California School Ratings
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California School Ratings - FAQ

Where do you get the school ratings data?
The school testing scores are from California's 2016 CAASPP Paper-based Test Results. Percentiles and ranks are calculated by California School Ratings, based on the 2016 CAASPP test scores.
What is the 1-10 rank given for schools on this site?
The California School Ratings Rank is determined by a school's percentile in comparison to other schools of the same type in California (1 is the worst, 10 is the best).

Percentiles are calculated by California School Ratings, based on the 2016 CAASPP test scores.

Example: Schools in the 90th percentile and above have rank 10, 80%-89.999% rank 9 and so on. A similar number of schools occupy each rank.
I see a school on your site with a lower rank and higher test score compared to another school on the site, how is that possible?
Because only similar grade-range schools are compared when ranking, the test score required to achieve a given rank is different for High Schools, Middle Schools, and Elementary schools.
Why are your rankings or test scores different from the ones on another school rating site?
In cases where other sites display a different rank, it is possible that they have older or newer data or that the site uses a different formula for producing ranks.
How does California School Ratings (CSR) compute school percentiles?
  • California School Ratings (CSR) computes percentiles in this way:
    1. For a given grade level, all Math scores are put into an ordered list and a percentile is calculated for each score, based its position in the list.
    2. For a given grade level, all English scores are put into an ordered list and a percentile is calculated for each score, based its position in the list.
    3. Math and English percentiles from (a & b above) are weighted, based on the number of students who completed each type of test, to create a combined Math+English weighted percentile for each school.
    4. The combined Math+English weighted percentiles are put into an ordered list for the particular type of school (elementary/middle/high school/K-12) and a percentile-within-the-school-type is calculated.
    5. How percentiles work: the school percentile is a number between 0 and 100 that reflects the percentage of schools of the same type (elementary/middle/high school/K-12) in California that have an equal or lower combined Math+English weighted percentile (from 1-c above). For example, a school in the 70th percentile would have a combined weighted percentile that was equal to or better than 70% of the other schools of the same type.
  • How do I advertise on California School Ratings?
    You can advertise on school-ratings.com through Google's Adwords site.