Can we rely on school ratings to determine whether a school is a good or not?
538700
You need to physically visit a school during teaching time to gauge it's worth. You will get a feeling as to whether it is right for your child or not, and that does not necessarily follow that it is one of the highest in the league tables. It is purely a personal thing.
152446
GOODEST ??   a good prep school be better 4 you
359955
You mean B.S. departments or graduate schools? Graduate schools (educational psychology, educational policy studies, etc) are in US News and World Report. There are likely no specific rankings for B.S. schools ... It's mostly word of mouth. What really only matters is that:\n\n1) You get the degree\n2) The school is decent\n3) You are able to show yourself to be a good teacher, through recommendations and work experience.
273039
if you log on to www.greatschools.com it will give u all the schools in your town and their 'report card rating' a rating to tell you the good and bad along with the teacher stats and special programs offered and the child to teacher ratios and so forth.  pta pres. riverview elem. rancho cordova ca.  t.mahony
15527
There really is no way for anyone other than you to define your "best" university.\n\nYou can find ranking information on-line from a variety of sources.  I would encourage you, however, to contact the universities you are interested in, ask for an admissions packet, and evaluate their offerings independently.  Sometimes the "best" university isn't always the best fit for your specific needs.\n\nBest of luck!
827192
I am a teacher and I check my ratings from time to time. Fortunately my students have nice things to say. I must be doing something right!
1082789
If you are relocating.... if this is to accept a job offer, many people at the place you'll be working probably have kids themselves. Ask them what they think of their children's schools.\n\nFor general online data:\n\nMost rating systems are by school rather than by district or state, because it is the administration of the individual school that makes all the difference.\n\nAlso, keep in mind that online rating sites have skewed results... only people who seek out these sites will be providing feedback. Most people wanting to give feedback have negative responses.\n\nData these sites use that are not immediate, self-initiated parent feedback are generally a year or two out of date.\n\nTry these sites:\n\nhttp://www.greatschools.net/\n\nhttp://www.schoolmatch.com/\n\nhttp://www.homefair.com/sr_home.html
1086127
I use it to choose classes. Before I sign up for a class, I check ratemyprofessors.com for a particular teacher. If he/she has a majority of bad reviews. I simply sign up for a different class or same class/different professor.
2867
Depends on what area you are looking at. Different universities have different strengths.
220352
go to www.maricopa.gov, there's a link for the schools and you can search by school or district to see the ratings of the school. Using that is why we moved to the Peoria School District (wanted the westside).
706412
The school you attend needs to be an "accredited" school. To see if your school is accredited, visit the link below:
79258
This question is much easier if you consider the top schools in a certain category or in a certain field. There is a semi-defined grouping of first-, second- and third-tier schools that is generally agreed upon, but even US News & World Report has a different top school every year.
358495
If you want to find quick answers on how schools are performing in your future district, you have several options.  First you can check your states department of education website for a school by school breakdown of testing results.  There is also a national website, run by the NCLB act, that can give you information on testing results.  \n\nBut remember, these are only testing results based on one test.  A better indication of the quality of schools might be found by looking at class sizes and graduation rates.  \n\nGood luck with your move!
988137
Collegeboard.com and princetonreview.com are good, free sites that give you all the statistical info about schools. I used them to help me research what school I wanted to go to.\n\nCollege Board:\nhttp://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=149\n\nPrinceton Review:\nhttp://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/generalinfo.asp?listing=1023561<ID=1\n\nOf course the school's website has the same info. \nTry: http://uh.edu/uh_glance/
822674
On first glance I would be tempted to say no. Then again, many of the Atlanta City Schools are trying to raise their test scores and provide a good quality education for students. Also, many schools are experience an influx of money due to Atlanta's urban real estate boom so alot of inner-city schools are morphing into better schools.\n\nOne thing you can do is go to the website www.greatschools.net\n\nThere you can see if the school is a good fit for you or your kids.
1170745
Private schools belong to their own school assocation.  It should be listed in the phone book.  Contact them and ask for a list of the schools in your area, then contact the schools for a visit.  Either the association or the schools themselves will be able to provide information about academic programs, test scores, etc.  No matter how good a school looks on paper, you really don't know if you like it or not until you visit.
730825
they probably aren't public, but if you give me the name of a school in the county i can probably tell you its reputation.