New school profiles include 1-10 indicators for school performance, equity
DENVER, CO – Dec. 5, 2017 — GreatSchools — the leading nonprofit provider of trusted school information, and Colorado Succeeds, a coalition of business leaders focused on improving education —announce today new ratings for all Colorado schools on GreatSchools.org. Parents and families statewide now have access to expanded information about important aspects of schools — including student progress and equity — that can help them support their children’s education and take action to improve their local schools.
Utilizing data from sources including the Colorado Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, the new GreatSchools rating system incorporates rich information into its one through 10 Summary Rating and school profiles to ensure school ratings reflect factors that are connected to students’ success in college, career, and life. For more information on the new GreatSchools ratings, visit GreatSchools.org.
The new GreatSchools Summary Ratings in Colorado include the following (where sufficient data are available):
- An Academic Progress Rating that shows how much a school helps students improve academically throughout the school year;
- An Equity Rating that indicates whether a school effectively serves all groups of students, including students in different ethnic groups and students from low-income families;
- A College Readiness Rating that indicates how well students are prepared for college based on key measures, like graduation rates, college entrance tests, and AP coursework when available;
- A Test Score Rating that reflects annual results from Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) for a school compared with scores statewide.
“We believe schools must serve the needs of every child, in every community, and we know that parents play an enormous role in ensuring this happens,” said Matthew Nelson, president of GreatSchools. “We hope our new rating system and school profiles will further enable parents to be strong advocates for their children — and all children in their communities — to help all kids have a shot at success. We look forward to partnering with Colorado Succeeds and others to advance this work in Colorado.”
GreatSchools’ new school profiles were designed with an explicit focus on the types of information parents need and the support that can help them take action with this information. For example, if a parent sees that their child’s school has a low Equity Rating compared to other schools in their state, they will find tips on how they can engage teachers and administrators to discuss improving the education of all students at this school. In addition, GreatSchools will continue to offer stories, videos, tips, grade-by-grade newsletters, and interactive tools for parents on ways to support their children’s academic and social-emotional development from preschool through high school.
“Colorado families want access to information that will allow them to make the best decision for their child’s education,” said Scott Laband, president of Colorado Succeeds. “Our business coalition and local partners have long supported and provided this through Colorado School Grades. We are excited to continue to make this easy-to-understand and critical information available to Colorado families through GreatSchools’ Colorado profiles.”
Colorado Succeeds and GreatSchools formalized a partnership in 2017 to offer more robust Colorado school ratings and school profiles on GreatSchools.org. Prior to this, Colorado school performance ratings were provided on ColoradoSchoolGrades.com, an A through F school performance website used by more than 1.5 million Coloradans.
About GreatSchools
GreatSchools is the leading national nonprofit empowering parents with essential information to navigate and improve educational opportunities for their child. GreatSchools’ trusted ratings and school quality information help parents find the right school for their family and take action to improve schools in their communities. Thousands of articles, tips and interactive tools help parents support their child’s learning and well-being every day. Families, community leaders and policymakers turn to GreatSchools for the school information they need to guide children to great futures.
About Colorado Succeeds
Colorado Succeeds is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of Colorado’s business leaders who join forces to ensure our education system works better and smarter for all people of Colorado. We believe Colorado is the best place to live and work, and we want it to stay that way. This great state can only continue its tradition of excellence when all of our children are educated to their greatest potential and all of our businesses have the talented and innovative workforce they need to thrive. We believe great schools are good business. We know when Colorado schools improve, everybody wins.
