| Three years ago we were moving
and wanted to get information on school districts to aid in
our decision of where to locate. Moving into a neighborhood
with a good school (read as: highly rated in test scores) was
a top priority. At
the time, access to school information was practically non-existent
on the web. The closest contender I found was a resource book
which I dubbed, “The Big Blue Book”. I fortunately was able
to locate it at the library, since it would have set me back
$900.00 to purchase!
Switch to
now and it’s all here… at least somewhat. The following sites
will aid you in determining the best school for your child,
but be wary... Similar sites charge for the info or require
giving up too much personal information. Some are impossible
to navigate.
Currently,
GreatSchools.net is our top pick. It has all the relevant
information, is easy to navigate and doesn’t charge for the
info. Some sites offered only minimal statistics and wanted
to charge $34.00 for additional info (more than a credit check!).
GreatSchools.net shows not only demographics, but reports
on test score performance, comparisons with other schools,
score improvement, etc. A wide range of info for free. View
by district or school. Well worth a visit.
SchoolReportExpress
is good, but you have to log on with all this personal stuff
like email addresses. That always makes me a tad shy.
Remember
that these are merely guides and that even a top-ranked school
requires good parent involvement for optimum results.
The
following links are nationwide:
GreatSchools.net
(go to the bottom of your search page for the test scores
result link)
National
Center for Education Statistics
- school locator
National
Catholic Education Association
- school locator
SchoolReportExpress
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