Are GreatSchools' Ratings Accurate? All You Need to Know

Not every school is the same, and it's not always easy to find a good school to enroll your child(ren) in. Some schools have a great reputation and you can learn a lot about them by word of mouth, but parents often go online to find out more before enrolling their kids. GreatSchools is a popular website to use to find out more about a school, but that doesn't mean it's the best place to go. That being said, are GreatSchools ratings accurate?

Fortunately, DoNotPay can help figure out the answer to that question, and even provide a better alternative. Don't worry about trying to figure out the legitimacy of reviews or a website on your own anymore. You can access DoNotPay reviews on various companies like Experian Boost, Equifax, Formswift, Lifelock, and Fastweb.

What Is GreatSchools?

GreatSchools is a nonprofit organization designed to help parents find out more information about the schools in their area. The organization hopes to educate parents to help them make the best decision on where to send their kids.

GreatSchools rates a school based on:

• Diversity
• Test Scores
• Graduation Rate
• Student-to-Teacher Ratio
• ACT Scores
• College Readiness
• Advanced Classes Opportunities
• Equity

What Should You Look for in a School?

What you need to look for in a school depends on your child(ren). Some children have different needs than others, so there's more to research about a school than test scores or available AP classes.

Questions to ask when looking for a school:

• What opportunities are given to all children attending the school?
• Is bullying an issue at the school?
• Are certain students prioritized over others?
• What type of school is it?
• Is the curriculum at the school any good?
• Does the school have a special education program? If so, is it actually beneficial to the disabled students?
• What do the attending students think of the school?

There are other questions you can ask too. The questions on this list won't apply to everyone, and every child has different needs that should be addressed.

Is GreatSchools a Good Place to Find Information About a School?

At first glance, GreatSchools seems to be an amazing place for finding information about schools in your area. It provides information regarding test scores and demographics, but that seems to be the only thing the website cares to give out. There is hardly information that isn't based on race or income, and most of the ratings are broken down by demographics.

For example, when college readiness is broken down by race, two races may have a 10/10 score for college readiness, but every other race of people attending the school have a 3/10 score for college readiness, despite the overall college readiness rating for the school being 10/10. This makes the organization seem racially biased, which could make the school ratings inaccurate or void altogether.

Based on the parent, student, and teacher reviews of the school located on the website, the initial ratings are accurate. However, when you look for reviews of the organization from another source, an entirely different picture is painted by people who have experienced time at the schools.

On SiteJabber, GreatSchools has an overall rating of 1.8 out of 5 stars. With that in mind, it can be said that GreatSchools is not a good place to find information on schools in your area.

What Are People Saying About GreatSchools?

Reviews on SiteJabber paint a horrible picture for GreatSchools. Parents, teachers, and students claim the organization actually removes negative reviews about schools from the site. Searching for reviews of the website brings up several articles on the negative effects the website has on people, as well as articles claiming

GreatSchools is inaccurate and primarily focuses on test scores, ignoring other important aspects of a school. The most prominent issue people have with GreatSchools is that it promotes racial segregation. Whether these claims are true is very controversial, but it's safe to say people are not fond of GreatSchools.

How to Find Accurate School Ratings on Your Own

To find accurate school ratings, it's essential you look up reviews of the website you're using too. Positive reviews located on the website are not the best source to use for information. It's better to compare and contrast what different websites say about a school, and to find reviews from other sources. However, this process can take a lot of time and effort.

To find accurate school ratings, you need to:

1. Look up ratings and reviews websites have on the schools in your area.
2. Search for reviews about the websites used.
3. Compare and contrast the information provided.

Find the Best Schools in Your Area with the Help of DoNotPay

It's not easy to find accurate information on schools in your area. Organizations can remove negative views and have biased opinions on how good a school is and so can parents, teachers, and students. Fortunately, DoNotPay is an amazing and unbiased source to find accurate information on any school.

If you want to find the best schools in your area but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered in 4 easy steps:

1. Go to the Best Schools Search product on DoNotPay.
2. Let us guide you through the different priorities you can filter by, including whether you're looking for a private school vs. public school, your ideal student to teacher ratio, and what grade level you are looking for.
3. Tell us how you want us to rank the results (by what's most important to you!) Some examples include, best schools overall, most diverse, best teachers, etc.
4. Enter the search area you want to search in for. The wider the area, the more schools we can match you with.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

Almost anything! Finding the best school in your area is only one of the many amazing products DoNotPay has to offer. DoNotPay can also help you take someone to small claims court, get airline flight compensation, and help you find lost items! Whenever you've got a problem, DoNotPay is there to save the day.