be low? Even the Carrboro/CH schools didn't receive the scores I'd expected of them. Perhaps this site scores based on user reviews and there are lots of complaining parents? I've also browsed the NC school report card website for grade level proficiency information, and while some schools align with the GS data, many others are way off.
I think it's likely because disgruntled parents and students are more motivated to write reviews than are happy families. I don't think Broughton is THE high school to go to, however it's a fine school not deserving of a ranking of 4. I'd take the reviews with a grain of salt!
The Great Schools rating is not based on reviews. It's based on test scores. If you look at the test scores, they don't seem to be complete (1 or 2 years) but Broughton hasn't done better than the state average, which is deserving of a 4/10 I guess.
In fact, Broughton has the highest "community rating" from reviews of all high schools in the district.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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If you read the data in Great Schools you will find that the rating assigned to any given school is soley based on how students there performed on state test scores. If a school scored a "4" that means it scored below average on state tests. It has nothing to do with parent reviews, teacher/student ratio, activities, etc. That also means that the rating on Great Schools cannot be compared across state lines. A school with a "4" in NC is not necessarily the same as a school with a "4" in Texas, for example. You can only look at them in comparison with schools in their own state.
I know nothing about Broughton, but for CH/Carrboro schools, there is often a fairly high percentage of free/reduced lunch students (I think about about 10%-20%) and ELL students. And test scores generally are higher the more affluent your family is. So, while looking at test scores is one metric to judge the school, it's not the only one, which is why Great Schools has other information in there including parent reviews. But, those can be people who have a beef with a school or those who want to tout their school. Other sites to look at would include School Digger and the NCReport Cards. However, use Great Schools and other rating sites with a grain of salt. You should also visit the school and talk to other parents to get a more complete picture of the school.
Sorry I think I was confusing the Greatschools number rating with the numeric "star" ratings on there (which are very high)! However, something seems very off with the reported scores on there. If you look up Broughton on Greatschool and go under "test scores" to look at the more detailed information, something does not seem quite right. Needham Broughton High School - Raleigh, North Carolina - NC - School overview
Yes, I agree, don't get your test score data from Great Schools. and keep in mind the comments from people on that site are not scientifically sampled.
But also keep in mind that test scores never tell the whole story. For example, I did the research and chose Broughton because it is diverse. That is going to lower test scores, but I wanted my kids to live in the real world. So for me the school environment and the neighborhood was as important as the academic experience.
As for academics, What you really need to look at is what curriculum and programs the school values. Learn about IB and see if that is important to you. What you are looking for is the best academic opportunity for your child's needs and abilities. My oldest is thriving at Broughton but my youngest is a different child so we are considering other options for her.
And Broughton is no longer a magnet school. They no longer needed that designation to fill their seats, so it was dropped. However, the staff decided to continue the International Baccalaureate program (at considerable expense). Even if you aren't going to participate in IB, I think that says something about the culture of the school.
Like nearly all magnets, it serves a significant proportion of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in addition to advantaged students who attend as part of the magnet program (Broughton's base includes a lot of economically advantaged families as well). This is often not the case for magnets, which generally have a base that is quite poor.
Aggregate scores (and greatschools ratings) for all such schools will be low because they reflect the scores of both groups (advantaged and disadvantaged students). This is why they look so low and why greatschools gives Broughton and other economically diverse schools low ratings despite the school's very high quality (and very good outcomes for students not from disadvantaged backgrounds). Aggregate scores and ratings based on them are not helpful for gauging the quality of economically diverse schools.
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
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It will be interesting to see how the magnet status changes with so much downtown gentrification going on. My daughter's school is one and 10 years ago the base population was considerably economically disadvantaged. Now the neighborhoods have been bought up by the opposite. It's a great deal to live in walking distance to a school and its a magnet as well. If wake county decides to demagnentize those schools the parents would definitely cause an uproar.
Broughton's current magnet status is not a return to its former programming - the Spanish immersion program needed to expand to middle and high schools as the students age, and Broughton has become the designated high school for those kids ( the track is Jeffreys Grove, Daniels, Broughton). This program takes applications from students all over the county, so that's why it's part of the magnet system, but it does not mean the entire school is getting specialized programming.
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