NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - October 7, 2008) - As parents prepare for parent-teacher
conferences this fall,
SchoolMatters.com, a Web site from
Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services, provides parents a forum to
contribute school ratings, school rankings and reviews of their children's
schools. SchoolMatters.com is aimed at helping parents select the best
public schools for their children and as a service to other parents
researching school options.
"Every year, parents get an opportunity to hear from teachers how their
child is performing, but rarely have a chance to start a discussion on how
they feel their child's school is performing," said Thomas Sheridan, vice
president of School Evaluation Services for Standard & Poor's. "Parents
have communicated a clear desire for sharing public school experiences with
each other, so we are providing them with options to provide school
rankings, rate schools and write reviews. While we can populate the site
with data such as test scores and demographics and comparison tools, the
most valuable input is what parents think about a school."
SchoolMatters.com offers three levels of contributions from parents:
1.
Rate Your Child's School: This tool allows parents to give anonymous
school rankings using a five-star system.
2.
Write a Review of Your Child's School: Parents are able to comment
on their experiences with their kids' schools either using their name or
anonymously.
3.
Help Other
Parents: When parents post reviews, they can elect to be a volunteer,
allowing other parents to email questions about this school (email
addresses are kept anonymous, and volunteers can stop getting emails at any
time they choose).
In addition to sharing parent feedback, SchoolMatters.com Web site allows
parents to:
-- View comprehensive public school profiles including information on
test performance, enrollment, student demographics, class size, teacher
qualifications, curriculum, school news, extracurricular activities,
district spending and community profiles.
-- Access valuable public school information. From lunch menus to after-
school activities SchoolMatters.com provides links directly to school
websites so parents have easy access to additional information about a
school.
-- Analyze side-by-side comparisons of schools. Parents can select and
compare up to three public schools (within the same state) at one time
allowing for a comprehensive break down of the schools they are most
interested in evaluating.
About SchoolMatters.com
Since its inception in 2001 as an independent, analytical resource for
state and education leaders, Standard & Poor's (S&P) School Evaluation
Services has evolved and become a valuable resource for parents. In 2005,
S&P began providing parents and taxpayers with an objective analysis of
school and school district data via
www.SchoolMatters.com, a publicly
accessible, interactive Web site. Due in large part to the popularity of
the Web site, S&P has been able to engage parents across the country, all
while continuing to serve as an objective source of information and
analysis on our nation's public schools.
For more information, visit
www.schoolmatters.com.
Contact Information: Contact:
Susan Shafer
Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services
212-438-2193