How can I evaluate my school's academic performance?

Dear parents,

I was wondering whether you have any advice for me; how do you know that a 10 level school is really good? Is there any instituiton that I can hire to check the level and performance of  a subject taught at school? Eg. having my kids tested.  What are these instituitons/agencies? I have the feeling that our school is waisting my kids time,  and that the outcome is not so big. Interestingly, other parents mentioned the same issue with some subjects at school. 

Parent Replies

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I would start by going to the California State Standards at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/ to check if your child is being taught what they are supposed to be taught for their grade. You may be thinking, for example, that "my child is not getting enough science," or history, or math, etc. A 10 school means that at least 90% of students at the school know the grade-appropriate standards, not whether the school is necessarily "good" or "bad." The standards are the same for all public schools no matter their ranking.

A couple websites I have used recently to research public schools are schooldigger and great schools.  You can search by your own school or compare to others in your area.  I'm sure there are more but those are a good start.