The Texas Education Agency used to have an easy to understand school rating system with four ratings: Exemplary, Recognized, Academically Acceptable and Academically Unacceptable. They rated districts and individual schools on this system. It was very easy to understand and allowed residents to quickly recognized top rated schools. Unfortunately, they’ve phased out the four tiered ranking system and went to a much more complex pass/fail system with test scores. To compare school ratings, you almost have to study each school’s performance. Though that may be ok when you have narrowed it down to a few schools, you don’t want to study 1,000 school ratings when you are starting your search.
What Site Should I Use to Research Austin School Ratings?
To more easily compare schools, we’ve incorporated two other sources for Austin school ratings: SchoolDigger.com and GreatSchools.org. Both of these crunch the test scores, parent ratings and student performance and translate it into an easy to understand rating. Here’s a little bit more info about each site.
SchoolDigger.com
School Digger uses a 5 star rating system based on normalized test scores for all grade levels to make a more accurate comparison statewide. They also have a 6-10 year history of district and school ratings, so it helps you gauge if the school is improving or deteriorating over time. School Digger also allows you to search via names of schools, districts, ratings or maps, so there are plenty of ways to search schools.
Check out Austin school ratings on SchoolDigger.com.
GreatSchools.org
GreatSchools.org is probably the most popular school rating website and uses a 1/10-10/10 rating system. Ratings of 8/10 or higher are generally considered “above average”, 4/10-7/10 are considered “average” and 1/10-3/10 are considered “below average.” GreatSchools.org evaluates standardized test scores and compares each school’s performance within the state. GreatSchools.org is also committed to using other metrics to evaluate schools on a deeper level and will add additional metrics as they become available. In the meantime, you can check out parent reviews of the schools.
Check Out Austin school ratings on GreatSchools.org.
What School Rating Site Do We Most Use?
We use GreatSchools ratings on our neighborhood pages, because we like the easy 1-10 rating. It is also the most popular site nationwide, so even if buyers are unfamiliar with Austin, they are usually familiar with GreatSchools ratings as they are used in their area. Both sites give valuable info and I would recommend using the one you most like.
Where are the Best School Districts in Austin?
If you’re looking for the top rated school districts in Austin, check out these posts we wrote.
Looking to dig a little deeper? Here are our posts that name the top elementary, middle and high schools.
Looking to Buy a Home in a Great School District?
We know Austin better than any other Realtor and can help you find the best neighborhood with top rated schools for you and your family. If you’re looking for a Realtor who will listen to what you want, not tell you what you want, we are the team for you. To learn more about our buyer representation program, check out our Austin Home Buyers section. Then, call us at (512) 827-8323, email us at info@11OaksRealty.com or fill out our Buyer Survey to get started.
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