Moving? Choosing a School? Sources of Information on Individual Schools and School Districts

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It's that time of year again! It's the time of year when parents begin to think about the next school year and choosing the best school for their child.

Whether your child will be in kindergarten and you are confronting this decision for the first time, or whether you live in a school district that offers a choice of schools--public or private--from which you can pick, or whether you are moving to another part of the country and trying to determine the school district and neighborhood in which to buy a house, the decision is a difficult one and should depend on information about the school itself, as well as comparative standardized test scores.

School quality depends on many factors, not all easily measurable, and not all equally important for each individual child or family. Based on knowledge of their own child, parents may want to consider what is most important to their particular situation: Small class size? A culturally diverse student and teacher population? The availability of extracurricular activities like band or orchestra? Second language opportunities in Japanese or Latin? A particular teaching approach, like mixed-age grouping or Montessori? High test scores?

Parents who are interested in how schools in a particular school district compare can call the district office and get a copy of the individual "school report cards" for each school, which provide standardized test scores at different class levels. If more than one district is under consideration, several districts in the same geographical area can supply this information for comparative purposes. Since schools vary widely at the individual building level and at the individual classroom level, these comparisons can supply one kind of comparative information for schools.

Realtors often have good information about the reputation of particular schools in a geographic area. They can be a good resource when making decisions as to which neighborhood or area of a city might be the best choice, based on what the family is looking for in a school.

Parents may want to keep in mind that no written set of assessments or test scores can take the place of visiting a school and forming one's own opinion about the overall environment and quality of the school.

According to the National Principal Hotline (March 1996) hosted each year by the National Association for Elementary School Principals during their annual conference, here are some things to think about in choosing a new school:

1. Check out the school district's annual report to determine the expenditure per pupil. In many communities, this dollar amount will be closely linked to school quality.
   
   
2. Visit the school to see if you get the feeling that it is child- and family-oriented.
   
   
3. Check to see what services are available at the school. Look for guidance counselors, an on-site nurse, a librarian, and a secretary, and check to see if they work at more than one school. If any of these key personnel do work at more than one school, be cautious!
   
   
4. Check the structure of the school year. Do you want your child in a year-round school or do you prefer a more traditional school year?
   
   
5. Check to see what percentage of the students go on to college if you are looking at a high school.
   
   
6. Check the local library for books and videos on moving to a new school. Look for books for children as well as adults.

Several publications and fee-based services also provide information comparing schools, usually by standardized test scores.

Publications

Bainbridge, William, L., & Sundre, Steven M. (1990). School Match Guide to Public Schools. New York: ARCO. ISBN: 1037808593

Educational Rankings Annual 1995. Gale Research, Inc. 1995.
(Lists best elementary and secondary schools for each state. Also compares best schools across states. Criteria for ranking schools given in the publication.)

Quality Counts--A Report Card on the Condition of Public Education In the 50 States. A Supplement to "Education Week," January 8, 1998, Vol. XVII.
(Uses data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for its comparisons.) A portion of the data from Quality Counts is available on the Internet. You can take a look at school report cards from any of the 50 states. Connect to Education Week's Web site at:

http://www.edweek.org/sreports/qc98/98home.htm

You can purchase a copy of this report though an online ordering system, or by calling 800-436-1834.

Harrison, Charles. (1991). Public Schools USA: A Comparative Guide to School Districts. Princeton, NJ: Peterson's Guides. ISBN: 1560790814
(This guide is excellent but has not been updated since 1991.)

Koetzsch, Ronald E. (1997). Parents’ Guide to Alternatives in Education. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc. ISBN 1570620679

State Comparisons of Education Statistics: 1969-1994, published by the National Center for Education Statistics, 1995. ISBN 0161481287, NCES 95-122.

State Indicators in Education--1997. National Center for Education Statistics, 1997 (NCES 97-376)

Unger, Harlow G. (1993). How to Pick a Perfect Private School. New York, NY: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816028877

Services and Organizations

Council for American Private Education (CAPE)
1726 M. Street, NW, Suite #703
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: 202-659-0016
Email: cape@connectinc.com

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Although NCES does not collect statistics to evaluate or compare schools and school districts, some states do collect such statistics. John Ralph may be able to provide names of persons to contact in individual states.
Contact: John Ralph (202-219-2270)

School Match (private company)
5027 Pine Creek Dr.
Westerville, OH 43081
Telephone: 800-992-5323
Provides comparative information on specific schools in the United States. (THIS IS A FEE-BASED SERVICE.)

http://schoolmatch.com/ - This is the new Web address for SchoolMatch, the national school research/consulting organization and database provider. The new offering for parents, educators, realtors, attorneys, corporate executives, and others interested in school information includes:

• A helpful glossary of education-related terms
• National statistics about elementary and secondary education
• A state-by state breakdown of how states organize educational resources
• News Briefs about educational policy changes
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ's) about school data

The SchoolMatch Web site allows the user to scan and choose from a variety of additional data and consulting services, such as comparing schooling alternatives, helping solve school-related problems, assessing the school issue in child custody cases, and evaluating quality of life factors in corporate site selection.

Quality Education Data (QED) (private company)
Denver, CO
Telephone: 800-525-5811

State-by-State School Guides that include demographic descriptions of schools in each state are published by QED based on an annual survey. The Guides list all public, private, and parochial schools in each state; provide listings of names and addresses of school district and school building administrators; and list the numbers of computers and predominant brands of computers used in the schools. Primarily intended for those who are marketing to school districts, QED offers mailing lists. THIS IS A FEE-BASED SERVICE.

State Departments of Education
Many State Departments of Education provide detailed assessment testing data for the school districts/counties in their state (e.g., Colorado, Oregon) through the Internet. You can link to all the State Departments of Education at:

http://ericeece.org/statlink.html

Other Internet Sites

American School Directory (lets you search for information on 106,000 K-12 schools in the United States)
http://www.asd.com/

Petersons Education Center
http://www.petersons.com/

Phaedrus Co--Private School Information
http://www.thinkthink.com/schools/

Choosing the Right School--A Family Guide
(National Association of Independent Schools)
http://www.schools.com/nais/pub/choosing/right-school.html

Schools Online
http://www.schools.com/

School District Data Book Profiles
Searchable Web site that provides demographic data for school districts across the country.
http://govinfo.kerr.orst.edu/sddb-stateis.html

School Directory Web site (provides links to school Web pages)
http://esinet.com/schooldirectory/AMERICA.HTM

State Departments of Education Web sites
Although the data available varies by state, some states provide links to school districts in their state and provide a variety of useful data. You can find links to State Departments of Education at the following Web address:

http://ericeece.org/statlink.html

Credits

May 1998
prepared by the ERIC/EECE Information Services Staff

Published monthly by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Children's Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7469. This publication was funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. DERR93002007. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the Department of Education.

NPIN Coordinator and Parent News Editor: Anne Robertson
Production Editor: Emily S. Van Hyning