1. How does SchoolDigger.com calculate school rankings?
We rank schools based on test scores supplied by each state's Department of Education. We calculate an Average Standard Score by normalizing and averaging each school's test scores across all tests and grades. That average score is then sorted. The school with the highest score is ranked #1, the second highest #2, and so on. If you want the details of how SchoolDigger.com calculated rankings, please see our ranking methodology page.
2. Why isn't a specific school included on the ranking list?
We only rank schools that have published test scores from that state's Department of Education. Many states do not publish test scores for student populations of ten or less. Private schools are not listed since they are usually not required to administer state tests.
3. How does the star system work?
Schools, districts, and cities in the top 10% of the ranking list get five stars. % Stars 90-100% 70-90% 50-70% 30-50% 10-30% 0-10%
4. How are districts ranked?
District rankings are calculated as follows: for each district, we determine a Rank Score by averaging the rank percentile for each of the schools in the district. For instance, take this example of one district: School Rank Rank Percentile Lincoln Elementary 15th of 100 Elementary Schools .85 Jefferson Elementary 25th of 100 Elementary Schools .75 Jackson High School 5th of 50 High Schools .90 Average rank percentage (Rank Score): .8333 This calculation is made for all districts, and then the list of districts is sorted by Rank Score. The district with the highest score is ranked #1.
5. How are cities ranked?
Cities are ranked the same way as districts. See #4.
6. Why are some districts or cities not included in the ranking list?
Some districts and cities are not ranked because there is not enough information to rank them. For districts or cities with 9 or fewer schools, 50% of the schools must have a SchoolDigger ranking to be included. For districts or cites with 10 or more schools, 30% of the schools must have a SchoolDigger ranking to be included.
7. I object to using test scores as the only way to rank schools!
We would be the first to argue that this is not the ultimate way to rank schools and that there are certainly many, many more criteria – objective and subjective – that add to, or subtract from, the overall quality of a school. But we believe that listing schools by test scores is useful, and as a tool should be used by parents in conjunction with all the other criteria available.
8. How does SchoolDigger report free/reduced lunch and direct certification?
SchoolDigger shows one low-income measure for each public school, with its school year: Free/reduced lunch eligible: students eligible for free school meals (household income at or below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines) plus students eligible for reduced-price meals (above 130% up to 185%). Directly certified for free meals: students approved for free meals automatically, without a meal application, because their household gets SNAP, TANF or FDPIR (and, in most states, Medicaid), or because they are homeless, migrant, runaway, in foster care or in Head Start. In the federal data, these students are a subset of those eligible for free meals, so this figure usually runs lower than free/reduced lunch eligibility. The two are not comparable: we never rank or sort one against the other. All students receive free meals: schools in the Community Eligibility Provision serve breakfast and lunch free to every student and no longer collect meal applications, so their free/reduced counts do not reflect individual family income. When a school's free/reduced count is 98% or more of its enrollment, we show this note instead of a percentage; a count that high usually means the school serves free meals to all students. We use free/reduced lunch when the school reports it, and direct certification otherwise (the same order the National Center for Education Statistics recommends). A figure older than 3 years is not shown, and a count larger than the school's enrollment is treated as missing. Each list or ranking table shows the one measure and year that most of its schools report; a school that reports the other measure shows a dash. In the federal data we use (2024-25): Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Tennessee and West Virginia report direct certification only. In Nevada, New Mexico and North Carolina many schools report a free/reduced count equal to their whole enrollment, the usual sign of Community Eligibility. Pennsylvania's 2024-25 free/reduced counts repeat its 2023-24 counts for most schools, so we show 2023-24 for Pennsylvania. Some states also pay for free meals for every student; we note that on their school pages.