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What GreatSchools, Niche, and U.S. News School Ratings Are Based On
For parents who want clarity—not spin.
What other school-rating sites are based on
Direct answer: GreatSchools, Niche, and U.S. News build most of their headline scores from government and administrative data—state standardized tests, year-over-year growth, equity/gap measures, graduation and college-readiness metrics, and sometimes spending or student–teacher ratios. Niche also blends in parent and student reviews. GreatSchools generally keeps community reviews separate from its 1–10 rating. None of those systems is the same as a parent grading professionalism, classroom control, or whether their child actually learned.
Why that matters
Administrative metrics answer: How did cohorts score? Parent ratings answer: What is it like to be the customer? Both can be true at once. A school can post solid average scores and still fail families on communication, safety, or weak teaching in a specific grade.
GradeYourSchool's difference
We do not remix the state report card into a new badge. Parents and students—the actual customers—grade schools and teachers on experience categories. Merit gets noticed. Weak performance gets noticed too.
FAQ
Is GradeYourSchool anti-data?
No. We are anti-monopoly-on-the-story. Government data is public; parent experience should be too.