December 2017
GreatSchools is enhancing the methodology used generate their 1-10 rating system. As before, these scores incorporate multiple measures of school quality, and will now include measures of educational equity. While these changes to the ratings won't affect product delivery or the format of the product elements, some scores may change as a result of this new methodology.
The 1-10 School Ratings were previously based on a combination of four key factors:
- Test scores
- Student or academic progress
- College readiness
- Advanced courses
GreatSchools has added two additional measures:
- Equity Rating – This is a rating of how well the school serves the needs of all students. It reflects the academic performance level of disadvantaged students within a school and in-school gaps in academic performance between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students. GreatSchools defines disadvantaged students as those students who comprise racial/ethnic subgroups that show persistent gaps across schools, subgroup pairs, and subjects within a state.
- Discipline and Attendance Flag – The discipline and attendance flags use data from the Civil Rights Data Collection to identify schools that have high rates of suspension and absenteeism, as well as large differences in these rates by racial/ethnic group. GreatSchools flags schools that have high rates of suspensions or absenteeism, as well as large differences in these rates by racial/ethnic group. If a school has a discipline or attendance flag, it will factor into the school's summary rating.
As of September 21 2017, GreatSchools has updated school ratings on their website for the state of California and is continuing updates nationwide. While scores are being updated, users comparing 1-10 ratings between the data provided by Precisely and the data available on GreatSchools' website may see different scores. GreatSchools provides Precisely with updated scores on a monthly basis. The schedule below shows when the new scoring methodology will be reflected in the Precisely monthly deliverable:
| Monthly Release | Methodology |
|---|---|
| September (released at the end of the month) | Old methodology for all states |
| October (released at the end of the month) | Old methodology for all states |
| November (released at the end of the month) | New methodology for all states |