Why look at a score, when the score isn’t the school

After the repositioning of American education (most notable with the advent of No Child Left Behind) the idea of Adequate Yearly Progress and “monitoring” quality took off like a run away train. With one swift legislative decision education was thrown into a measurement nightmare; a nightmare that resulted in a bankroll for testing and assessment groups. In 2012, standardized testing costs states an estimated 1.7 billion dollars per year. While that was less than one percent of the total education costs of states, that number is still hard to swallow. There are really four big players in the testing in the U.S. testing industry; none of which have had a whole lot of fun with management and execution of our nations obsession with standardized tests. Along side those big players are a few non-profit organizations that are noteworthy. One of which is “Great Schools.”

Founded in 1998, Great Schools started as a school directory. Initially a way to help parents find schools, funding from national foundations pushed the idea of rating schools forward. By 2013 the site, its data, and user reviews were a systematic part of Zillow. Using a proprietary Equity and Academic Progress rating system; that system hasn’t been without conflict. But in 2017 they revamped their ratings with an effort to be more inclusive.

But still, the system focused its ratings on the good ol’ standbys of test scores, academic progress, college readiness, equity, and advanced courses. The group more than likely does their best to…