Through the eyes of a parent
I read school report cards (meaning, reports that grade the school, not my child’s report card) with detached interest. To be honest, it isn’t the information I need.
Often, the schools are graded on how they do for the most needy of their students. Interesting, but not relevant to my family. My children speak English from birth, are not dyslexic or special needs, and we are not Title I. I do hope schools do well in hoping these children, but this does not tell me how the school will do by my child.
This is what parents care about most. This is not to say we just don’t care about the grades, but how our children do in school affects us personally. If schools fail to help needy students improve, I hope they do offer transfers. Such students need to find the best program they can.
In evaluating a school as to whether it is right for your child, a parent should ask: How are the programs doing that most affect my child? Is the band or music program great, mediocre, or poor? Art? How many AP classes are offered, and what is the passing rate for those? Do they do school musicals? How strong is the science program?
As you can imagine few parents will care about the answer to all of these question, but the answer to some questions will be vitally important. This isn’t on the report card. The report card is not as useful as it could be.