Who Cares About High School Rankings

Summary: Who cares about comparing schools? After all, the experts are constantly advising parents NOT to compare their children to each other, their cousins, friends, and neighbors. It can damage their self-esteem, causing the little darlings to feel like they don't measure up to their parents' expectations. However, comparing secondary schools for High school rankings is one situation in which kids - students - must be compared to their peers. High school rankings are one of the...

Who cares about comparing schools? After all, the experts are constantly advising parents NOT to compare their children to each other, their cousins, friends, and neighbors. It can damage their self-esteem, causing the little darlings to feel like they don't measure up to their parents' expectations. However, comparing secondary schools for High school rankings is one situation in which kids - students - must be compared to their peers. High school rankings are one of the main ways that experts (think teachers, administrators and school board members), community members (business leaders, parents, taxpayers), and government leaders (mayors, governors, local and state senators and representatives) determine how well a school is doing compared to its counterparts. Looking at the High school rankings gives a lot of valuable information to all of these groups. For example, High school rankings may provide data on test scores. Knowing how different students have scored on standardized tests as compared to other students who have taken the same or at least similar tests is important. It shows how much test-based knowledge the students have acquired and retained. The High school rankings make accessing this complex information easy. Comparing schools on the curriculum level is another way to use High school rankings for gen interest. Looking at how often a school updates its curriculum to reflect changing trends in education and updates to texts and materials will also provide perspective on what the kids are studying in preparation for the tests they take. High school rankings may also give information on the socioeconomic levels of the students attending the high schools that are part of the High school rankings for gen interest. If a school is composed mostly of students in a middle- to high-socioeconomic background, there's a good chance that more of those students will excel as compared to their peers who have a low-socioeconomic background. In addition, information found in High school rankings can also tell us what kind of effort schools that serve the lower end of the socioeconomic scale are putting forth. Looking at High school rankings can give Board of Education officials insight into which schools should receive accolades for their hard work, and which schools might need more attention. While all schools deserve attention and support from their local and state education officials, there are some that need extra attention to help them raise their game. Using information gleaned from High school rankings is an easy and quick way for said officials, as well as private organizations or individual donors, to determine which schools need an extra boost. Analyzing High school rankings over a period of years will also show how much improvement individual schools or districts have made, and how the extra attention given to struggling schools, as identified by the High school rankings For Gen Interest, has helped.