Zillow School Ratings

A prevalent defining characteristic of a 'good school' is its effect on property values.

Bottom line: Great schools boost property values, and high property values boost school quality. (https://www.zillow.com/agent-resources/blog/buyers-homes-school-districts/)

Zillow depends on GreatSchools.org for its school ratings

Zillow receives school ratings from GreatSchools.org and the school attendance zone information is imported from Pitney Bowes. School attendance zone boundaries are subject to change and we recommend checking with the applicable school district prior to making a decision based on these boundaries. (Apr 12, 2017 https://zillow.zendesk.com articles)

Redfin relies on the same source.

When searching for homes on Redfin, you can check the GreatSchools Rating for nearby schools, when available, in the Neighborhood section of each property details page. GreatSchools is an independent nonprofit that publishes ratings to give parents an understanding of the quality of nearby schools.(https://www.redfin.com/definition/great-schools-rating)

More from the Redfin article

According to GreatSchools.org, a GreatSchools Rating "provides an overall snapshot of school quality based on how well a school prepares all its students for postsecondary success—be it college or career. The Summary Rating calculation is based on five of the school's themed ratings (the Test Score Rating, Student or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating and Advanced Courses Rating) and flags for discipline and attendance disparities at a school. . . GreatSchools does not produce a Summary Rating for a school if they lack sufficient data to calculate one." For more about how the GreatSchools rating is calculated, visit GreatSchools.org.

Here's Jack Schneider (assistant professor of education at the College of the Holy Cross, Mass., the director of research for the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment) in the Washington Post

I like where I live, in New England’s most densely populated city. My wife likes it, too, as does our daughter, who attends the public school across the street. Each morning, when we walk her to school, we feel lucky to live where we do, and happy about the education she’s getting. And when we interact with other families at the school — families that represent the many colors, creeds, and conditions of America — we worry a little less that the nation is coming apart at the seams.

But we wouldn’t have moved here if we had given any consideration to the school rating tools available from real estate companies like Zillow and Trulia. We wouldn’t have even looked at what their websites deem an “average” school, earning only a 6 on a 10-point scale. Instead, we’d be scrambling to make our mortgage payment in one of the region’s leafy suburbs.[emphasis added] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/06/14/what-to-know-before-using-school-ratings-tools-from-real-estate-companies/

Via the property tax and homeowners' desire to live where there are good schools, realtors are central players in defining good schools. The Atlantic examines the power of realtors.

tags: rating testing

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