Vancouver Public Schools does not provide ratings for the simple reason that each school is unique and has its own opportunities and challenges. We believe that there is no best school—only schools that are best for individual students.
That’s why ratings on third-party commercial websites should be only one source of information that is weighed in the selection of a school.
The problem with ratings
- Information on school rating websites may be outdated or incorrect.
- Some websites rely heavily on test scores and other data to perform their calculations. While test scores are important, they don’t tell the entire story.
- Some websites use a propriety algorithm to determine ratings.
- Information about our many program offerings, from K-12 language programs to schools of the arts and science, technology, engineering and math, may be missing from these sites.
- Some sites carry advertising, which may influence the organization’s decision about the content provided on the site.
- Others allow anonymous reviews.
What a rating won’t tell you
- Changes/reforms in the past four to five years
- How your child will do at a particular school or whether he or she will be happy there
- The school’s culture
- The parent community
- Whether the school will help your child attain his or her aspirations
So what can you do to research the right school(s) for your child(ren)? Take a look around this site, read about what’s going on in the district, review performance data and then call or visit schools. We hope you’ll be surprised by the quality, variety and depth of our district.
Don’t see the information you’re looking for? Drop us a line.
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age of test score data on some commercial school rating sites
