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Old 01-18-2017, 06:45 AM
 
326 posts, read 383,373 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hackwriter View Post

This question came to my mind when a colleague, worried about the stress her daughter was under in a "top school district" in New Jersey said "I kind of wish we had moved to a less competitive school district. Colleges only care about your class rank, they don't care about whether you were in a top district or not." The kid's hair was falling out, she was depressed about not being as strong as her classmates in certain areas, and the kid was miserable.
I'm by no means trying to argue that we should all try to cram our kids into "top school districts" but I still think it's worth noting that the comment above in bold from your colleague isn't true. Generally, colleges will factor both of those things together because they understand class rank of an individual student is a function of all the other students around them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hackwriter View Post
I've always had a sense that this obsession with these rankings can too often be a substitute for motivation on the part of the child and involvement on the part of the parents. In other words, as long as you can say your child goes to a "9" or "10"-ranked school on GreatSchools, you can just send your kid to school and not even think about whether s/he is learning.

Thoughts?
I've wondered this too, and I now believe that most people looking for high test scores or school rankings understand that it's also a proxy for socioeconomic status and parent involvement. What they're looking for is an initial read on finding a place that has like-minded thinking and a similar (or higher) socioeconomic status to their own. One way to do that is to look at school rankings. You could also look at a map of home prices or median income. Not surprisingly, all of those things line up on a map.
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:16 AM
 
635 posts, read 1,613,152 times
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Wait til DeVos gets confirmed. Then see what happens to the Greatschools ratings, when she guts the public school system. She's the devil.
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:20 AM
 
703 posts, read 776,536 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish View Post
Wondering if saturnfan hacked them to stem the tide of hordes of overpaid yuppies....
... and greedy corporations lured here by bribes!
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:33 AM
 
31,672 posts, read 40,937,970 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tkeru408 View Post
I'm by no means trying to argue that we should all try to cram our kids into "top school districts" but I still think it's worth noting that the comment above in bold from your colleague isn't true. Generally, colleges will factor both of those things together because they understand class rank of an individual student is a function of all the other students around them.



I've wondered this too, and I now believe that most people looking for high test scores or school rankings understand that it's also a proxy for socioeconomic status and parent involvement. What they're looking for is an initial read on finding a place that has like-minded thinking and a similar (or higher) socioeconomic status to their own. One way to do that is to look at school rankings. You could also look at a map of home prices or median income. Not surprisingly, all of those things line up on a map.
Bada Bing and the ability to advertise helps the company and advertisers to target that higher socio economic crowd:
Advertising | GreatSchools

Quote:
Advertise on GreatSchools and get your message in front of our large audience of engaged parents. GreatSchools can target your campaign by state or grade level; we offer all traditional ad units as well as newsletter sponsorships.
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:36 AM
 
31,672 posts, read 40,937,970 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jill7930 View Post
Wait til DeVos gets confirmed. Then see what happens to the Greatschools ratings, when she guts the public school system. She's the devil.
She won't gut the high performing schools. Art Pope and some legislators want to do that as those are the parents with the bucks to sent their kids to his private school empire. What she will perhaps do is to give those at the state and local level the tools to do what they want and if that is gut great public schools it will be in their hands. More affluent high performing schools are less dependent on federal funding as much of that money is someway or other finds it way to title one schools.
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:39 AM
 
31,672 posts, read 40,937,970 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tkeru408 View Post
I'm by no means trying to argue that we should all try to cram our kids into "top school districts" but I still think it's worth noting that the comment above in bold from your colleague isn't true. Generally, colleges will factor both of those things together because they understand class rank of an individual student is a function of all the other students around them.



I've wondered this too, and I now believe that most people looking for high test scores or school rankings understand that it's also a proxy for socioeconomic status and parent involvement. What they're looking for is an initial read on finding a place that has like-minded thinking and a similar (or higher) socioeconomic status to their own. One way to do that is to look at school rankings. You could also look at a map of home prices or median income. Not surprisingly, all of those things line up on a map.
Not always true. Consider that the top 5 percent is much easier to achieve at a lower performing school than a high performing school. Class rank gets translated into decile rank and being out of a certain decile can be a deal breaker
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:48 AM
 
Location: My House
34,937 posts, read 36,122,580 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP View Post
She won't gut the high performing schools. Art Pope and some legislators want to do that as those are the parents with the bucks to sent their kids to his private school empire. What she will perhaps do is to give those at the state and local level the tools to do what they want and if that is gut great public schools it will be in their hands. More affluent high performing schools are less dependent on federal funding as much of that money is someway or other finds it way to title one schools.
I will be surprised if she gets confirmed, even with a Republican majority. Her answers to very reasonable questions that an educator should know were dismal. Despite differences in political opinion, the constituents of Republican members of Congress still want their children to get a decent education.

This isn't even a criticism of Trump, because why shoot fish in a barrel, but she's not at all what public schools across the country need. Or private ones, for that matter. That woman knows exactly nothing about education, as was apparent from her deer in headlights, grizzly bear answers.

That stuff aside...

I think that michgc is correct. I can recall drops in these in the past. They'll adjust.

I would not be worried about these scores unless I was a realtor trying to sell clients on the great schools around here.
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Old 01-18-2017, 07:51 AM
 
Location: My House
34,937 posts, read 36,122,580 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP View Post
Not always true. Consider that the top 5 percent is much easier to achieve at a lower performing school than a high performing school. Class rank gets translated into decile rank and being out of a certain decile can be a deal breaker
I know people who have moved their kids to schools that weren't so competitive so that they could be top of their class and get into schools like The School of Science and Math, because they only take so many from a district like Wake, for example, and you really have to be stellar. But, move out into Franklin county and the odds are ever in your favor if you have a kid who is a really good student anyway.
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Old 01-18-2017, 08:14 AM
 
31,672 posts, read 40,937,970 times
Reputation: 14419
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedZin View Post
I will be surprised if she gets confirmed, even with a Republican majority. Her answers to very reasonable questions that an educator should know were dismal. Despite differences in political opinion, the constituents of Republican members of Congress still want their children to get a decent education.

This isn't even a criticism of Trump, because why shoot fish in a barrel, but she's not at all what public schools across the country need. Or private ones, for that matter. That woman knows exactly nothing about education, as was apparent from her deer in headlights, grizzly bear answers.

That stuff aside...

I think that michgc is correct. I can recall drops in these in the past. They'll adjust.

I would not be worried about these scores unless I was a realtor trying to sell clients on the great schools around here.
Realtors in many areas love Great Schools and other ranking publications. Usually the high performing schools with high performing demographics are in areas with the more expensive housing. Selling there translates into a higher commission. Now folks like Mike J might be different but I know a breed of realtor who thrives on the hype.
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Old 01-18-2017, 08:20 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,766 posts, read 15,721,918 times
Reputation: 10865
Even better than using great schools. Look at the NC Report Card and you can see how schools did this year and compare it to last year and to other schools. That will give you the information you need. Great Schools is just a ranking tool based on state test scores, so you might as well go right to the source yourself. It gives a lot of in-depth information. It is a bit clunky to use but not too bad once you figure it out. End-of-Course tests show high school state tests. And End-of-Grade tests show grade 3-8 state tests. Levels 3. 4, and 5 are considered "proficient" and levels 4 and 5 are considered "college ready."

https://ncreportcards.ondemand.sas.c...C+Report+Cards

Also, I looked at the latest state test scores using that site and ranked them a couple of months ago, if you want to take a look:
//www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...15-2016-a.html
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