ERIC Number: ED628824
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Apr
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Consumer-Oriented School Rating Systems and Their Implications for Educational Equity
Powers, Jeanne M.
National Education Policy Center
School ratings are a ubiquitous feature of the U.S. educational system. Alongside state-mandated measures of school performance, non-state organizations such as GreatSchools.org and Niche have created consumer-oriented systems of school ratings that draw on publicly available information about schools. Claiming the purpose of their rating systems is to help families navigate increasingly complex school choice options, these organizations present their ratings as authoritative sources of information. In the growing evidence base about consumer-oriented systems, there is consistent research showing that the measures that comprise school ratings are associated with schools' demographic characteristics, such as students' race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. This brief examines these consumer-oriented rating systems and their implications for educational equity, and provides recommendations to minimize potential harms.
Descriptors: Institutional Evaluation, Equal Education, Race, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, Institutional Characteristics, Family and Consumer Sciences, School Choice, Decision Making, Information Sources, Correlation, School Effectiveness, State Policy, Accountability, Reputation, Academic Achievement, Elementary Secondary Education, Trend Analysis, Diversity, Evaluation Methods, Rating Scales, Charter Schools, Private Schools, Public Schools, Virtual Schools, Educational Quality, Student Characteristics
National Education Policy Center. School of Education 249 UCB University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. Tel: 303-735-5290; e-mail: nepc@colorado.edu; Web site: http://nepc.colorado.edu
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice
Authoring Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder, National Education Policy Center (NEPC)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A