The School Rating Scandal: What 8/10 Really Means

Under 1 min read

•November 20, 2025

THE BOTTOM LINE

School ratings drive $200K+ premiums but measure what students bring (demographics) more than what schools teach. A 7.5 district can vastly outperform an 8.5 depending on growth vs proficiency metrics used.

WHO NEEDS THIS

Buyers filtering neighborhoods by school ratings who don't understand what numbers actually measure.

KEY INSIGHTS

•Two methodologies: Absolute proficiency (demographics) vs Student Growth (teaching quality)
•Same district can be 8.5 (proficiency) or 6.5 (growth)—first number appears on listings
•Growth percentiles control for backgrounds—best measure of actual teaching
•Brookline 9.0 can outperform suburban 9.0 because ratings aggregate different metrics
•MA DESE provides growth data but buyers only see summary GreatSchools scores

DO THIS NEXT

Look up Student Growth Percentile on MA DESE for target schools before trusting summary ratings.

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