5 Steps in Choosing a School
Many people call SJCOE asking for school ratings and/or rankings, hoping to find a single score that will show them which school is best for their children. Some people try to use standardized test scores to rank schools. Although test scores reveal one aspect of the school, they are too often a reflection of the socio-economic level of the community in which the school is located, and not a reflection of the quality of instruction. Other important factors such as quality of curriculum, training of teachers, programs, and facilities are ignored when a single test score is used to select a school.
Imagine you were to pick a life-partner on the basis of only one number. What would that number be? IQ? Yearly salary? Grade Point average in school? Physical attributes? The point is that you would take a number of factors into consideration. Likewise, when investigating schools, a single number or factor will not capture the true value of a particular school.
As a parent, you have the most complete information about your child's academic and social strengths and weaknesses. An educational program that may be perfect for some children may not be right for yours. What is presented here is a brief guide of things to look for, where to look for them, and additional resources to help make your decision easier.
5 Steps in Choosing
Step:1 Knowing Your Own Mind Before you start looking at schools, examine the needs of your children and your family as a whole to identify what expectations you have. Do you want your child to be placed in a highly structured classroom and work from a textbook, or would you prefer a class where learning is conducted in cooperative grouping and is experiential in nature? Are you open to a variety of different class structures?
School size is another factor in which people differ in their preferences. Some feel that their children will be much more comfortable in a small school in a small district, while others feel their children will thrive in large schools and large districts. For others, school size is of no consequence.
It is also important to be aware of your child's particular needs. Is there a special education requirement or a language difference that will require special services for your child? If so, you need to put this at the top of the list of questions to ask when you visit schools. Does your child have a gift or talent that needs to be expressed? If so, it would be worthwhile to find a school that can nourish that talent. Research informs us that children who can exercise talents and gifts will profit more from the entire educational program.
Finally, recognize that schools and instruction have changed since you were in school. Throughout the history of public education in the United States, schools have been asked to take on a more exacting role in educating students. As our society and economy have changed, so have the schools. Now, because more is being asked of schools, and because of advancements in curriculum, technology, and teaching techniques, schools are better than ever. When you begin your search, keep an open mind and try not to make judgments based on how you were taught. Let schools tell you what they are trying to do, see if what they tell you makes sense, and look for evidence that the school is successful in accomplishing its goals.
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Step 2: Collecting Information Due to the difficulty in conducting an exhaustive search of all the schools in the County, we recommend that you start by determining in which areas you would like to live. Chances are that the community in which you would be comfortable living will have a school that is right for your child. You may want to consider the length of the commute from your home to your work or the cost of housing in a certain area.
Once you have decided on the three or four communities you are most interested in, begin looking at information about specific schools. (You can determine which schools serve your neighborhood by clicking the "School Attendance Areas" link in SJCOE's District Profiler. Many school districts in the county have a guidebook or brochure showing vital facts about their schools. All are required, by law, to publish an annual School Accountability Report Card (SARC) which gives information on 16 factors considered to be related to good school functioning. Some of the things you may want to look for are as follows:
School Mission and Policies: What does the school say about its purpose or vision or driving force? Is that philosophy evident in any aspects of school life? Are you comfortable with the stated mission of the school? While you're at it, check out the main policies with which parents are generally concerned: discipline, homework and grades. These are areas where you may have particularly strong feelings. Look for consistency, seriousness and reasonableness of these policies. It is important to make sure you can live with the policies. School Safety: This is an important item on many parents' agendas. You will want to find out whether there are problems of safety at the school and how they are being addressed. At the very least, you will want to see what traffic problems there may be, and whether there are crossing guards at busy streets, and good supervision on playgrounds. Student Standards: Districts set local content and performance standards that are at least as rigorous as State standards. District standards must be set for every grade level, kindergarten through grade 12. These may reflect academic, civic, vocational, personal, and interpersonal goals for the instructional program. At the elementary and middle school level you should look for signs of student success that reflect an engaging school program: high attendance, academic achievement, and awards received by students, teachers, or the school itself. See if there is evidence of the use of performance-based achievement measures (rather than a sole reliance on multiple choice tests) and whether there are any based on the school's academic standards. At the high school level, in addition to the measures mentioned above, you should look for high graduation rates, high rates of advanced placement in colleges, and high completion rates for the course of study leading to acceptance in the University of California System. Curriculum: Investigate the academic program(s) of the school(s) in which you are interested. If our neighborhood school has been sanctioned under the Federal NCLB Act, ask why and what steps are being taken to bring the site back into compliance with the many rules and regulations of the law. Does the school feature any special programs, focus themes, or outside resources? How would these programs work for your child? Just having these programs is often a sign that the school is making an extra effort, rather than just doing business as usual. School Staff: Who is on the staff? What are the specialties or strengths of the staff? Are there any resource people available at the school -- a librarian, counselor, speech therapist, or nurse? How were the choices for these resources made, and how are needs that are not covered handled? If the class sizes are large, does the school have any help such as teacher aides, parent volunteers, college student assistants, or cross-age tutors? Also, you may want to see what teachers and school leaders have been doing to keep their skills up-to-date and to broaden their teaching knowledge base. Again, alignment with the State Frameworks and Standards should be evident in these descriptions. Parent and Community Involvement: Successful schools will tend to have active participation of the entire school community in all aspects of school life. Are there parents or other community members serving as volunteers in classrooms, labs or for special events? See if there is an active school site council. What is the main business of the council? Are there active subcommittees? How regularly does the council meet and how well attended are the meetings? Look, as well, for evidence of community partnerships and other cooperative arrangements with community agencies, service clubs and business groups. After School Programs: If you need childcare, is it available on the premises or nearby? Are there after-school programs for students and cooperative relationships with recreation programs, scouts, or other programs? Is there a homework club or other academic after-school efforts? Are there programs for parents in the evening?
Step 3: Visiting the Schools If your questions remain unanswered by the SARC or other written materials, you may want to pose your questions to administrators when you visit the school. You can tell a lot about a school just by walking in the door and looking around. Is there a welcoming "feel" to the school? Is the office staff pleasant and helpful? See if you can talk to the principal for a few minutes; ask to visit a class or two. Take a tour of the schoolyard and multipurpose room at lunchtime, if you can. Be sure to talk to parents with children in the school.
Step 4: Checking Out Your Concerns Even after reviewing the information you have collected and visiting a school or school district, you may still have unanswered questions and concerns. If you need help in interpreting some information, please contact Gary Dei Rossi at 209.468.4856.
Step 5: Doing Your Part America's Smallest School: The Family(Educational Testing Service, 1999) points out that children spend only 9 percent of their lives, between birth and age 18, in school. Most of the remaining 91 percent is spent under the supervision and care of the family. While the most powerful predictor of school failure continues to be poverty, there are several other factors that are associated with school success. Having books in your home and demonstrating an interest in reading models behaviors your child needs in order to learn. Conversely, unstructured and excessive use of television is correlated with poor school performance.
Not surprisingly, school attendance is another factor associated with school achievement. Make sure your child attends school regularly. Being involved in your child's life, helping to set goals, and encouraging and supporting academic efforts will have a big payoff in the classroom.
Is there something you know or are able to do that you could share with your child's school? If so, schools could use your help in the classrooms, in the office, on the playground, on Saturday cleanups, in committee work, and in making connections with businesses and service clubs. The school you choose for your children will be successful because of the efforts of parents. A strong community builds a strong school.
