Tip: It’s important to first check that you are looking at data from the same year on each platform. GreatSchools indicates the source and year in the hyperlink below each module labeled "Sources."
How state dashboards/report cards differ from GreatSchools ratings
State dashboards or report cards use an absolute rating system with fixed cut-off points, while GreatSchools uses a relative rating system that compares school results to district and state groups.
Why they can't be directly compared
Applying GreatSchools' relative percentile ratings to a state's absolute cut-off points is like comparing apples to oranges. The results from these rating systems will differ.
Our ratings are calculated with greater complexity, accounting for statewide performance, whereas state dashboards or report cards provide a snapshot of how students at a single school are performing.
A single school's performance or progress can't be compared directly against GreatSchools ratings. For instance, your school’s points may increase (or decrease), but GreatSchools ratings look at how a school compares to other schools in the state – not just that the school met a specific proficiency target and performed better than last year. If, statewide, more schools performed better and a school had the smallest improvement, the school may show improvement on the dashboard but may have a lower rating than the previous year on GreatSchools.
My school's state dashboard shows improvement but the GreatSchools rating decreased
Even if school-level subgroups all improved across the board, that would not necessarily indicate a higher student progress score. Again, state report card scores are provided in a vacuum, indicating what student groups achieve at their school, their progress, and how they meet state expectations. GreatSchools ratings normalize this performance against district and state levels, considering how other schools with similar student populations performed and progressed.
You can read about our ratings here and delve deeper into our methodology here.