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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Follow the yardstick

Our good friends at the Center for Public Education have done it again. In their ongoing mission to bring the unbiased truth in public education to the world, the Center has created a new tool called Good Measures for Good Schools. The tool, which is a practical guide to the various measures of school quality, helps you determine the right questions you should be asking about our schools.

Good measures for good schools provides the national average performance for each measure, and links you to comparable state data where you can see how your state performs. On some measures, we also link you to web pages that offer data for your district and school. By clicking on each question you should be asking, you can learn more about the usefulness and limitations of every measure and get easy-to-understand tips for how to interpret the data. When possible, the measures are linked to relevant research, analyses, and success stories on the Center site so you can find the best thinking on what to do to improve school performance.

The guide also gives you:

The right questions to ask for a full picture of the quality of your schools. National data and easy links to state data to help you gauge the performance of your schools on 28 key measures. We also link you to district and school-level data as much as possible. An explanation of each measure including how the data is useful and how it is limited. Other questions to ask when the available data doesn't say enough.

The tool, which is denoted by the yellow ruler graphic, offers a great at-a-glance resource, as well as in depth information on each of the measures. But don't take BoardBuzz's word for it -- visit the Center and check it out for yourself.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on March 03, 2008 (boomark / email).