Berkeley Parents Network: Evaluating a Public School

Berkeley Parents Network

Evaluating a Public School

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Evaluating a Public School

A site called greatschools.net provides the ability to search on individual public schools for their test scores. Last year I went through all the Oakland schools in my area (Hillcrest, Chabot, Thornhill and Joaquin Miller) and created a spreadsheet of the data so I could compare. I also looked over some of the other schools in Oakland to see how things stacked up. The previous posting is correct in stating these schools have extremely high scores compared to the rest of the city. There is so much disparity in fact that you quickly see why Oakland is and needs to be concerned about the state of public education here.

A website with listings, tests scores, etc. of Oakland public schools is www.greatschools.net. They will send you email updates and are very helpful if you need more information than what is available on their website.

October 2001

I would recommend (1) visiting the school; and/or (2) talking to parents. You should ask to sit in on one or two teachers' classes. You can get an idea of the kinds of curriculum and activities that the school uses, something that test scores do not measure at all, and also get a sense of how the teachers interact with the children. Many elementary school principals would probably be too busy to talk to you individually, but you should take it as a positive sign if the school has some kind of regular meeting or method for parent-school communication. Some elementary schools actually have parents who volunteer as community liaisons. Ilana

In order to get a feel for the elementary schools in our area I went to the scheduled events that many schools have that introduce you to some of the teachers, the principal, a few parents and some of the programs and activities that the school has to offer. The best gauge for me however was visiting the schools while they were in session. There's nothing like seeing the children and teachers in action. I'm content with the choice that I made and feel confident that this was the best method to choose our child's school. Even though her school does not have the best district scores she has done well and continues to thrive in the public school environment. Suzanna

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