Len Lipkin

Schools Cheating on Tests?

Now there is yet another reason to ignore test scores when making your school choice. In many cases they might be fabricated.

Len Lipkin

Ignore Test Scores

The easiest thing to find when evaluating a school is the schools performance on standardized tests. How much weight should you put on those scores in your school decision?

Len Lipkin

Teacher Salaries USA vs. the World [Infographic]

I advocated raising teacher salaries. Groundbreaking, I know. Well, in further support of that idea, this infographic speaks for itself.

Len Lipkin

Homeschooling By the Numbers [infographic]

If you are considering homeschooling, it is worth taking a look at this informative infographic covering the performance and prevalence of homeschooling.

Len Lipkin

Chances of a Charter School

I am applying to 4 charter schools whose acceptances are all by lottery. Their acceptances by lottery give us a chance of 10%, 10%, 15%, and 15% respectively. How do I calculate the probability of getting into at least 1 charter school?

Len Lipkin

Comprehensive Directory of Philadelphia Charter Schools

The Philadelphia School District’s Charter School website is helpful, but the Directory of Philadelphia Charter Schools (PDF) published by the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition is much better. It contains a lot of great school data, including the mission of each school, demographic/test score data, contact information, and more. It also has special sections on cyber charter schools, a...

Len Lipkin

School District of Philadelphia Publishes 2009 Annual Report & School Performance Index

I found out from the This Year at Jenks blog that the School District of Philadelphia just released the 2009 Annual Report and School Performance Index (SPI).  The annual report is essentially an easy-to-read high level rating and demographic breakdown of every school in the district.  The SPIs compare and rank schools with others in its region and demographic.  Cool stuff, especially if you are...

Len Lipkin

Are Elementary School Test Scores Important?

I am divided over how to use standardized test scores mandated as a part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as a input into the elementary school selection process. On the one hand, I scoff at NCLB because it encourages schools to 'teach to the test' instead of teaching to the student. On the other hand, I admit that I care how well the students do on standardized tests at the schools that I am considering.