WASHINGTON - Being a founding member of the School Rating Scoundrels Club, I have often thought about how to assess schools.
I think colleges and high schools have useful and accessible points of comparison. Middle schools can be compared by measuring how well each does in helping students complete the first year of algebra and the first year of a foreign language. I don't see any way to compare elementary schools, except with average test scores.
And then we come to preschools. They have always struck me as beyond any sensible rating system, which is why I was stunned to find a new Web site, www.savvysource.com, trying to prove me wrong.
I know how my wife and I found preschools when we had children that age. We asked friends if they knew any good ones. That was not, obviously, a very intelligent approach to the problem. But what else could we do? There wasn't, and there still isn't, much information out there, other than the yellow pages.
And who has time to call or visit a long list of preschools until you find one you like?
The Savvy Source founder, Stacey Boyd, and her team of mostly young mothers think the Internet could be the solution if they plug into it enough worthwhile information - particularly the views of parents who have had children in the preschools being rated. They are supplying parents and school directors with their survey forms and rating schools on philosophy, teaching quality, discipline, safety, tuition and several other factors.
Their national Web site went up in March, and Boyd said she thinks they are close to “turning a modest profit.” She said she has more than 100 staffers, mostly parents, collecting information for the site.
“Our goal is to help parents make better decisions for children first and foremost, but structuring the company in a way that allows this army of incredibly talented moms to also earn a salary is very exciting for us too,” Boyd said.
The early results are impressive enough, I think, to inspire competition and start a whole new chapter in the saga of school rating.
And then we come to preschools. They have always struck me as beyond any sensible rating system, which is why I was stunned to find a new Web site, www.savvysource.com, trying to prove me wrong.
I know how my wife and I found preschools when we had children that age. We asked friends if they knew any good ones. That was not, obviously, a very intelligent approach to the problem. But what else could we do? There wasn't, and there still isn't, much information out there, other than the yellow pages.
And who has time to call or visit a long list of preschools until you find one you like?
The Savvy Source founder, Stacey Boyd, and her team of mostly young mothers think the Internet could be the solution if they plug into it enough worthwhile information - particularly the views of parents who have had children in the preschools being rated. They are supplying parents and school directors with their survey forms and rating schools on philosophy, teaching quality, discipline, safety, tuition and several other factors.
Their national Web site went up in March, and Boyd said she thinks they are close to “turning a modest profit.” She said she has more than 100 staffers, mostly parents, collecting information for the site.
“Our goal is to help parents make better decisions for children first and foremost, but structuring the company in a way that allows this army of incredibly talented moms to also earn a salary is very exciting for us too,” Boyd said.
The early results are impressive enough, I think, to inspire competition and start a whole new chapter in the saga of school rating.
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