Earlier this month, the California Department of Education released their new rating system for schools called the California School Dashboard. While there is a lot to be said about the positives and negatives of this system, I set out to correct the most glaring omission – that Charter School Networks were not evaluated as whole […]
School Rating
Rating the Charter Networks – Part I: Alliance College-Ready
Last week, I highlighted some of the problems with the California School Dashboard (CSD) as it exists right now. My biggest gripe with the dashboard is that it rates whole districts, like LAUSD, but does not rate charter networks as a whole. Instead in treats each charter as an individual school, never aggregating their data. Let’s […]
Don’t Use the CA School Dashboard Yet.
Yes. You read that headline correctly. You should not evaluate a school based on the current California School Dashboard….yet. Out of the entire site, there is really only one part that is ready for primetime: the academic indicator. Those indicators use current data and they accomplish the goals that the state set out. But the rest of […]
How do we rate schools? Part IV – California School Dashboard
Later this month, California will unveil its new school rating system, The California School Dashboard (which I’m going to call the CSD). It is a very different approach to rating schools for our state than the old system, the API, which reigned supreme for over a decade. Here are the basics of how it works: […]
How do we rate schools? Part III: The API
This post is part of a series on online school rating systems. Click to read the first or second post. Remember Gray Davis? Yeah, he was that governor who got recalled in 2003. While people might remember him for his “excessive” fundraising, I remember him as the person who radically changed education in California, for better […]
How do we rate schools? Part II: GreatSchools.org
This post is part of a series on online school rating systems. To read the first post click here. School Choice is a hot button issue these days. And while I am very skeptical of several recent school choice initiatives, one might think that school choice is a new idea. But the fact is that school choice […]
How do we rate schools? Part I: Niche.com
As the parent of a young child, I am often witness to conversations about schools that drop me into a deep sense of agony. I often cringe at the way that my friends talk about choosing schools for their kids. When these topics come up, I try to stay silent or try to be modest in my […]
What Happens When CCSA Calls for a Non-Renewal of a Charter School?
Today, the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) made a public call for non-renewal of 6 charter schools. According to a statement, “the schools…did not yield evidence of student outcome success and growth in achievement beyond that which is seen at other schools.” But will those schools actually get closed? First, let’s talk about how they come […]
Science Schools are Still Not Great at Science
The educational keyword of the year is STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM is said so often that it has basically lost its meaning. Plus, people keep adding extra stuff to the focus. People wanted arts to be involved, so they made it STEAM. People wanted more reading emphasis, so it became STREAM. Soon, […]
The Most Improved Schools in Los Angeles
Last week, I mentioned that the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) had done an incredible data analysis – way more powerful than my dinky little MacBook Air could ever handle. I’ve looked over it, and it seems pretty legit.* Using this data, we can see some pretty interesting things. Let’s start positive. What are the most […]