would like a list of christian elementary schools in the usa ranked by
some objective method.

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Request for Question Clarification by acorn-ga on 17 Apr 2003 16:18 PDT

Is there some specific criteria you are looking for?  Or a specific
use for this list?  Each state requires different reporting for
private schools so while, say, Iowa requires public reporting on
achievement test results, a state like California does not.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 17 Apr 2003 17:03 PDT

I can provide you with a couple of different sites that rank schools
using different methods but it would be impossible to list them all.
On one, for example, I searched using the term "Christian" school and
got about 5000 schools. The results show (among other things)the
schools' student teacher ratios. There are others however that use
other ranking methods (number of students, teacher salary, size of
school district, etc)

Otherwise your question will be very difficult to answer. The National
Association of Independent Schools is steering away from school
rankings saying this in a public statement:

"Ranking of schools encourages a destructive competitiveness, leading
institutions away from offering rich alternatives and toward a
stultifying sameness. It is a disservice to the schools, concerned
parents, and children, and therefore, to our society."

If you'd like what databases I "have" been able to find in order to
help make an informed decision on your own, I'd be glad to share it
with you.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by holguinero-ga on 22 Apr 2003 18:31 PDT

given that elementary school level ratings is hard to find, i'm
flexible as to criteria. e.g., newspaper article saying 'the best
school....'  in fact, any third party opinion would be interesting.

my criteria is one of quality of education, scholastic achievement,
etc.

Dear holguinero-ga;

Thank you for your clarification and thank you for allowing me an
opportunity to answer your interesting question.

From my earlier post, let me mention again that privately funded
schools resist ranking procedures as their accreditation differs
somewhat from that of publicly funded schools. Having said that, you
may find that you must research your own schools using criteria I have
provided for you here. Where applicable, you will definitely be able
to get a third party opinion you are seeking, but you may have to make
some contacts in order to do so. I admire you for going to all this
trouble to insure that your little one(s) get the best education
possible. It is indeed admirable of a parent in this day and age. This
should get you started.

==============================================

Christian elementary schools are generally listed under “private
schools” or “parochial schools”. As I mentioned earlier, this source
mentions the enrollment by race/ethnicity, enrollment by grade,
student teacher ratio, number of students and type of locale for each
of the 29,939 schools in their database. While this is not an official
ranking, it does provide some valuable insight into each school’s
makeup and capabilities:

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/
(I used the word “Christian” in my sample search but you might also
try using a denominational name or some other form of Christian
synonym)

This one uses the same database but the results are in graph form and
much easier to read:
http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/index.asp

You can find out more about these results my emailing “Search for
Private Schools” at stephen.broughman@ed.gov

==============================================

THE AMERICAN ASOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS may also provide
additional information about ranked schools. You can contact them
here:
http://www.aacs.org/

==============================================

If make inquiries about a particular school, some may be reluctant to
place themselves in a standardized ranking profile similar to those
used to rank public schools, but you can decide for yourself where
they fall on the scale if you ask the right question and you are armed
with the appropriate information with wich to make comparisions. Here
are the U.S. Department of Education’s published tables of cutoff
scores for standardized tests that school officials can use to
determine whether their school ranks in the top 10 percent of schools
in the nation.

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OIIA/Recognition/nclb-brs/priv_school_assess.doc

==============================================
 
If you want to gauge success by enrollment figures, the COUNCIL FOR
AMERICAN PRIVATE EDUCATION (CAPE) might be a good place to turn for
statistics:
http://www.capenet.org/cape.html

“CAPE member organizations, which collectively represent 80 percent of
the nation's private school enrollment, have also seen some sharp
increases in student counts. The Association of Christian Schools
International, which serves evangelical Christian schools, had a K-12
enrollment gain of 70 percent between 1989 and 1999. During that
period, ACSI moved from the third largest to the second largest
association of private schools in the country. Other CAPE
organizations with substantial 10-year enrollment hikes were the Oral
Roberts Educational Fellowship (53.4 percent), the American Montessori
Society (53.2 percent), the National Association of Episcopal Schools
(20.7 percent), the Solomon Schechter Day School Association (also
20.7 percent), the Friends Council on Education (18.1 percent), and
the Lutheran Church ­ Missouri Synod (15.6 percent).

Two of CAPE's newest members, the National Christian School
Association and the Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools,
while not on the NCES list of private school associations in 1989, had
enrollment counts in 1999 of 34,122 (NCSA) and 27,468 (SBACS).

The 1999 enrollment figures for states showed California to have the
highest private school enrollment (619,067) and Wyoming to have the
lowest (2,221). Other states with large concentrations of private
school students included New York (475,942), Pennsylvania (339,484),
Illinois (299,871), Florida (290,872), Ohio (254,494), Texas
(227,645), New Jersey (198,631), Michigan (179,579), and Maryland
(144,131).”

FAQ’s
http://www.capenet.org/facts.html#anchor1417711

==============================================

In addition, this document is a 2002 report called FINDINGS FROM THE
CONDITION OF EDUCATION 2002: PRIVATE SCHOOLS - A BRIEF PORTRAIT
republished from CONDITION OF EDUCATION 2002. It explains how
Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian schools differ from one
another and how they differ from public schools. This may also prove
helpful in making your own determination.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002013.pdf

==============================================

Here are some sources for paid reports that may very well supply you
with the information you are seeking:

SCHOOL REPORTS
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/servlet/ActionServlet?pid=38&cid=homefair
(Check out the sample report – it looks great)

AMERICAN SCHOOL DIRECTORY
http://www.asd.com/

==============================================

Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga


INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above

SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

RANK PRIVATE SCHOOLS

RANK ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

RANK RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

TOP 25 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

COMPARE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

COMPARE PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

PEER COMPARISION SCHOOLS