A Case Against Assigning Single Ratings To Schools
The new breed of school rating systems, some of which are still getting off the ground, will co-exist with federal proficiency targets in many states, and they are (or will be) used for a variety of purposes, including closure, resource allocation and informing parents and the public (see our posts on the systems in IN, FL, OH, CO, NYC).*
The approach that most states are using, in part due to the “ESEA flexibility” guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Education, is to combine different types of measures, often very crudely, into a single grade or categorical rating for each school. Administrators and media coverage usually characterize these ratings as measures of school performance – low-rated schools are called “low performing,” while those receiving top ratings are characterized as “high performing.” That’s not accurate – or, at best, it’s only partially true.
Some of the indicators that comprise the ratings, such as proficiency rates, are best interpreted as (imperfectly)
The approach that most states are using, in part due to the “ESEA flexibility” guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Education, is to combine different types of measures, often very crudely, into a single grade or categorical rating for each school. Administrators and media coverage usually characterize these ratings as measures of school performance – low-rated schools are called “low performing,” while those receiving top ratings are characterized as “high performing.” That’s not accurate – or, at best, it’s only partially true.
Some of the indicators that comprise the ratings, such as proficiency rates, are best interpreted as (imperfectly)