Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog had a range of reactions to the inaugural release of school climate ratings by the state Department of Education. The complex ratings — reflecting community surveys, attendance and discipline data — are supposed to tell parents whether their school has an environment that supports learning. Here is a sampling of reader responses:
Lurk: I think I would trust ratings from Yelp before some strangely contrived rating system from the state. And for the record, I don't trust school ratings from Yelp.
Acceptable: The school climate ratings are complete and utter trash. Our local elementary school — not to name names — is near the top in the state on test scores (96 plus), safety and parent satisfaction. We had high participation in the surveys. Yet the nebulous "Schoolwide Agreement" dinged our school, and we received four stars for a 94.8 result. Compare that to a poor-performing on test scores (69.4) city of Atlanta elementary school. Student Response, Teacher/Staff/Administrator Response, and School Wide Agreement were all "Low Participation." The Parent Response was 67.26 (with under 15 parents out of 483 students) responding. Yet, they received five stars. Are we teaching our children and administrators to avoid responding to surveys, since no results equal great results?
Jman: With such a high profile of the APS cheating scandal, you sure would think the state Department of Education would want an active fraud department that has easy access to reporting schools that actively avoid discipline write-ups without jeopardizing your job with the local school system.
Red: This survey produced results of questionable value. A school with high academic ratings may have teachers, students and parents who are more demanding with respect to what they expect. As a result, they may be less likely to "five star" any of the performance indicators. By the same token, teachers, students and parents associated with schools whose academic performance has been less than stellar might view this kind of survey in an entirely different light.
AtlPeach: These numbers are not a true indication of how safe a school is. Schools suspend kids without officially suspending them. I've seen students sent home under suspension without being given any paperwork. Many administrators refuse to suspend kids for fear of (their schools) being labeled unsafe. Teachers are forced to deal with the most unruly students. What else explains how schools that perform better academically rank lower than schools with lower academic achievement? It's all smoke and mirrors.
JohnB: If APS has taught us anything, it's that you cannot assume a school's leadership is ethical. When you expect a school to "self-report" instances that will lower a rating that would tarnish the school's or leader's reputation, there will be bias in what's reported.
